He opened his eyes and searched his surroundings, immediately focusing on the small hallway and exit sign only twenty feet away from their present location. He placed his lips near her ear, unable to resist sucking her earlobe into his mouth, before whispering, “Come with me.”
Kassi moaned and he was glad the music was so loud. Leo and Gemma were dancing only a dozen feet away and Piotr really didn’t want to have to explain what was happening between Kassi and himself. He just wanted it to continue.
He stepped back, reached for her hand, and pulled her along behind him as he made for the dark hallway. It was longer than he originally thought and had several doorways leading off of it, but the first two he tried were locked up tight. Deciding he needed to kiss her more than he needed to find them a more private location, he pushed her up against the wall and then held her there with his body. His hips pressed against hers, leaving his hands free to explore her body at leisure.
“Kassi,” he murmured just before taking her lips in a kiss that was pure lust. He made love to her mouth with his, his tongue mapping the inside of hers, mimicking what he longed to do with another part of his body.
He skimmed his hand down, past her waist almost to her knee, before sliding back up, skimming across her bare skin and beneath the hem of the sexy little sundress she was wearing. When he reached the thin elastic of her panties, he curled his fingers in the band, but resisted the urge to tear them off.
Instead, he moved his fingers across her lower stomach and down over the silk fabric, pausing there when she gripped his head between her hands and bit the side of his neck. Now it was Piotr’s turn to moan, but before he could act on the lustful desires surging through his veins, Kassi released him and moved his hand from beneath her skirt.
Piotr wanted to howl against having the prize he’d been seeking taken away and he moved his hand back, landing on her hip, but on top of her skirt. “Kassi, I want you. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
He waited for her answer, but when it came, it wasn’t the one he was expecting.
Chapter 4
“I need to use the little girl’s room,” she told him shyly.
Piotr took a steadying breath and then nodded once. “It’s on the other side of the dance floor. I’ll escort you…
Kassi shook her head, “I can get there by myself. Could you get me some water? I think I maybe need to clear my head a little.”
“Have you eaten anything tonight?” Piotr asked, putting a few inches between their bodies. He needed to clear his own head before they both took things too far.
Kassi paused for a moment and then shrugged, “I can’t really remember. Maybe?”
“Leo outdid himself with the catering for this little party. I’ll get you a variety and some water.”
They had reached the end of the hallway and Kassi reached up and kissed him, “I’ll be right back.”
Piotr gave her a sexy grin, “Sure you don’t want me to go with you?” He waggled his eyebrows and leaned close to whisper in her ear, “No telling what we might get up to in a bathroom stall.”
Kassi blushed and he chuckled and moved back, “Go take care of business and come find me after. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Kassi nodded and ducked amidst the dancers, leaving Piotr standing there trying to keep tabs on her progress. Kassi could feel his eyes on her back, and she knew the moment she’d moved beyond his view as she felt somewhat alone. It wasn’t a feeling she really liked. She suddenly felt exposed and hurried her steps, wanting to be back in Piotr’s arms as soon as possible.
Kassi entered the ladies’ restroom and after taking care of her personal business, she stood in front of the mirror and looked herself over critically. Her lips were swollen and ruby red, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes filled with lust and the effects of a bit too much alcohol.
She turned on the water and after washing her hands, she dampened a cloth and patted down her neck. She’d been so turned on by Piotr and had wanted nothing more than to let him have his way with her there in the hallway, but then she’d remembered they weren’t really talking to one another. She wanted a chance to clear the air with him before they took their relationship back into the physical realm where they blew each other’s minds. It had always been that way with the two of them and probably why she’d never been able to find anything comparable to replace him with.
When several of the other women from the bachelor party came into the bathroom, she smiled and nodded and then quickly left. She skirted around the dance floor, rehearsing in her mind the words she wanted to say to Piotr.
She had them all worked out by the time she rounded the last corner of the dance floor, but she never got a chance to say them. Piotr was in the same spot as where she’d first found him this evening, but he was no longer alone.
Two gorgeous Amazonian women sat on either side of him. One of them was running her fingers through his hair while the other played with the buttons on his shirt, her hand only a few inches about the waistband of his trousers. Piotr was talking with them and he had his arms around their bodies, and not in what looked like a grip meant to dislodge either of them. It was as if he were holding them close to his body.
Kassi’s vision went red and all of the self-recriminations concerning Piotr came crashing back to her mind. She clenched her fists, knowing she’d let herself walk right into this current heartache. She’d taken one look at at Piotr and she’d forgotten…She looked at him once more, flinching when one of the women threw her head back and laughed. She wished she had the right to march over and toss the women to the ground. She took one step forward, but then she saw Gemma and Aimee only a short distance away and they looked so happy. She just couldn’t ruin Aimee’s bachelorette party, not on account of her.
Zak’s words came rushing back to her, all of the little digs and judgments, the criticisms, and his parting words echoed in her brain and suddenly Kassi felt sick. She’d allowed the alcohol in her system to make her reckless and she’d opened herself up to more hurt by believing she could ever have the illusion Piotr represented. She was Kassi and as Zak had so plainly pointed out, she just wasn’t good enough. Piotr didn’t think she was old enough. She just wasn’t…enough of anything.
Kassi turned and headed for the elevator, but Leo was standing not three feet away and she didn’t want to explain why she was leaving. Not to him. Not now. She could feel tears filling her eyes and she only wanted to escape and go home. Since the floor wasn’t likely to open up and swallow her whole, she needed another escape.
She looked around herself and spied the stairs. She pushed her way towards them, ignoring Piotr calling her name when he saw her trying to leave. She cursed the four-inch heels she’d once again chosen to wear. She thought about taking them off, but the gold Louboutins were held onto her feet by ankle straps. She couldn’t risk having to face Piotr right now with her self-loathing and feelings of inadequacy so fresh. Her self-confidence was at an all-time low and she felt dangerously close to breaking down.
She rushed down the stairs, as fast as she could without risking a broken neck, relieved when she reached the ground floor. She didn’t waste any time heading for the entrance, ignoring the new voice that called her name. She was trying to contain her tears until she was alone and could vent them freely, but someone grabbed her arm and spun her around, upsetting her tenuous hold on her self-control and tears began to spill down her cheeks.
“Let me go!” she told the arm, looking up expecting to see that Piotr had caught up with her. She opened her mouth and then closed it in shock when she met Zak’s angry eyes. She tugged on her arm, but he simply tightened his fingers to the point of leaving bruises.
“Fancy meeting you here, Kassi. Out looking for someone else to play the tease with?” Zak asked her angrily.
“Let me go. I was leaving.” She wiped her tears away, trying to stop the sobs that were only seconds away from breaking loose.
“I don’t think so. You evidently came here to p
arty, and for once dressed like the slut we both know you truly are.” Zak’s hand reached out and traced the low décolletage of her dress, causing shivers of revulsion to crawl up Kassi’s spine.
Kassi flinched at his crude language and struggled to pull her arm away once more. “Let go of me,” she told him, her voice raising, not quite at the panic stage yet, but getting close.
She heard Piotr’s voice call her name and the next instance she was stumbling, the dance floor rising to meet her as she fell. She slid across the floor, Zak’s hand removed from her arm, and the sound of fists meeting soft flesh echoing around her. She crumpled to the floor and watched as Piotr and Zak went after one another.
“I’ve been looking for an excuse to teach you how to properly treat a lady now for a while,” Piotr told Zak as they circled one another.
“Kassi? A lady? You might want to rethink your definition man. She’s nothing but a cock tease and she’s…”
Zak didn’t get a chance to finish his derogatory comments because Piotr’s fist was planted firmly in his mouth. Piotr delivered a series of sharp, quick punches to Zak’s abdomen and kidneys, delivering one final crushing blow to the man’s face, breaking his nose and causing him to fall backwards into the onlookers.
Piotr wiped his hands on his pants and then spoke to Zak in a hard, hateful voice. “Stay away from Kassi. Don’t say her name. Don’t even think about her.”
Zak wiped his nose and then sneered at Piotr, “Do you know who I am?”
Piotr looked Zak up and down and then snorted, “Yes and I’m not impressed.” Piotr looked behind himself and saw several of the other security guards from the Moustakas estate standing at the ready.
“This gentleman is ready to return home. Please see that he gets there without causing any further disruption.”
Kassi watched two burly guards take Zak’s arms and manhandle him towards the exit. When a masculine hand appeared in front of her face, she hesitated before taking it and allowing Piotr to pull her to her feet.
“Are you injured?” he asked, squeezing her hand when she attempted to pull it away.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, looking down and avoiding his eyes.
“What were you thinking, taking off like that?”
Kassi looked up at him, her anger returning. “I was thinking that this evening was a mistake and I was trying to leave.”
“That’s not what you wanted when we were in the hallway,” he reminded her bluntly, sending another wave of shame coursing through her.
“I wasn’t thinking clearly. Blame it on the alcohol.” That’s what I’ m going to do. “Feel free to go back to your girl friends.”
“Girlfriends? What in the hell are you talking about?” he roared.
Kassi started to respond but could see several official looking men heading towards them. “I’m leaving.”
“Just like that? No explanation, no nothing?”
“Just like that,” she informed him. She pulled her arm away and started to turn, but his next words made her anger rise another ten degrees.
“Don’t I even get a thank you?”
“For what?” she parried right back at him.
“For saving you from that Neanderthal. I thought you and he broke up?”
“We did, and I was doing a fine job of saving myself.”
“What did you ever see in that guy to begin with? He’s a criminal…”
“You don’t know that,” she fired back.
“Yes, I do. You don’t care what kind of men you’re hanging out with. You’ve been reckless and immature…”
“And you haven’t been? I’ve heard the rumors about the bevy of women you have who drop by your apartment every day.”
“Jealous?” he replied.
“Not really.”
“Sounds like jealousy to me,” Piotr challenged her softly.
“Tonight was a mistake. I’ve moved on. I’d have to actually want to spend time with you to be jealous. Indifferent is more what I’m feeling right now.”
“You say you’ve moved on and I’m here to tell you, you need to be more careful about the company you choose to keep.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do or who I can spend time with,” Kassi fired back, her anger rising quickly.
“When I have to save you from those bad decisions…yeah, I get to have a say.”
“Bite me,” Kassi told him, tossing a hateful look his direction.
Piotr shook his head, “You need to grow the hell up and pull your head out of your ass, Kassi.”
Kassi sneered at him. “This is me doing exactly that. Have a nice life, Piotr.” She rushed through the exit doors, ignoring the call of the security guard to stop. Ignoring Piotr’s pleas for her to stop.
Kassi waved down a passing taxi and had it drive her the long way back to her uncle’s estate. She’d tried to replace Piotr with Zak and that had failed. Once again, Kassi was faced with a reality that proved there was something wrong with her. She knew Zak wasn’t the best catch, but Piotr had just shown her what a low opinion he had of her and she was sure that was why he’d not wanted to pursue more with her. After tonight’s fiasco, she shouldn’t be surprised that she wasn’t enough reason for either man to stick with her. No one seemed to want her unless it was for their own nefarious purposes. Their own pleasure.
Chapter 5
A few hours later…
Leo and Alexi stared Piotr down, their furious glares burning holes in his already aching head. After Kassi had stormed out, Piotr had tried to go after her, only to find an irate Alexi barring his path and an even angrier Leo holding the nape of his neck. Piotr’s urge to fight had drained from him as he realized just how royally screwed up the evening had become.
Now, they were all ensconced in Leo’s office at the estate. The women had been pacified and sent off to their rooms while Piotr had been told to wait for both men and be prepared to explain himself. Kassi’s presence in her suite had been verified by the video feeds scattered around the estate and strict orders had been given to the night watchmen to call if she tried to leave again.
“What in the name of Zeus were you thinking?” Leo demanded.
“I wasn’t thinking of anything. Kassi and I…there’s a history and we’d both had too much to drink…”
“It cannot happen again,” Leo told him in a hard voice.
Piotr nodded, “I know. Can we finish this discussion in the morning?”
Leo shook his head and picked up a white envelope that had been left sitting on his desk. “Not yet. This was delivered to me by private messenger just before we left for this evening’s activities.” He waved the envelope in the air and then tossed it to the desk, right between Alexi and Piotr.
Piotr watched as Alexi picked up the envelope and withdrew the paper inside. “What is it?”
Alexi read the letter and his frown turned to an angry scowl before he was finished. “What is this? We caught the man responsible for the attack on me and the girls’ kidnapping.”
Piotr reached for the letter and read it. Twice.
Mr. Moustakas –
You seem to have had your fair share of problems these last several months. Your business enterprises have caught our attention and we believe we can come to an amicable arrangement whereas you help us, and we provide you protection from others who would seek to destroy you and yours.
Don’t worry about trying to contact us, we’ll contact you. We have eyes and ears everywhere, so any thoughts you might have to resist the business arrangement we have in mind, will be met with immediate repercussions. It would be a shame to see any of your beautiful women suffer a tragic accident. Wouldn’t it?
Andronicus
Piotr couldn’t believe his eyes and looked up to see Leo and Alexi both watching him carefully. “This man who is threatening your family, does anyone know who he is? Do you know who he is?”
“The current head of the Greek mafia. No one knows who he is or what he looks like. Only hi
s name. Andronicus.”
Piotr put the letter down, wondering if this latest threat against the Moustakas family was because of him. He was so busy trying to put all of the pieces together, he didn’t hear all of what Leo was saying.
“You’ll make sure she doesn’t stray from the straight and narrow. No more strange nightclubs. She needs to curb her spa days with her friends, and no more visiting the beach. Not until we can evaluate if this new threat is something based upon reality or merely an empty threat.”
Piotr shook his head, “Andronicus doesn’t issue idle threats.”
“That’s our take on things as well. We are making Kassi’s safety your number one priority.”
“You really think that is wise after tonight?” Piotr questioned Leo incredulously. “She hates me.”
“I make this request because of tonight. You and Kassi need a chance to clear the air…”
“It’s over between us. I swear to you, both of you, that things between Kassi and I from now on are going to remain merely platonic. I can’t and won’t keep fighting with her. I don’t think spending all of our time together is going to help the situation.”
“You need to find a way to make it work,” Leo told him.
“I’ve been trying. She’s been avoiding me since returning from the States,” Piotr told them sourly.
“Good, then becoming her full-time bodyguard should be no problem. It will give you all the time you need to clear the air,” Alexi told him with a sly grin.
“Kassi has been very unhappy of late and as she settles back into a routine, she’ll find another young man to focus her energies on. Kassi had never lacked for male attention.” Leo was smiling as he finished speaking.
Piotr clenched his jaw. “I guess.” He stared down the two brothers and then capitulated, “Fine. From here on out, Kassi will be a job and only a job. Now, if there is nothing else, I need to return to bed.”
“Of course.”
“We’ll be announcing this decision to Kassi at breakfast. Don’t be late. We eat at 7:30.”
Her Greek Bodyguard (The Greek Brothers Book 3) Page 3