She touched the tip of her tongue to her lip. His eyes followed the action. “Maybe I don’t have to be such a good woman.” She whispered it, meaning it to be humorous, but it didn’t come out that way. Not at all. She ducked her head, wishing the floor might open up and swallow her. She did have to be a good woman, whether she wanted to or not. “I really have to go, Mitya.” Her only recourse to save herself was to run away. Fast.
His fingers around her arm, if anything, tightened. “Hear me out, Ania.”
The door to the shop swung open and a man strode in, another who clearly was his brother just edging in front of him. She knew immediately it was Evangeline’s husband. It couldn’t be anyone else. He looked around the room.
“She’s in the ladies’ room,” one of the bodyguards said. “Ashe and Sevastyan are with her.”
Fyodor nodded to the man, and he and Timur went straight into the restroom. Within moments, Timur was striding out fast, Fyodor behind him, Evangeline in his arms. She was still sick, a bowl cradled in her arms. Ania hadn’t even realized Ashe had brought one into the room when she’d come in, already prepared, already knowing exactly what Evangeline would need.
Ashe trailed after them, her expression worried. She came straight to the table. “She’s going to be all right, Ania. Fyodor will take her home. They have a nurse there, and she’ll give her fluids.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ll take care of the late customers at the end of the business run. Come back when things aren’t so crazy so we can visit some more.”
Ania nodded, but she knew she wasn’t going to come back. Mitya was too much of a temptation, and she’d make a total fool of herself over him. She couldn’t afford to lose her heart to him.
When Ashe was back behind the counter making coffee and selling pastries to the newcomers, she turned her attention to Mitya. “Why did you come today? What’s changed between when we first met and now?”
His palm slid down her arm, his thumb rubbing over the back of her hand. She knew if she had any sense of self-preservation, she would move it, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to feel his touch. She wanted the slow burn moving through her body. She’d never felt that way. The butterflies. The somersaults. The dampness like a slow-burning fire building between her legs. Her veins felt as if they were filled with hot molasses. Her skin felt electric. Her breasts were suddenly heavy. Hot. Even her nipples reacted, coming to two tight peaks. Aching. His touch did that. Just that thumb brushing over the back of her hand. She would be in such trouble with this man.
“I realized, looking at every single bit of footage we had of you coming into this shop, over and over, staying up at night watching it, that I am an even worse man than I knew myself to be because I don’t want to give you up.”
“We don’t know if we’re even compatible.”
“We know.”
She couldn’t deny that. She also couldn’t deny that he was a criminal. He wasn’t pretending to be anything else. He just put himself out there, all that raw sexuality, that dominant, commanding personality, and thought she would deal. Could she? She had so much to lose. She knew she did, and the number one thing was her heart.
“You don’t even know my last name.”
“You would be surprised at what I know about you.” His eyes didn’t so much as blink, wholly focused on her, almost hypnotic.
“You don’t know the first thing about me, and I don’t know the first thing about you.”
“You know we would burn together.”
She considered that. A night? Could she walk away from him after a night? Her heart clenched hard in her chest. It hurt. Just the way it would when she left him. She’d dreamt of a man like him. Reality and fantasy were two very different things. She’d seen Fyodor’s face when he’d carried Evangeline out of her bakery. He had the look of a man furious that his woman was anywhere but home. She wouldn’t be in the least surprised to read about a fire burning down the shop in the morning.
These were men in control of their lives and everything in them. She would have to live with the bodyguards, at least until the relationship burned itself out. She had her own life. Things she liked to do that she was fairly certain a man like Mitya would try to nix immediately. Things she needed to do she knew he would forbid. There would be fights. If he cared that much. If he didn’t, it would be worse than if they fought. Either way, she would be the one to lose.
“You’re overthinking.”
“I’m an intelligent woman.” She gestured toward the bodyguards. “Are they always around you?”
He nodded. “They are necessary.”
“If we had a one-night fling . . .”
“One night will never be enough. A thousand nights will never be enough. If you come to me, Ania, it will be a commitment to me. To us. There will be no going back.”
“I sat in a car with you for fifteen minutes.”
He nodded. “You brought me something beyond any price. I thought to give you your life, but I find I’m not that man. So, I’m asking you to think about sharing your life with me.”
“Do you have any idea how unreasonable and insane that is?”
The unreasonable and insane part was that she was considering his ridiculous proposition even for a moment. She didn’t know him. She was a little afraid of him. Mitya Amurov was not the kind of man a woman could wrap around her little finger to get her way in all things. He was the kind of man who gave orders and expected them to be obeyed.
“You’re shaking your head, Ania, and you haven’t given us a chance.”
“How would I do that?” The sane, intelligent part of her screamed at her to shut up and walk away. To not listen to another word coming out of his sensual mouth in that sexy, caressing tone that wrapped her up in the need for that mouth on her anywhere.
“Have dinner with me.”
Her eyes met his. He would be having her for dinner if she went anywhere near him. Turning him down was going to be the hardest thing she’d ever do. She had few things in her life she could call her own. She’d lost her grandparents and mother. Her father was deteriorating rapidly. She knew it was only a matter of time before she lost him.
This wasn’t her time. If she could have had a glorious night with him and walk away unscathed, then she might have gone for it. Okay, she would have. But she knew, looking at him, she would get her heart broken. He was the kind of man she would never be able to resist.
“I would love to say yes, but I know myself, Mitya. This wouldn’t end well for me.”
“Why are you so certain it would end?”
“We have chemistry.” She was determined to be as honest with him as possible because he was laying himself on the line for her. “That’s true. Much more chemistry than I knew there could be between a couple, but we’re not compatible in other ways. You’re . . . you. Don’t deny what you’re like and say you’ll be reasonable. You won’t be.”
His smile took her breath. It was slow coming, but when it did, it crept into the blue-green of his eyes and softened his harsh, rugged features. “I would never deny what I’m like, but I have to challenge your idea that I’d be unreasonable. Perhaps you would be the unreasonable one and I the voice of reason.”
She stared at him a moment, a little awed by his transformation, and then his comment penetrated and she found herself laughing. “Naturally, you’d think you were the reasonable one.”
“Have dinner with me, Ania.”
She hesitated and then shook her head. “I’ll come back to the bakery and see you here. It’s safer.”
He shook his head. “I know bullshit when I hear it. And lies when I hear them. You have no intention of coming back here.”
She didn’t. Self-preservation was winning out. At least for now. She feared Mitya was probably already an addiction and she wouldn’t be able to stay away.
“Have dinner with me, Ania.
If you are afraid of being alone with me, I will ask Timur and Ashe to come along.”
That made her sound like a coward, and she wasn’t one. She sighed. “My father isn’t in the best of health. I don’t like leaving him alone for too long. I’m overseeing the business at the moment, just until it’s sold, but it keeps me away from him. If I go out to dinner—”
“I’ll bring dinner to you.” He was firm.
She was equally as firm. “That’s not necessary. Seriously, Mitya, I’ll give you my phone number. We can arrange things after I know how my father’s doing.”
He nodded, and she programmed her phone number into the phone he gave her. She knew he watched her as she left, because she could feel his eyes on her every step of the way. She wanted to run, feeling just a little bit like prey.
3
“EVERYTHING is still quiet, Mitya,” Sevastyan reported. “No signs of any Russians trying to come in legally or illegally for the moment. I’ve got people watching in every place they might slip through.”
“Lazar will send his spies first,” Mitya said, leaning back in his chair. He sat in front of the fireplace, in his favorite chair. It was big enough to accommodate his size. Solid. He was all roped muscle, a true leopard shifter, larger than most but so well-proportioned that at first one didn’t notice how extremely strong he appeared.
Sevastyan nodded. “I have no doubt. There’s no way he would come himself unless he was certain you are weak.”
Mitya looked up at his cousin, at the expression on his face. “Meaning?”
“The woman. Ania Dover. If you persist in your pursuit of her, Lazar will have found your weakness.”
Mitya switched his gaze to the flames dancing in the fireplace as he pressed a glass to his forehead. Sevastyan was right. He usually was. Mitya’s father, Lazar, would never forgive his desertion. He would be forever branded a traitor, and in their world, that was a death sentence. To have his own son desert, the one he’d trained to take over the lair, was the worst crime Mitya could have committed. Lazar was a cruel, vindictive man, and he would never stop until he punished, destroyed and then killed his son in retaliation.
“I’m well aware of this, Sevastyan. I struggled with my decision, but I cannot hold my leopard in check for much longer. I need Ania close to me. I’ve considered keeping our relationship private, but in the world of leopards, private doesn’t work. She has to be leopard or Dymka would never react the way he does. She is most likely getting close to the Han Vol Dan. Her leopard will rise, and Dymka will not tolerate any other male near her.”
A woman rarely knew of her leopard’s existence until she entered the Han Vol Dan, a time when her cycle matched that of her leopard. That allowed the leopard to rise to the surface and claim their shared form. Dymka, his male, was already enamored with Ania’s leopard and she hadn’t even shown herself.
Sevastyan sighed, pushed his fingers through his hair and dropped into the chair opposite his cousin. “I was afraid you’d say that. Her family is complicated. As you know, they own the property just bordering yours. About two hundred acres. Most of the hillsides here are planted with grapes, but they aren’t in the wine business. They have a very successful business maintaining cars for the wealthiest clients in and around San Antonio. If a driver is needed, they often will drive for the client. They’re sought after and are paid top dollar.”
Mitya nodded and put his glass down. “The Dover family. I heard of them from Jake Bannaconni. He has a contract with them to maintain his cars. He told me about them. He said there were rumors that the grandfather or father occasionally worked for the Caruso and Anwar families out of Houston years ago.”
Sevastyan nodded. “Those rumors would be true. They were both known for their driving skills, and the families hired them as couriers to get packages from one place to another when they knew someone—make that the police—might try to stop them.”
“So on the edge of the criminal world but not really in it,” Mitya said.
“They knew they were working for criminals,” Sevastyan pointed out.
“Who do you have watching Ania?” Mitya asked.
“Kiriil and Matvei. I trust them with my life and yours, so they are watching over her. Not that I like giving up two of my best men.”
“I appreciate that you sent them. I need her, Sevastyan. I need her in my life soon. Did you do as I asked?”
“Yes, the dinner will be ready in an hour. We can take it over to her home. She’s there now, but Mitya, that isn’t the end to the story. That accident she said her grandparents and mother were killed in? That was no accident. Someone ran them off the road. The Dover car was traveling at a high rate of speed, as if it was being chased. Witnesses claim there was another car that appeared to be trying to run them off the road, but a third car was actually what clipped them and sent them into a spin, and the car rolled so many times witnesses lost count. All three occupants were dead.”
Mitya was silent a moment, turning the facts over and over in his mind. It sounded like a classic hit. They’d set up the Dover car. While the driver worried about the car chasing him, the other was in position to take him out. “Did they do something to anger either family? Like steal from them? Talk to the cops? Anything?”
Sevastyan shook his head. “I did some digging, but so far haven’t found anything but that the Dovers had an impeccable reputation and no one would ever consider that they would steal from those employing them. Or go to the cops.”
“That was how many years ago?”
“Three. Two weeks after they buried Ania’s grandparents and mother, her father was robbed on the street just outside of a liquor store. He was shot multiple times. From what I understand, one of the bullets lodged in his brain and they couldn’t remove it. He hasn’t been seen in public since. He’s alive, there was footage of him leaving the hospital, but he no longer works his business. Ania took it over, and a couple of months ago she contacted Jake Bannaconni saying she wanted to sell. He agreed to handle the transaction for her. I’ve got a call in to Jake to see exactly what his relationship with the Dovers is and what he knows about what transpired between the families in Houston and Ania’s family. From what I understand, the business is worth a fortune. She’s already independently wealthy and doesn’t have to work if she doesn’t want to. Jake’s in negotiations right now with two different buyers.”
Mitya steepled his fingers and continued to stare into the flames. She was selling the business. She’d mentioned that to him.
“Is her property up for sale?”
“No, but there is a rumor that it might be going up. I don’t know if that’s because she’s selling the business or because she contacted a Realtor. Why would you think that?”
“Her grandparents and mother were murdered. Someone tried to kill her father and, in some way, partially succeeded. She told me his health was declining. She’s selling a lucrative business that has been in her family for three generations.”
Sevastyan sat back in his chair. “Shit. She’s getting rid of all encumbrances. All ties. Anything that would hold her down.”
Mitya nodded. “I think I’m going to have to press my suit faster with Ania Dover for more reasons than her leopard rising. I think she’s in trouble.”
“Maybe not now, but if she messes with either the Caruso or Anwar family, she will be. While the two of you are eating tonight, I’ll try to slip in and see her father. That might be the only chance we have.
Mitya frowned. “I’ll see if I can get her to have him join us. If he’s really bad and can’t, then at least she’ll talk to me about him and you’ll have a better idea of where in the house he is and if anyone is with him.
“What do we know about the two families in Houston? They haven’t been on anyone’s radar, have they? In all the briefings—and I admit, I’m still not up to speed on all the players—I don’t recall Drake or anyone else m
entioning either family as a threat.”
“Marzio Caruso came up through the ranks with his father in Florida. They ran a port and docks there, very successfully. When the father wanted a change, they relocated to Houston and quickly established themselves as the authorities in the port. They just took over the docks,” Sevastyan answered. “Ann is his wife, and they have four children, all boys.”
“Great. Are they leopard?”
“According to Elijah, yes, both families. Marzio added a trucking business as well, and the family and their enterprises have thrived. They do business with and get along well with Elijah Lospostos. He says they have always been men of their word. He hadn’t heard of a feud between the Dovers and the Carusos.”
“And the Anwar family?”
“Bartolo is the head of the family and, from all appearances, is a man of his word. He has two sons, Enrico and Samuele, both, like the Caruso brothers, very involved in the business. The daughter is younger by several years, Giacinta. She’s supposed to be very sickly and rarely leaves the house. Again, they do business with Elijah, and he’s never had a problem with them. He said even when the Caruso family came to Houston, there wasn’t a war or seemingly ill will between the families.”
“Elijah is a huge name in the business, not just here but worldwide,” Mitya said. “He’s an asset. Drake was smart to recruit him.”
He tipped the contents of the glass back. He rarely drank. It was never a good idea when one was a shifter, especially when the leopard was as feral and bloodthirsty as Dymka was. His leopard had settled a little knowing Mitya’s intention was to see Ania.
“The hit wasn’t necessarily put out by either of those families,” Mitya finally said. “We’re just speculating, Sevastyan. We don’t know if a hit was even ordered. The father could have been done by an actual robber. As for the car, that could have been anyone not happy with the family for transporting something successfully for anyone, let alone the families in Houston.”
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