I reined in my anger, hating that I’d let my guard down. This was one of the reasons I didn’t want to get involved with Scarlett. Where she was concerned, my guard was down and my emotions were too involved to treat the situation with the cold-mindedness that it needed.
“We’ll find him, capo,” Desi assured me from the driver seat.
I clenched my jaw and nodded but didn’t speak as the man drove us into the city. Jr had better enjoy breathing while he still could. He was a walking corpse as far as I was concerned.
Scarlett
I watched Victoria as she paced back and forth in her bedroom. I’d told her about my call with Anya and then everything that had followed. She, like me, wasn’t concerned about the whole Santino issue. After twenty-one years of having to deal with enemies like him, we knew the idiot couldn’t touch us, and even if he tried, Ciro and Cristiano would handle it.
Her focus was on Volkov right then.
“What does that even mean?” she kept muttering to herself. My happy sister was getting angrier by the minute. Angry at Anya. At Adrian. Herself. “Why would she be so vague like that?” She stopped in front of me. The hurt I saw shining back at me made me glad I’d changed my mind and told her now rather than later. “Am I not good enough for her brother, Scarlett? Is that it? Or is there really something he’s keeping from me?”
I didn’t know the answer to any of those questions and it pissed me off that I couldn’t give them to her and offer her peace of mind. “You’re plenty good enough for the likes of Volkov, Tor. Any man would be blessed to have you look twice at him. Look, Ciro is looking into it for me, but maybe…” She had started to turn away but her head snapped back around.
“Maybe what?”
“Maybe you should just come out and ask him about it. Maybe he’ll tell you the truth, maybe he won’t. But wouldn’t you rather speak to him about this than let it eat at you?” Her chin trembled and I reached for her hands, pulling her down beside me on the bed.
“I’m scared to know the answer, Scarlett,” she whispered. “I like him, really like him. I thought the feelings were mutual when we had lunch today.” A blush filled her cheeks, making me wonder if my earlier guess that something else had happened today besides the sharing of a meal was true.
“Tor, did you sleep with him?” I felt her pulse jump under my fingers where I was still holding her wrist, and knew I had my answer.
“We didn’t have sex, but…” She shrugged and turned her head away, avoiding my gaze. “Our first kiss got carried away. Things happened.”
I wasn’t about to lecture my sister. She was an adult and could do what she wanted with who she wanted. But was Volkov free to do those things with her? That was the million-dollar question. I picked up her phone and went through her call log. The last one she’d made was a number I didn’t recognize, and I knew it had to belong to the Russian. Why she hadn’t added him to her contacts I had no clue, but it didn’t matter right then.
Swiping my thumb over the number, I hit the speaker button and waited. It took eight rings before he answered. “I’m busy at the moment, kotyonok.” His deep voice was low, but his tone was gentle. “Can I call you back?”
“I need to talk to you,” Victoria told him, but she hadn’t yet gotten her emotions under control and he picked up on the small catch in her voice as easily as if he had been the one sitting next to her instead of me.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, all gentleness gone from his voice now. “Did you make it home safely?”
Even to my ears he sounded concerned and more than a little possessively overprotective. That had to mean something, damn it, and I hoped that it was all a big mistake. I wanted Victoria and Adrian to have a chance together.
If he wasn’t some scumbag who was playing my sister.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, trying harder to keep her voice even but was unsuccessful. “I just thought I owed it to you to let you know I won’t be seeing you again, Adrian.”
There was a long pause on his end and I could actually feel the tension coming off the man even through the phone. “Why?” he bit out, his tone more menacing than any I’d ever heard before. Considering how Ciro had reacted earlier, that was saying a hell of a lot.
She met my eyes, searching for an answer. I didn’t have one to give her because when I’d told her to talk to him this hadn’t exactly been what I was expecting her to say. I’d told her to ask him, not dump him on the spot.
“Victoria, I asked you why,” Volkov repeated, his tone not as harsh this time, as if he could feel her hesitation. “Kotyonok, what’s the matter? Talk to me, little one. I can’t fix this if I don’t know what’s hurt you.”
She swallowed hard. “Someone close to me has shown me that a future with you is impossible.” She whispered but she might as well have screamed it at him from the static-filled silence that followed. She bit her lip briefly to keep it from trembling, but quickly continued. “You’re not free to be with me, are you, Adrian?”
“Who told you?” he demanded with a ferocity that had my twin lose the battle with her tears and trembling chin. “Tell me who told you these things, kotyonok. Now.”
She swallowed her sob as the tears fell freely. “It doesn’t matter who. All that matters is that it’s the truth. I thought we had something special, but obviously I was only being stupid. I don’t play those kinds of games, Adrian and I’ll never settle for being anyone’s second choice. It was nice knowing you, but it’s over now. G-goodbye.”
“Victoria!” He roared her name, but she was already disconnecting. With trembling fingers, she turned the phone off and then fell against my chest, her sobs so intense that they shook my own body. She wasn’t the type to have a passing infatuation. When she loved, she went all in, and sadly she’d been in over her head with Volkov.
I swallowed my anger, knowing my sister needed a loving shoulder to cry on right then. How could that bastard do this? Victoria was special and he’d apparently only been playing with her. I’d hoped it was just a bunch of hot air being blown by Anya, but obviously she’d only been watching out for my sister. I guess I owed her a thank you, because it wasn’t likely that Victoria would have found out until it was too late otherwise.
If it wasn’t already.
With each tear she cried, each sob that seemed to rip her apart, I wanted to chop Volkov into tiny little pieces. Maybe send them to the woman he was already involved with along with a note telling her to watch out for cheating bastards in the future. I kept those thoughts to myself, though, as I stroked Victoria’s hair like I’d always done when she was upset.
Chapter 10
Ciro
The lights flashing in the club irritated the hell out of my yes, but I didn’t blink as I watched Anya Volkov across the bar top on the second floor of her club. The music was loud enough to make a person deaf if they spent too much time in there, but I could practically hear her nails tapping on the smooth surface. The little Russian beauty gave me a bored roll of her eyes and I had to grit my teeth to keep from grabbing her by the neck and demand answers.
Since I couldn’t find Jr, I figured I’d start on finding the answers Scarlett was so set on discovering. I knew so little about Volkov’s personal life I’d started at the first place I did know he had connections with. Anya was a little hardass and she ran her business exactly the way the club was named, with an iron hand. I’d had to deal with her a few times over the last few years, but more often than not it was Cristiano who dealt with her.
The place was full even though it wasn’t the busiest night of the week, and her staff was running around on both floors getting things done. Anya just stood there, glaring at me with a darkness I could easily see matched that of her soul. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t spoken to Scarlett since she and her sister were in here the other night.”
She was the perfect liar, and if anyone else but Scarlett had told me about the phone call sh
e had gotten the day before, I might have even believed Anya. I picked up the shot of vodka she had poured for me and tossed it back. Setting the glass back on the bar top, I watched her with dispassionate eyes.
The longer I stared at her, the colder her eyes grew. “Why do you even care?” she snapped. “Victoria broke off whatever it was that was going on with my brother yesterday. So it shouldn’t matter.”
I shrugged. “To some, maybe.”
She put her hands on the smooth, clean surface of the bar top and leaned toward me, her face a mask of cold anger as she met my gaze without flinching. “Stay out of it, Donati.”
“It must be something ugly if you’re so set on keeping it a secret, Anya.” I lifted a curious brow at her when her eyes shifted and I realized it was a tell. Interesting. “A wife?” She moved back before I could see if her gaze shifted.
“Fuck off, Ciro. You’re stinking up my club.”
I pulled out a few bills from my pocket and tossed them at her. “Thanks for the drink. I’ll be seeing you around, Anya.”
She took the cash and threw it back in my face before flipping me off. “Go to hell.”
Her fierceness actually had a small grin tugging at the corners of my lips. “I’ll be sure and save you a seat.” Leaving the cash where it had landed, I turned and walked away, knowing I risked a knife in the back for turning my back on the little tyrant.
Desi and Paco were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs where I’d left them with the two bouncers. Neither of them spoke to me until we were back in the SUV parked behind the club. “Paco, Vito has someone watching Volkov, but I want you to keep an eye on him as well. Anya too.” I had all my men looking for Jr, but I could spare one to check the Russian out.
“On it, capo.”
“Desi, get me another background check on him. This time go all the way back to before he was in prison in Moscow.” Desi was just as deadly with a computer as he was with a gun.
“Got it.” Desi pulled the vehicle into traffic. “You want us to drop you at home or the compound?”
I hadn’t been to my own place in days, not since before Scarlett had gotten home. The idea of being in my bed, when she was in her own, held little appeal to me. “Compound,” I muttered.
Without a word, he headed for the Vitucci compound. While he drove, I sent out texts to all my men, wanting reports of their progress at locating Jr so far. No one had any updates, and that set my teeth on edge. The motherfucker was playing with me and I’d never been one for games.
By the time I was finished, the gates at the compound were being opened. Pocketing my phone, I jumped out of the back of the SUV and climbed the steps to the front door while Desi and Paco went home. Inside, the place was quiet. It was after midnight, so I’d expected most of the household to be in bed. There were still plenty of guards patrolling the house though.
Pulling off my ivy cap, I climbed the stairs to the second floor, but I didn’t go to the room that had become mine over the years. I stopped outside of Scarlett’s bedroom. I hadn’t seen her since the day before. I’d spent the night before checking out possible places Jr might think to hide out in, but had come up empty-handed. I was going on forty-two hours without sleep. My body should have been demanding some down time, but all I needed was to make sure Scarlett was okay.
Thinking that she was asleep, I carefully cracked open her door and stepped inside. The only light to see by was that of the television that was on mute, casting a soft glow over her bed. Quietly closing the door behind me, I crossed to her. Her head was on her pillow, the covers pulled up to her chest. One arm was tucked under her head, the other lying across her flat stomach. The light from the TV made her skin glow, enticing me to come closer. She looked like an angel.
Standing over her, I let my eyes trace over every inch of her beautiful face. Just looking at her made my dick hard. I ached to climb in beside her and memorize every inch of her body.
“Ciro.” She murmured my name and her eyes opened before I could even move. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to. Lifting a hand, she pushed a few strands of her hair back from her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” How could anything be wrong when I was there with the only person who mattered?
Her brow furrowed. “Then why are you here?”
I sat down on the edge of her bed. “There’s no other place I wanted to be,” I told her honestly and watched as her eyes widened before she could mask her reaction. “Tell me to go if you don’t want me here, Scarlett.”
For the longest time she just continued to lay there, staring up at me. I couldn’t read her expression, but the way she was watching me had my dick thickening even more. Instead of telling me to go, she slid over in bed and pulled the covers back. “Sleep with me?” she offered in a voice barely above a whisper.
I knew I shouldn’t, but the enticement was too strong to resist. Tossing my cap on the floor I kicked off my shoes and pulled my belt free from my pants. I didn’t dare take off anything else. The temptation was already at dangerous levels and I knew I wouldn’t fight my need if I took off my shirt or pants.
Emptying my pockets, I placed my gun on the nightstand and then climbed into bed beside her. It was a king, offering us both plenty of room, but as soon as my head hit the pillow I pulled her against me. She came willingly, her breath leaving her on a little sigh as she pillowed her head on my chest and dropped her arm over my stomach.
The room was chilly, just the way she liked to keep it, and I pulled the covers up over us. This was pure bliss. I hadn’t ever experienced it before until right at that moment. With her slight weight against me, her warmth seeping into mine, I began to relax despite the ache in my dick. She shifted, finding a more comfortable position, and in the next moment she was asleep again.
I pressed my lips to the top of her head, breathing in the sweet floral scent of her shampoo. My muscles started to feel heavy and I let sleep take me too.
***
If falling asleep with Scarlett was bliss, waking up with her still tucked against me like she belonged there was pure hell. My entire body was throbbing with the need to roll her onto her back and slide between her thighs.
She shifted in her sleep, one leg sliding against mine before wrapping it over both of them. A small little mewling sound in pleasure and she rubbed her hand up my chest. I bit back a groan and told myself to get the hell out of there before I did something stupid, but she cuddled closer and I was helpless to move for fear of waking her. She was comfortable, and if it weren’t for the raging hard-on I had right then, I would have been too.
I heard my phone vibrating on the nightstand and shot it an irritated glance. My eyes fell on the clock beside my phone and gun and I nearly groaned again. 9:08. Hell, I hadn’t slept past six since I was a teenager. I was usually up and taking care of business by now. My men were probably wondering if I was dead.
I hated leaving her, but there were things that needed my attention. Carefully, I untangled her and slid out from under her. As I stood, already putting my gun back in place, she yawned. “Don’t go,” she implored, still half asleep.
I bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I have work to do, baby.”
Her bottom lip pouted out and my heart nearly stopped at the sight of her like that. Her red hair wild and sleep tousled spread out across her pillow, her face pink with sleep as she looked up at me through her lashes and that plump bottom lip practically begging me to suck on it. “Will you come back tonight?”
I traced my thumb down her jaw and across that lip I wanted to taste so fucking bad. “I’ll come back,” I promised. “Stay out of trouble today, yeah?”
A smile teased at her lips, but she didn’t answer. Instead she pulled the pillow I’d used to her chest and closed her eyes, sleep already overtaking her once more. Hell. The urge to blow off my responsibilities and climb back in next to her was almost too hard to fight, but my phone started vibrating again. Cursing under
my breath, I picked it up and waited until I was out of the room before answering.
“What?” I growled as I headed for the stairs.
“Would you be interested in knowing that Cristiano just went into Volkov’s apartment building?” Paco asked, uncertainty in his voice.
“Did he see you?” As far as I knew Cristiano had no business even being in that part of the city. I knew that Anya had an apartment in the building, but Adrian had the entire top floor for himself. He might not have even been there to see either one of them. Either way, Cristiano was a big boy and didn’t need me to babysit his ass.
I just didn’t want him to know yet that I was interested in Volkov, and more to the point, why. I loved Cristiano like a brother, but not even for him would I break Scarlett’s confidence. She’d come to me, had trusted me more than anyone else, and I wasn’t about to give her a reason to regret that trust.
“No, capo. Just didn’t know if that was something you wanted me to report or not.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. What Cristiano did was none of my business, unless it put Scarlett at risk. He could take care of himself. “Keep that information between us, Paco, and keep an eye on Anya and her brother. I want to know who comes and goes. Get any names to Desi so he can check them out.”
“On it.”
Chapter 11
Scarlett
“I saw something really intriguing yesterday.”
I was only playing with my lunch as I sat in the dining room with my father. It was the first real meal we’d had together, but food held little appeal for me.
I put the blame on Ciro.
He’d promised he’d come back the night before and he hadn’t. There had been no text, no call to say why he hadn’t come back to the compound and let me use him as a human pillow. It was like I’d been pushed out of his mind the second my door had shut behind him. I didn’t know if I was more hurt or angry.