“The family particularly loves this design.” Mariana handed Lissa the sketch of the chandelier she’d loved the most and had hoped the hotel would go with. It was a little bit more difficult to create, but it was gorgeous. The piece spoke to her. Beautiful, like Italy, glamorous and even a little decadent.
“I do too,” Lissa admitted. “It was my favorite.” Another nipple brush. A hot mouth closed over her breast, drew it deep, tongue pushing her nipple hard against the roof of his mouth. His teeth scraped erotically. She gasped as flames rushed through her bloodstream to burn low and sinful between her legs. She felt the familiar dampness.
Two can play this game, Casimir, and I have a vivid imagination.
Not as vivid as mine. Pure male amusement. Pure arrogance.
She didn’t want to start a war with him she couldn’t win, but she was definitely going to retaliate.
“Using this design for the lobby, can you make a variation of it for the restaurant and another for the ballroom?” Mariana asked.
Lissa nodded, trying to keep the flush from creeping up her body to her face. “I’ve already been playing around with ideas because I loved it so much.”
“It’s elegant – exactly what we want, and it feels like it comes from this region. That it might have been here in times gone past, but yet is very sophisticated.”
Casimir’s tongue teased at the underside of Lissa’s breast. Clearly his imagination wasn’t nearly finished.
I’m conducting business here.
I’m just standing here passing the time while you close this deal.
Lissa had to concentrate on what Mariana was telling her. She clearly liked the design, but really, for the chandelier to come off the way they needed it, color was important. “The other thing I love about this piece is the color. It is a muted white like the cliffs in places. It says your hotel like nothing else,” Lissa admitted. “This is one of my favorite places in the entire world, so it was a privilege to create something that made me feel it was part of a place I love.”
They got down to business, discussing price. Fortunately, Casimir didn’t continue his assault on her senses during the money discussion. Lissa had learned not to sell herself short. She knew the worth of her masterpieces, and these chandeliers would be masterpieces. Mariana didn’t wince. They’d had a tentative discussion before. In the end, they came to agreement, one that made Lissa want to dance around the room, but she kept her business face on, smiling and allowing the talk to drift into personal avenues.
She found out that the Loria family expected their children and grandchildren to work in the hotel from the bottom up, learning every aspect of the care and maintenance of their family business. Their employees were treated with respect and many workers were generational. Clearly Mariana was proud of her hotel and family. Lissa liked her even more for that.
Wrap it up, malyshka. I’m hungry for you all over again.
You worked yourself up, she teased, although in truth, he’d worked her up. Still, she wanted to be somewhere she could practice a little payback.
“We would love to have you eat lunch here,” Mariana said. “You’re welcome to walk around the grounds. They’re beautiful and very extensive.”
“Thank you,” Lissa said, rising with her hostess. “I’d love that. It’s very relaxing here and I would enjoy exploring.” She turned to Tomasso. “Are you hungry? Would you join me for lunch?” Better to ask him right in front of Mariana than to have any speculation afterward. She was from the United States and who knew what they did there, maybe everyone had meals with their bodyguards.
Tomasso raised an eyebrow, but inclined his head. “I would enjoy that, Miss Piner.”
“Lissa,” she corrected, sounding slightly annoyed, as if she’d corrected him a million times. If anyone was reporting back to Luigi, they would tell him his houseguest found her bodyguard a little irritating.
Mariana graciously hid her smile as she opened the door and waved them through. “If you need anything at all, let us know.”
Lissa nodded, wanting to kick Tomasso in the shins when he deliberately crowded her. His body heat set her heart pounding. His masculine scent enveloped her, and the brush of his body against hers sent more damp heat spilling into her panties. “Thank you, Mariana. I’ll get the contracts to you and get started on the chandeliers right away.”
As they walked away she glared at Tomasso. “You are terrible. I should kick you.”
“I prefer you kissing me.”
They were given a secluded table on a balcony overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Each of the small balconies was designed so a couple could be totally private. Celebrities visited the hideaway often and they came to relax, enjoy themselves and not be bothered by fans or the paparazzi.
Casimir sat close to her, rather than across from her, both facing the turquoise sea. He threaded his fingers through hers, brought her hand to his mouth to kiss the back and then brought it beneath the table to his thigh, pressing her palm deep. “It’s beautiful here, Lissa,” he observed.
“I love the farm,” she said. “It’s become my home, but this place will always be my first love.”
“In spite of the terrible things that have happened?”
She nodded. “Luigi doesn’t represent these people. He’s the anomaly. I’m Italian. I love being Italian, and I’m proud of my country.”
“I understand,” Casimir agreed. “I feel the same way about my homeland. When this is done, and we’re free, I want to show you my country. It’s beautiful as well. We can make our home on the farm, but we’ll have Italy and Russia to visit often.”
“I hope so.” He’d just said our home. As in he’d be moving in with her. She knew that was the natural progression of things between a man and a woman when they loved each other, but she had always considered she wouldn’t live long – people who did the things she did rarely saw old age.
He brought her hand up to his mouth again, this time scraping at the pads of her fingers with his teeth. “What is it, golubushka? You suddenly looked as if you might faint on me.”
The waiter came, took their orders and smiled at them both. “This balcony is very private. When you prefer more privacy, you can close the doors and the privacy sign will be up. No one will disturb you.”
Lissa burst out laughing when he left. “He thinks we’re having an affair.”
“Of course he does. He’s very romantic and you’re a beautiful, classy woman and I’m your bodyguard. That’s the epitome of romance.”
She laughed softly. “I’ll have an affair with Tomasso, but I think Casimir might object.”
“Not necessarily, as long as you don’t fall in love with him. And you aren’t going to get off that easy. Not that I would mind closing those doors and cutting us off from the rest of the world for a time, but we need to get a few things straight. What made you look a little faint?”
“Of course you aren’t just going to let it go,” she said with a little sigh. “This doesn’t bode well for our relationship.”
“Our relationship will be just fine,” he corrected. His eyes pierced right through her, saw too much. “You’re the one not quite ready to commit.”
She scowled at him. “I’ve totally committed. Totally. I admitted I love you. That’s a huge step, Tomasso.”
“I was in the security room for a while and these balconies are private, no cameras or audio, so we’re alone, and you call me Casimir when we’re talking about our relationship. I want you to know just who you’re talking to.”
She ducked her head. “It was nothing.”
“Malyshka, just tell me what’s gotten you upset.”
“Not upset, just a little thrown. You said we’d make our home on the farm. I hadn’t thought beyond the here and now. I didn’t think about you coming home with me and moving into my house.”
A slow, sexy smile softened the hard edge to his mouth. “Our house. Prakenskii men claim it all. Woman. House. The contents. All of it. It belongs to us.�
��
She couldn’t help but laugh. “I can’t say I haven’t noticed that trait in your brothers. I don’t know why I didn’t think ahead. I’m not good at sharing space.”
“You share just fine. I’m in your bed, you give me whatever I want.”
She couldn’t control the blush. He was talking about more than space in her bed. He made certain she didn’t require much in the way of space. At night he dragged her body tight against his, clamped his arm around her waist or ribs, pinned her with one thigh while the other slid between her legs. He liked to sleep that way. Her back to his front. Not a whisper between their bodies.
Lissa didn’t think she’d ever go to sleep with another human being in her bed, but she found he wore her out in very good ways and she drifted off immediately, feeling safe, her body sated and her heart happy. She liked the way he kept her palm tight against his thigh, his long fingers occasionally stroking a caress along the back of her hand. He liked contact and he wasn’t shy about demanding it.
“I guess I just hadn’t thought beyond the Sorbacovs.” She whispered the admission.
“Malyshka, I hadn’t thought much beyond the Sorbacovs either, until I met you. Now, it’s imperative we both survive – and we will. So that means… We share the same house. Our house. Our bed. Our world,” he finished.
Lissa liked that he was so confident they’d both come out alive after going after the Sorbacovs. She wasn’t going to back away from that goal, not even now that she’d found Casimir. The truth was, the Sorbacovs would continue to send killers after all of them. There were children to protect now. Her sisters. The men she was coming to love as brothers. She had a family now – a real one. They might not be of blood, but they certainly were in her heart. “I lost one family. I’m not about to lose another.”
“You’re as determined as I am,” he said, his eyes on hers.
When he looked at her like that, completely focused on her, as if she was the only person in his entire world, she melted inside.
“I’ve always wanted to come here and explore the grounds,” Lissa admitted, changing the subject again, wanting this time to be for them alone. “I’ve never had the chance, but we’ve got time today if you don’t mind.”
His smile was slow in coming. Sexy. “Giacinta, I would take the opportunity to spend the day with you anywhere, any way I can. I was alone my entire life. Now, I’ve got you. I’ll never get enough of being with you.”
She liked that. How could she not? She tried not to beam, but she was fairly certain the expression on her face could have lit up a dark night.
“Tell me about them. Your sisters. I’d like to know about the women who managed to tame my brothers, especially Gavriil. I didn’t believe there was any hope for him. How did your sister – it’s Lexi, right? How did she manage to get him to stay around long enough to convince him to remain there on the farm?”
Lissa knew her expression softened. She loved Lexi, truly loved her. “Lexi’s special. They all are, but she’s… fragile. Strong. Perfect. She wouldn’t think so, but I think Gavriil saw all of that right away. She was kidnapped when she was just a little girl by a cult. She didn’t escape until she was seventeen. She’s an earth element and can grow anything just about anywhere, so the cult’s farm thrived with her around. The man forcing her into marriage was a pedophile, so he wasn’t enamored with her more adult body, and suffice it to say, her life was a nightmare. When she escaped, the cult murdered her family in retaliation.”
He drew in his breath sharply. “I hope Gavriil got them.”
She nodded. “They came after her again, and it was a big mistake. Gavriil isn’t going to let anything happen to Lexi. He’s different with her. Not yet with the rest of us, but he’s getting more comfortable around us.”
“You like him.”
She nodded. “Very much. I didn’t think I would. He’s… alpha. I don’t know any other word for it. No one is going to get around that man. Well, with the exception of Lexi. Not even his brothers. I could tell they were a little uneasy around him and that made me worried for my sister, but I didn’t need to worry. I should have worried about the men coming after her.”
Casimir suddenly released her hand, and she glanced up to see the waiter heading their way with their orders. He made a show of putting the artfully presented food in front of them and then disappeared back inside.
“It doesn’t surprise me about Gavriil. My two oldest brothers had it the worst. There were several schools. They were taken to the two most brutal of those. Viktor’s school had the worst reputation. About half of those going through that school died before their training was complete. I don’t know much about Viktor, he’s been undercover for years now. Deep undercover. He’s got a target that so far he’s been unable to get to, but he won’t quit until he’s taken him out. I’d never want that man coming after me.”
“Are you saying that Viktor is even scarier than Gavriil?” Lissa was half joking. She couldn’t imagine anyone being more frightening that Gavriil.
“That school was disbanded after Viktor and about seventeen others finished. Even Kostya Sorbacov realized it was too brutal. There are rumors that the seventeen disappeared along with Viktor. Sorbacov has put out hits on all of them, but they can’t be found. I wouldn’t be in the least surprised to find out that Viktor secretly organized them all in school and they’ve disappeared together. Even young he was a leader.”
“If Viktor knows Sorbacov put a hit on him, wouldn’t he just leave whatever job he’s doing and go into hiding?”
Casimir burst out laughing. “Viktor isn’t the kind of man to hide from anyone. He’s going to go after Sorbacov, which is probably what he’s planning on doing the moment he finishes off his mark. He’s after someone big, Lissa, and he isn’t going to stop because of a little thing like Sorbacov turning on him. He’s always been in the most dangerous of situations. Always. He went after the most high value targets, the ones that were considered extremely dangerous.”
“Isn’t that what all of you do?” Lissa asked. She found the conversation fascinating. She wasn’t alone in what she did, or in her conviction that the job was needed in certain circumstances – when the law couldn’t touch the offender. “The seafood is delicious,” she added, because it was.
“Mine too,” he acknowledged. “And yes, we all go after targets, but Viktor and Gavriil’s targets were men surrounded by heavy protection. One had to find a way to penetrate that protection and get inside the inner circle. They spent months, or even years, doing that and living that life day in and day out, never making a mistake. It’s not easy.”
She nodded. “You admire them.”
“I know how difficult role-playing is. Each character I play is for a short period of time; they have to be that person for months or years. You can lose yourself in a role. Life gets confusing when you don’t have anything to anchor you.”
His gaze held hers. She knew what he meant. Her. She was his anchor. Gavriil had Lexi now. Viktor had no one. “Maybe he’s not alone, Tomasso, maybe some of the men and women he went to that horrible school with are with him right now. Maybe they have one another’s back.”
“Maybe. I doubt it. They went off the grid, one by one. No one has found them. Or if they have and someone quietly killed them, no one has taken credit for it. I can’t imagine Sorbacov not crowing about it to someone. He prides himself on being smarter than any of us.”
“He isn’t,” Lissa said. “His arrogance is going to be his downfall. Uri never married. Is he gay?”
Casimir shook his head. “No. He likes women. I honestly think he got caught up in his political role and just didn’t have time for a real relationship. He’s had a couple of mistresses, but they didn’t last long. I haven’t heard he’s into kink. He was close to his mother and reveres his father. Cleaning up his father’s mess isn’t just about his own political aspirations, it’s also about keeping his father’s reputation clean for the history books.”
Lis
sa nodded. “That’s good to know. Uri and Kostya Sorbacov are part owners of the very prestigious Krasnyy Drakon hotel in St. Petersburg.”
Casimir frowned. Shook his head. “I know practically everything there is to know about that family. How would I not know that?”
“They bought into the hotel or acquired the shares through a dummy corporation. Renovations were done, mostly to make the hotel over for the Sorbacovs to have an underground tunnel system that doesn’t just extend beneath the hotel, but under other buildings as well. They want the hotel to compete with St. Petersburg’s finest. By staying silent partners, the extra renovations, the tunnels and hidden hallways, enable Uri and Kostya to have a public place to go where they have extra protection.”
“You’ve been reading the file you got from Ivan Belsky.”
She put another forkful of delicious shrimp pasta in her mouth and nodded as she chewed. “Yep,” she admitted after she chewed and swallowed, trying not to moan, the food was so delicious. “Belsky has a reputation for delivering the real information. It was somewhat of a point of honor with him. You got what you paid for. Of course he often killed those he delivered to, but in his mind he earned his money because he actually came up with the information. Nuts, but I suppose in his mind, it worked for him. So, yes, I believe the information is reliable.”
Fire Bound (Sea Haven Sisters Page 23