She cleared her throat. “It’s just a feeling.”
“I worked in law enforcement, Destiny. I’ve always trusted my gut feeling. Got me out of a lot of trouble over the years.”
“I just get a bad vibe off of him. That’s it. This was even before he tried to hit on me. I just feel he’s bad news.”
“Fair enough. I’ll keep that in the back of my mind.” He handed her the report that Martin had done. “Skim this. See what you think.”
Destiny felt a little overwhelmed. She knew she was supposed to help Nikolai, but she didn’t know she was supposed to give opinions about the executives. “Are you sure this isn’t overstepping any boundaries?”
A chuckle rumbled out of Nikolai. “If you mean between us, then I think we’re past that.” He stood, kissed the top of her head, and then turned to leave. “If you mean in terms of your job description, no, because I think my father relied on you a lot. You know more than I do at this point. Let me go finish dinner.”
She watched him go, wondering what the kiss on the top of her head meant. It was as if his lips had burned her. She could still feel where he’d touched her. No man had ever affected her like this.
She should run. Quit her job. Proceeding down this road was nuts.
Chapter5
The wine had been an excellent choice to go with the meal. It was as if Destiny had known what he was going to serve. She had good taste in wine. He swirled the wine around his glass, contemplating how he was going to ask her to stay.
She’d been warm all evening. Touching his arm when they spoke. Not flinching when he’d done the same. She’d even played with her hair a little. He knew what that meant. She was attracted to him. He’d bet not just on a physical level.
Not that he wanted some great romance or anything like that. No, he wanted someone in his bed. That was it. Nothing serious. No commitment. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the company. Could he run it? Sure. Would he eventually want to get back into the field? Would he chafe at wearing a suit and working in an office five days a week?
Or would he like the routine? His weekends off. He could pursue a hobby. He didn’t know, but he owed his father and his father’s employees to give this job his all. He’d like Destiny by his side while he was doing it.
She was a smart woman. Anyone who underestimated her was going to pay. She’d cut them to shreds with her tongue. He could think of other things to do with her tongue.
She returned from the bathroom. He’d poured her some more wine. He had his feet on the coffee table, feeling very relaxed. He didn’t need much more now than sex to complete his day. Now, to get Destiny in his bed. Maybe not just for tonight, but as long as he was running the company.
Sitting next to him, she smiled. “I’d really better go.”
“Do you have to?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean is there something compelling you to go home?”
Her brow creased. “I have to go to sleep and get up for work tomorrow.”
“Okay. What if you stay here tonight and I’ll make sure you get home to get new clothes in the morning.”
She bit her lip. God that was sexy.
“You’re asking me to stay the night?”
“I am.”
“That’s forward of you.”
He leaned closer to her. “I ask for what I want in life, Destiny. I don’t always get it, but the habit has served me well.”
“I’ve just never had anyone come out and say it.”
“Well, I did. And I’d like you to spend more nights here. I’m not offering love or romance. I’m offering a satisfying physical relationship. No strings attached. No bearing on you having a job or not.”
She licked her lips. Did she have no idea what that did to a man? Would she just say yes already? They’d been good in bed. Like lightning and thunder.
“No bearing on my job. So if I walk out of here tonight, you won’t fire me?”
“No. I couldn’t anyway. You could bring charges of sexual harassment. You can stop the relationship any time. So can I. Just sex, Destiny.” He shifted to face her better. “You know we already have that chemistry. We are unstoppable in bed.”
She swallowed. “I need to be at my apartment before six.”
He smiled. She’d stay. He won her over, now he had to try not to maul her. Which was exactly what he wanted to do. His dick wanted loose, that was for sure.
He put down his wine glass then captured her lips in a kiss. The heat seared him. She fisted her hands into his shirt, pulling him closer. She had to feel it, too. They were magic together.
He stood, pulling her to her feet. He kissed her again, because he just had to. Like magnets, they couldn’t resist the attraction. He’d been good all week and now he didn’t have to be.
If there were rumors, well, damn them. There already were rumors about Destiny and his father. They were false, but these would be true.
His soul ignited as they kept kissing. He could stand it no longer and he scooped her up in his arms. He carried her upstairs to his bed, putting her on the bed before he stripped himself down.
She watched, her green eyes never leaving him. She licked her lips again. He guessed she liked what she saw. He held out his hand. She took it. Just her touch was like electricity. Her clothes were on the floor in seconds. She was beautiful. Smooth mocha skin. And a tattoo.
He stopped. “How did I miss that tattoo?”
“I don’t know.”
“My tongue was over every inch of you.”
“Guess it was dark,” she said.
The tattoo was of a heart. It was on her left hip. He bent down and kissed it. “Who is Victoria?”
“My grandmother. She took me in when my mother couldn’t care for me. I’ll be grateful to her forever.”
That was beyond sweet. He took her face in his hands, kissing her again, then he rained kisses on her neck and her chest until he knelt in front of her. Her breath was quicker. This was what he needed. This completed his day.
He licked her folds. “Lay down.”
She lay on the edge of the bed. He had easy access to the part he wanted. He took advantage of it, bringing her to multiple orgasms. She lay on his bed, her arms limp.
“You are really good at that,” she said.
“Yes, I am.”
He rolled a condom onto himself then climbed on top of her. She wrapped her legs around him. He could die right now and be a happy dead man. He slid himself into her, hoping the heat wouldn’t burn off his dick. She was warm and welcoming.
He set up a rhythm that he thought would work, then she came again. He didn’t even have to wait for his own orgasm. She might as well have wrenched it out of him. He was spent when he was done.
But he’d rally and they’d do this again. At least one more time.
***
Nikolai visited his father at his house the next night after work. He hadn’t talked to the man in a few days and he wanted to see how he was doing. He worried that his father wouldn’t make it. Could he live life without the old man? They’d settled into a nice relationship of mutual respect.
Nikolai pulled into the circular driveway behind the gate. His father lived in a secure area and then also had a fence around his property. Guess his paranoia had rubbed off on his father. He hadn’t grown up in this house, but he did have some fond memories of holidays.
His father had bought this house for his stepmother. Nikolai had already moved out at this point. His stepmother didn’t want to live in the house that Yuri’s first wife had lived in. He could understand that.
The décor was different from the other house. In fact, other than his father living here, this house bore no resemblance to the one he grew up in. Life went on and he had to adjust.
He rang the doorbell which always felt odd. His father lived here.
Natasha answered, dressed tastefully as always. She stepped aside to let him in. Nikolai kissed her cheek. “Hello, Natasha. You�
��re looking lovely as ever.”
“And you are as charming as your father.”
He smiled. “That apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
“So when are you settling down? Your father wants grandchildren.”
“Hopefully he isn’t holding his breath. I’m not there yet.”
This was the same old song. Nikolai suspected that Natasha wanted grandchildren. She and his father hadn’t had any children of their own. Being an only child, he was the sole person to provide them with grandchildren. They would probably be waiting a long time.
“Better hurry.”
He squeezed her hand. “Not going to happen. I don’t see myself married or having children.”
Her face went into a pout. She was accustomed to getting her way, but this time she wasn’t going to. “How is my father doing?”
“He’s napping right now, but I suspect he’ll be up soon. The chemo was a few days ago and he usually takes this long to get close to normal again. I made some lemonade. You want some?”
He nodded and followed her into the kitchen. She poured him a glass, then set it in front of him. “How are you holding up?”
She let out a sigh. “I’ll be okay. I have lots of help.”
“It isn’t the physical part of this I’m worried about,” Nikolai said.
She frowned. “I have support there, too. I’m not alone.”
“Good.”
He and his stepmother hadn’t gotten along at first, but Nikolai had worked to make the relationship better. No need to have constant tension.
“Hey, Nik,” his father said from the doorway.
Nikolai turned to look at his father. He looked better than he had last time he’d seen him, but still tired.
“Lemonade, Yuri?” Natasha asked.
“Sounds good.”
He slid into the chair next to Nikolai. Upon closer inspection, his father didn’t look better. Natasha put the glass in front of her husband then left them alone. She always did.
“How’s my company, boy?”
“As fit as ever, but I did have a few questions.”
Yuri took a sip of his lemonade. “Fire away.”
“Tell me about Destiny.”
He wasn’t going to ask about her first, but if his father could only handle a short conversation, her information was the most important. His father studied him for a moment.
“She came to work for me right out of college. She was an administrative assistant, but I saw an intelligence in her and my assistant had just retired. I snatched her up five years ago.”
“Her ex-boyfriend visited the other day.”
“That zmeya. She isn’t still seeing him is she?”
“No, she isn’t.”
Nikolai hoped not, considering what he’d done to her in his bed last night.
“He’s trouble and he keeps popping up into her life.”
“He wants money. For drugs?”
“Yes,” Yuri said.
He licked his lips, but had to broach this subject with him. “The office gossip says that she’s sleeping with you.”
Yuri laughed. “Is that still going around? I’m flattered that anyone would think I could satisfy that young girl.”
Then his father hadn’t slept with her. No surprise there. “Preposterous, huh?”
“It is. That girl is gold, Nikolai. Whatever you do with my company, you have to take care of her. Promise me.”
“I promise, Dad.”
How could anyone think that his father's genuine affection for Destiny was so dirty? Now what he felt for her was quite dirty. No doubt about it.
“Anything else?”
He’d brought Martin’s report about his job duties. “Are you up for one more thing?”
“Sure. I’m feeling pretty good today.”
“Martin Krevchenko.”
His father sighed. “What about him?”
“He gave me a list of his duties, and I feel he’s overstepping his bounds,” Nikolai said.
His father put out his hand. “Let me read it.”
Nikolai sipped his lemonade while his father perused the report. Then the man dropped it in front of him. “Bastard is trying to grab some power. Only half of those duties are his. The rest are divided equally among the other executive staff.”
“That’s what I thought, too. How do you think I should proceed?”
“That’s up to you. You can’t fire him outright, but you could buy out his contract. You don’t want a guy like that doing anything important if you’re just figuring out the company.”
That’s what Nikolai had said. Destiny had echoed his thoughts. “Destiny doesn’t like him.”
“He’s the one who probably started the rumor that she and I were sleeping together.”
“I wouldn’t doubt that. Jealousy, I’m sure.”
“Trust Destiny. Believe what she says. Especially if it comes to Martin Krevchenko. I made the mistake of thinking I could trust him because he was Russian.”
“Now I get to clean up that mess.”
His father smiled. “That’s why you make the big bucks.”
*
Destiny came home with the groceries for the week. The supermarket had been nuts. She’d never seen so many people on a weeknight. As if the place was giving something away. Not food since the total was outrageous. She and her grandmother didn’t eat that much. Even with the home health aide, they couldn’t consume that much food.
She sighed as she put down the two bags of food onto the kitchen table. Then she heard a scream. It was Wanda’s voice. From the upstairs bathroom. Shit. Destiny raced up there. Wanda was standing over Destiny’s grandmother.
“She fell and I couldn’t catch her.”
Wanda was tugging on her grandmother’s arm. Her grandmother was moaning.
“Let go, Wanda.”
She shoved the home health aide out of the way. The woman was warm and tender, but no good in an emergency situation. Destiny knelt down beside her grandmother. “Gram?”
A moan escaped.
“Call nine-one-one, Wanda.”
Wanda went off to find a phone. She probably had one in her pocket. Destiny shook her head then looked at her Gram. She was breathing because she was moaning. She was afraid to touch her and cause any more pain. Should have taken that first aid class.
“Gram?”
Her grandmother took her hand. “It hurts, but I’m alive.”
Of course she was alive. A little fall wasn’t going to kill her grandmother.
“Did you break something?”
“I think my hip. It hurts a lot.”
Wanda came back in. “The ambulance is on the way.”
“Unlock the front door and stand in the open doorway so you can direct them up here,” Destiny said.
Then Wanda would be out of her hair.
“Good thinking. She’d just hover and make me nervous,” her grandmother said.
Destiny laughed. “She’s so sweet and nurturing, but useless in a clutch.”
“Yes. I don’t want to get her fired.”
“She’ll probably have another gig when you get out of the hospital.”
Destiny kind of hoped it worked that way. As much as she liked Wanda, there were more and more situations the woman couldn’t handle. Finally, the EMTs and the ambulance showed up and took her grandmother to the hospital.
Destiny arrived as they were rolling her into the Emergency Department of the local hospital.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” Destiny said.
They saluted and were on their way. Her grandmother looked ashy. She was in pain. This was going to take all night. The place was packed and her grandmother wasn’t critical. It was a half an hour before a nurse came in to take some information.
Destiny stepped out to call Nikolai. She might be late tomorrow.
“Hello, Destiny. Couldn’t stay away?”
God, he had a sexy bedroom voice. “Uh, no. My Grandmother is in the hospital. She’s
probably going to get admitted, but not for hours. I’m going to be late tomorrow. I’m really sorry.”
“What hospital are you at?”
She told him. “What does that matter?”
“I’ll be there in half an hour.”
He disconnected before she could tell him he didn’t have to do that. She went back to sit with her grandmother. The nurse had left, but didn’t give her grandmother any pain medication. She’d told her that would have to wait for the doctor to prescribe it.
As promised, a half an hour later, Nikolai walked through the door to her grandmother’s room. He looked around. Destiny stood.
“Gram, this is Nikolai, my boss.”
Her grandmother waved. “Nice to meet you.”
“Has a doctor been in to see you?” Nikolai said after shaking the woman’s hand.
“No, only the nurse,” Destiny said. “They have a full roster right now.”
He disappeared. He returned with a doctor in tow. How had he done that?
“I’m Doctor Johnson. Can I ask you two to step out so I can examine Mrs. Brown?”
Destiny followed Nikolai out. “How did you get that doc in there? Thank you.”
He shrugged. “I just asked him.”
She studied him, but he had what she thought was probably his cop face on. She also thought that he had probably been more persuasive than he was letting on. The place was a zoo and yet he managed to grab a doctor and have that man examine a non-critical patient?
“You need coffee?” he said.
“No. I’m fine, but go ahead.”
“You need anything? Food? Did you eat?”
“I haven’t eaten dinner, but I’m not hungry.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’ll get you some food and be right back. No use you passing out. That won’t help your grandmother.”
She watched him stride away. He was getting food and she had no say in the matter. Bossy, but she appreciated his presence. She was scared and worried. She knew her Gram wasn’t going to die, but it did remind her that the woman’s life was fragile. She’d had to raise Destiny at a time when she should have been enjoying life.
Not that her grandmother had ever complained to her. Destiny knew that her grandmother was heartbroken about her daughter. The woman hadn’t had a sober day in many years. Destiny had no idea how she was still alive after all of this time.
Her Russian Billionaires - The Complete Billionaire Romance Collection Page 43