by Roxie Rivera
He grinned. "There's something quaint about roughing it. I'm sure I'll survive."
"Uh-huh." I mockingly rolled my eyes and turned toward the pounding spray to rinse the evidence of our shower tryst off my skin.
Yuri enveloped me from behind. His lips ghosted across my ear. "If this is only a shower, I'm sold on your version."
I laughed and reached out to shut off the water. "Well, you did fly all the way from Berlin for me. I suppose it was the least I could do."
His bark of laughter made my tummy flip-flop. That boyish grin of his brightened his whole face and made him seem younger and less stressed. I ran my fingertips down his cheek. The rough stubble rasped my skin. "You should do that more often."
He took my hand and kissed my fingertips. "Do what, Kitten?"
I tried to ignore the way his pet name made me shiver inside. "Smile." I gestured to his wet hair and his relaxed posture. "I like you this way, without the bespoke suits and the army of handlers and the glossy photo-ready hair and face."
"It's a character." He rolled his shoulders. "It's what investors expect of me. Hell, it's what most women expect of me."
Not for the first time, I experienced the strangest sensation of knowing Yuri. Sometimes I felt like we were more alike than either could imagine.
"I know what it's like to play a character. I've been playing a role since I was a teenager. Fake it 'til you make it, right?" I dragged back the shower curtain and reached for one of the neatly folded towels on the shelf. I handed him one and took another for myself. "People see this polished, educated, well-spoken professional but deep down inside?"
The shadow of his painful past crossed his handsome face. "You feel like a fraud? You feel like an actor playing a role? Sometimes I find myself in the middle of a gala or some political event and I'm rubbing shoulders with the elite and wealthy and I just think—" He stopped himself and cleared his throat. "I don't belong there. No one there understands what it means to be me."
My eyes grew hot and I glanced away from him. He confessed all the things I'd been feeling for years. "I understand, Yuri."
"Yes, I know you do. Earlier you said I'm the only man you've ever dated who could understand what it's like to have a loved one in prison. Well, you're the only woman I've ever known who can understand what it is like to claw your way out of hell and into a boardroom."
The heady statement hit me with its truth. He was right. He'd escaped an orphanage where the boys were starved and neglected. I'd escaped a neighborhood where hookers turned tricks next to my school bus stop and drug dealers lived next door. By twelve, I'd dodged more bullets than most soldiers would on deployment.
Yuri slid an arm around my waist and hauled me tight to his chest. "The other day, Dimitri told me that he believes fate brought him from Russia to Houston, to that tiny apartment over Benny's old bakery. He believes that she was made for him. I'll admit that I thought that to be the silliest thing I'd ever heard but now…"
Gazing up at him, I asked, "But now?"
He brushed his fingers through my wet hair. "Now I'm standing here with you and I'm telling you things I've never told anyone and I feel like…" His voice trailed away as he searched for the right words. "Maybe Dimitri was right."
No man had ever said anything so romantic to me. I desperately wondered what I could say that would show him I was feeling the same thing but he traced my lower lip with his thumb and smiled down at me. In that moment, I realized that I didn't have to say anything. He knew.
Silently, we finished drying off and gathered up our discarded clothing. Inside my bedroom, I cringed at the mess on my desk and the pile of dresses draped over the chair in the corner. "Um—don't mind the mess."
"It's fine." He pretended not to care but I sensed he was fighting the urge to pick up the piles of books and shift aside the pyramid of high heels blocking the closet. Not bothering to slip back into his boxers, he crashed down onto my bed and dragged the top sheet over his chest. With an arm over his eyes, he said, "I can't remember the last time I was this tired."
Patting his foot, I said, "I'll be right back. I'm going to make sure the coffee pot is off."
He made a humming sound of acknowledgment. By the time I'd slipped into a robe and secured the belt, Yuri had passed out completely. I stared at him for the longest time. I couldn't believe a man who regularly made the rich lists was sleeping on my rumpled Target sheets. As tall as he was, he took up most of my full-size bed. I was probably going to have to fight him for space when I got back.
After turning off the coffee pot, I spotted his phone on the table. Guilt seized me as I thought about poor Jake and the other bodyguard and his driver waiting out there while he slept. If they'd been in Berlin with him, they were probably dead tired.
Feeling self-conscious, I made my way to the front door and peered out the peephole. I spotted Jake's familiar form leaning against the opposite wall. I flipped the locked and opened the door. He snapped to attention and took a step forward. Even with his sunglasses in place, there was no mistaking his concerned impression. "Miss Cruz," he said with a nod. "Is everything all right, ma'am?"
"It's fine. Um…" I clutched my robe a little tighter. "Look, Yuri is asleep and I just wondered if you guys wanted to come inside and get comfy? I'm sure you're hungry and tired. There's no reason for you to be stuck outside while he naps."
"Oh." Surprise colored his voice. "Well, we aren't supposed to—"
"Please?" I turned up the charm. "I feel like such a bad hostess having you outside in that car. Come in. Have something to eat. Nap. You know—whatever."
Jake finally accepted. "Thank you. We'll be right in, ma'am."
"You can drop the ma'am. It's just Lena."
"No can do, ma'am. When you're with the boss, you're Miss Cruz or ma'am."
I didn't know how to react to that so I let it go. "I'll leave the door unlocked. Make yourselves at home."
Back inside the house, I returned to my room and found my cell. I didn't have the energy to look at the collateral damage from my night of drunken tweeting and Facebook posting. I typed a quick message to Vivian and got pulled into a conversation with her.
Yuri's bodyguards and driver are kicking it on our couch. Don't freak when you get home.
Oookay. Kinda weird but I'm cool with it.
Sorry. I should have asked first. Also—Yuri is sort of sleeping in my bed.
Sort of?
No, he is. I promise he isn't staying the night. I know how you feel about overnight guests.
Oh geez! It's fine. It's Yuri. Sister Vivian says to get some rest and quit bothering me while I'm in class! ;)
Smiling at her Sister Vivian joke, I dropped my phone on the bedside table and slid into bed with Yuri. He woke briefly when my foot brushed his. Reaching for me, he said, "Come here, Lena."
I happily snuggled up against his cozy warmth. Wrapped in his arms, I relaxed and let sleep take me. This was strangest start to any relationship I'd ever had but damn if it didn't feel promising.
Chapter Eight
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone type that fast."
I glanced over at Yuri as we drove to his estate outside Houston. My thumbs paused over my phone's touchscreen. "It's a learned skill. You should practice more."
He shook his head. "I hate cell phones. I’m old enough to remember what it was like to not be tethered to the outside world twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."
I rolled my eyes at his age remark. "Please, you're not that old."
"I'm older than you. I'm older than Ivan and Dimitri. Hell, I was a teenager when you were born."
"And?" My eyebrows arched expectantly. "Is that a problem?"
"I don't know. Is it?"
"It's not an issue for me."
The worry lines around his mouth visibly relaxed. "Then it's not an issue for me. Now—what are you doing?"
"Trying to salvage last night's cringe-fest," I said with a grimace. "When I was getting dressed and pac
king my overnight bag, it occurred to me that an apology for getting blitzed and making an ass out of myself was just going to draw more attention to me."
He narrowed his eyes with interest. "So what's your brilliant plan?"
"I'm tagging these photos and adding funny, witty captions. I'm drawing attention to all the fantastic places I visited last night. Clearly, I had a damn good time. I'm sure my followers will too."
His lips pursed as he leaned over for a better look at my screen. "Clearly."
I laughed and considered the dancer. The low-slung leather pants hugged his spectacular ass so nicely. "Don't be jealous."
"There's a lot I'm willing to do for you but wearing leather pants isn't one of them."
I giggled and finished typing in the last caption on my photos. Switching to Twitter, I came up with a few quick lines including the night's specials at each club and set them to post throughout the evening.
"Will you get paid for those?"
I shook my head. "I don't have any kind of understanding with the places I visited last night. I'm pretty sure Ty gets paid to promo most of the gay hotspots in town. I wouldn't cut in on his action."
"Not even after he dragged you out and let you get drunk and take all those wild pictures?"
My gaze flicked to Yuri's face. "He was trying to be a good friend by helping me forget how craptastic I felt last night. Things just went a little too far."
"A little? You drunk-dialed me and ended up dancing on a bar sandwiched between two men sweaty, half-naked men."
"Are you really going to sit there and chastise me? What am I? Five?"
He glanced toward the window. I watched his jaw tensing and relaxing. "I don't want lecture you but you put yourself at risk last night. If Vivian and Nikolai hadn't found you and brought you home, you could have been hurt."
I wasn't sure what annoyed me more. That he was giving me a verbal hand-slap for being a bad girl or that he was right about the precarious position I'd been in last night. Annoyed, I crossed my arms. "Yeah, well, we all make mistakes."
His warm hand grasped mine and his serious, somber gaze searched my face. "You have to be more careful, Lena. When you're with me, it's complicated. There are people out there who would see you as a target for all types of schemes. If you want to go out and have fun, go out—but do it at Faze where I know Big V or Kelly will keep an eye on you or let me arrange a bodyguard to keep you safe."
My eyes widened. "A bodyguard? Yuri, come on! Nobody is going to bother me. I don't have anything they could possibly want."
"You are important to me. People will look at you and see dollar signs. It's an ugly fact that goes along with dating me."
I heard the regret in his voice and placed my other hand over his. "That's okay. I'm willing to deal with it."
Smiling, he lifted my hands and kissed my knuckles. Hand in hand, we rode the rest of the way in silence. When we pulled through a gated entry, I got my first clue that this was an incredibly exclusive enclave. Ivan and Erin lived in a fabulous gated community but this place? Holy hell. It was jaw-dropping.
The huge mansions were set far back from the main road and accessible down private roads. Most were hidden by lush trees but a few had visible facades. We turned down a paved road and drove almost two minutes before I got my first look at Yuri's home.
My jaw dropped. The place was massive. "Jesus, Yuri. Do you think you have enough space in that museum?"
He looked chagrined. "It's a little bigger than I'd initially planned."
"I don't even want to imagine what your electricity bill is like in the summer!"
"After seeing Vivian's sticky notes on all the light switches, I'm tempted to invite her over to let her label all of mine too. I bet I could cut twenty percent off my bill if I could get my staff to turn off lights when they leave a room."
Considering the size of the house, a twenty percent cutback would probably be more money than I earned in an entire month. "Do you have a large staff?"
"I haven't hired a full staff yet. There's only Feodor at the house full-time."
"Feodor?"
"He's an older man that I've known since I was a boy. He used to run my Moscow house. I don't spend much time there anymore so I brought him here to take care of this new place. Other than Feodor, there are the bodyguards who live there full-time. Tony and a couple of other drivers on contract come by every morning. I also have a handful of housekeepers and landscapers on contract with a staffing company. Eventually, I need to find the time to sit down and find permanent staff."
"So you're not living here all the time?"
He shook his head. "When I'm in Houston, I spend most of my time at the penthouse downtown. It's centrally located to my business interests and closer to the airport if I need to leave at a moment's notice."
Hoping I didn't sound too pathetic, I asked, "How often are you in Houston?"
"Typically? Three weeks out of the month. I travel to London and then Moscow the first week of every month to handle business affairs there."
"Oh."
"We'll make it work." He brushed a few wisps of hair from my eyes. The intimate touch made my tummy swoop. "You could always come with me."
I started to turn him down by reminding him that I had to work but then I remembered that I no longer had a job. Other than keeping my blog and social media platform active for the advertising money, I had nothing going for me. "That's a tempting offer."
"Have you ever been to London?"
I shook my head. "That farthest I've traveled is New York on the east coast and Seattle on the west coast."
"Do you have a passport?" When I nodded, he smiled and gave my hand a quick squeeze. "Then you will come with me next week."
Taken aback, I hurriedly protested, "Yuri, I can't just drop everything and fly to London. I mean—that's expensive."
His fingertip touched my lips, silencing me gently. "It's my treat."
I tugged his finger away from my mouth. "I don't want this to be a pattern. It's one thing if you buy dinner or take care of the tab for a date but paying for me to travel? It makes me feel…conflicted."
"Why?" He seemed genuinely confused. "It's my money. Why shouldn't I spend it on trips we would enjoy?"
I rubbed my face and tried to find the right way to explain things. "Look, I've always paid my own way. Once I turned eighteen, I stopped letting my dad pay for things too. Every single hour of class and every penny of my rent and living expenses have come out of my pocket since then."
His strong fingers curved along my cheek. "And I respect that. I respect the hell out of you for everything you've accomplished and for doing it on your own terms." He nuzzled my neck and peppered ticklish kisses along my sensitive skin. "Let me spoil you, Lena."
How could I say no to that? As if sensing my capitulation, Yuri claimed my mouth in a teasing kiss. He caressed my belly through the thin fabric of my shirt. His whispered words buffeted my ear. "Say yes, Kitten. Say that you'll let me spoil you the way you deserve."
My gaze flitted to his. If any other man had offered such a thing, I would have demanded the car stop and climbed out on the side of the road. Yuri's offer came with no strings-attached. He wasn't going to use his money to control me. It occurred to me that he took great pleasure in doing outrageously expensive things for the people he cared about—and I was one of them.
"Yes."
"Good girl." He kissed me long and hard, his tongue darting into my mouth and dancing with mine. Our tender, sensual moment was interrupted by the car rolling to a stop. Reluctantly, he broke our kiss. A flash of uncertainty crossed his face. "There's something I should tell you before we go inside."
My gut clenched. "What is it?"
"I have a dog."
I blinked. "Um—okay."
"No, you don't understand. Sasha is—well—he's big. He was bred to be my four-legged bodyguard. I haven't ever introduced him to a girlfriend so I'm not sure how he's going to react. He's incredibly protective of me so
he may be a bit…testy. He barely tolerates Jake and Derek and he hates Nikolai and Ivan. The only people he hasn't tried to bite are Feodor and Dimitri. If I think he can't handle your presence in the house, I'll have him put in his kennel."
Anxiety raced through me. "Maybe I should just stay in the car."
"It's better for him to meet you now. I want him to grow accustomed to you."
Putting an end to the discussion, Yuri opened his door. A moment later, the door on my side opened. Jake offered his hand and helped me out of the backseat. After showing him some hospitality, he'd been nothing but smiles and sweetness with me. "I take it the boss told you about the hell hound?"
His description of Yuri's dog had me glancing nervously at the front door. Yuri held out his hand and I hesitated before walking around the car to join him. He brushed his knuckles across my cheek. "Don't listen to Jake. He's just teasing you."
Looking back at Jake, I wasn't so sure. He didn’t look like he was teasing.
With a gentle tug, he led me up the front steps to his door. Before Yuri could grasp the handle, it opened to reveal an elderly man. He didn't seem the least bit surprised to see me standing with Yuri. With a broad smile, he stepped aside. "Welcome home, sir."
Yuri started to make introductions but the most terrifying bark tore through the house. My eyes widened in a panic at the deep, shockingly loud woof. I heard the thumping footfalls on the gleaming hardwood floors before the great beast came into view. Gasping, I stepped back and nearly lost my balance. Only Yuri's tight grip on my wrist kept me from falling.
"Stand still." I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or Feodor because we were both trying to bolt.
Stepping forward, Yuri bellowed at the dog in Russian. His short, sharp commands brought the bear-sized beast to a sliding stop. The dog plopped his big bottom down and sat perfectly still. The ferocious looking monster was almost eye-to-eye with me even sitting.
Keeping me in full view of Sasha, Yuri moved closer to his guard dog and ruffled the spot between its ears. The dog whined and licked his jowls as Yuri spoke softly. I couldn't understand a word he was saying but I prayed it was something along the lines of don't eat my girlfriend.