That close, his erection was tucked right up against her mound, making it impossible to think straight.
“Please,” she moaned.
He reached between them and took himself in hand.
“That’s a start.” His eyes flashed. “Now, get on my cock like a good girl.”
Ava went with Phil to see Julian the next day. Saeed took her with Phil pressed close to her side. The entire way, no one spoke, which wasn’t entirely odd, but Saeed occasionally tried to make conversation and Phil liked pointing things out to her as they passed. But the severity of what she was about to do seemed to permeate the air. She didn’t think they knew, although she wasn’t sure what Dimitri might have told them, but they both appeared too alert. The tension made the cabin appear tiny.
“Ma’am,” Phil drew her attention to him with a quiet murmur. “When we arrive, please allow me to select your table.”
“What if Julian’s already at a table?”
“Then I will kindly ask him to relocate.”
“Phil…”
He put a hand up. “I insist, ma’am.”
“I will be parked across the street,” Saeed piped in. “One signal and I’ll break through the glass if I need to.”
Ava laughed. “You two are sweet, but I don’t think Julian’s going to set up a kidnapping trap in a café in the middle of the afternoon.”
“We have been given very direct orders, ma’am,” Saeed explained.
So, Dimitri had told them, not the extent of the situation, but clearly enough to have them on guard.
“Okay,” she relented. “If that’s what the boss said.”
The café was a tiny sandwich shop in the south. Ava had never been there, but Julian had given her the address and they pulled up in front with nearly ten minutes to spare.
Phil emerged first. He closed the button on his blazer, gaze casually scanning the sidewalk and surrounding area. Once he’d considered the area secure, he motioned her out and kept a firm lock on her elbow as he led her inside.
Ava wanted to laugh at the degree in which Dimitri felt it necessary to keep her safe. She wasn’t the first lady or the queen. Nobody wanted her dead anymore.
She hoped.
But she allowed him his fussing. It was endearing and made her feel cherished, even if at times she wanted to hit him with the morning paper.
Julian hadn’t arrived. Phil showed her to a table against the far, corner wall, away from the windows with her back in the corner. It was three feet from the swinging doors leading into the kitchen and a secondary escape if they needed it.
He took the table next to her just as Julian arrived. Alone.
She shot Phil a raised eyebrow that was ignored.
Julian crossed to her, leaning a bit heavily on his cane than usual. But he offered her his hand and sat in the chair opposite her.
“Thank you for meeting me,” she said.
He nodded. “I wanted to apologize for last night. I don’t think I explained things properly and I may have upset your … partner.”
Ava shook her head. “You have to understand how difficult it is for people like me and Dimitri to agree to things, no matter how deeply we want to. We have people who rely on us to protect them and your offer, as wonderful as it is, I can’t accept it the way you need me to.”
Julian inclined his head a fraction, processing the information slowly. “I understand.”
“But,” she pressed on quickly. “I meant what I said about wanting to help. I was hoping I could interest you in a different service.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “I’m listening.”
She’d talked the idea over with Dimitri, discussing every angle, every pitfall, every way it could go wrong. She felt confident that what she was doing was the right thing.
She reached into her purse and removed the card Penny had made up for her. There was just the one, which she’d thought Penny might find strange, but if she did, she hadn’t said as much, nor did she inquire about what Ava wanted on it. She had simply accepted the request and, two hours later, had returned with a heavy, cream colored card with elegant, gold font.
Ava loved it. She was considering getting her own cards made up that way.
She slid it across the table to Julian and took her hand back. Then she watched as he picked it up and read the ten digits with furrowed brows.
“I don’t understand.”
Ava struggled not to fidget. She kept his gaze even when hers wanted to flick away.
“The person on the other end of that number will help you and all the people you’re trying to save.” She got to her feet quickly. “But you never heard it from me.”
She walked out before Julian could prompt her into any further questions. Phil followed her, one hand firm on her lower back.
It wasn’t until she was in the SUV that she exhaled.
She’d never cut it as a spy, she realized. But she felt oddly exhilarated, excited. Motivated. She finally felt like she was doing something worthwhile. Not directly and no one would ever know it was her, but that was even better. All Julian had to do was call the number and she would anonymously feed him all the information he needed to stop as many human traffickers in her city as she could possibly get her hands on. She would have to be careful about it. No one could ever find out she was ratting out some of the world’s most dangerous people, but that was why she was now just a series of numbers to an undetectable, untraceable, unlisted number.
Her phone rang and she dug it out of her purse.
Dimitri’s grinning face stared up at her from the screen.
“How’d it go?” he asked when she answered.
“Done,” she said, unable to suppress the elation in her voice. “I feel good about this, Dimitri. This is what I need to do.”
He hummed quietly on the other end. “Come to the office. I want to show you something.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Penny fiddled with her glasses as she squinted at the paperwork Dimitri set before her. Her pale brows furrowed, a clear sign of her confusion and mild displeasure.
“Sir, with all due respect—”
“Penny.”
She huffed. “Sir, she’s the leader of the mainland. She’s … them, now.”
“No.” Dimitri rose, fastened the front of his blazer and fixed her with his gaze. “She’s Ava. There is no them and us. Not with her.”
“But, sir—”
He set his hands on her shoulders, marveling at how tiny she really was. “Stop worrying. You’re the one who keeps telling me I need to start doing something with this place, right? Well…”
Her lips pursed. “This is not what I meant.”
“I’m doing it,” he told her.
If possible, her expression only seemed to tighten in further displeasure. “For the record, I think this is a very bad idea.”
“Noted.”
She shook her head, but said nothing as he abandoned his office and started through the catacombs of an office he still couldn’t navigate his way around. The damn thing was built like a fucking maze and it drove him insane. He couldn’t wait to be rid of it.
“Elevators?” he snapped, his patience waning.
Penny stabbed a finger left. “Would you like me to have signs made up, sir?”
He ignored her lip.
Ava arrived with a soft whoosh of metal doors sliding open. She looked stunning in a soft, emerald dress that floated around her long legs. She stepped out, her eyes on him, always on him. He loved that.
“Myshka.” He offered her his hand.
She accepted it, but glanced at Penny. Her smile shifted from sweet and loving, to friendly.
“Hello Penny.”
The other woman inclined her head. “Ma’am.”
Ava groaned and turned an annoyed frown at him. “Did you tell everyone to call me that?”
Dimitri put his free hand up. “Not me.”
Her eyes narrowed in disbelief, but she didn’t press. “Wha
t did you want to show me?”
He let Penny led the way. Lord knew how the women knew her way around, but she guided them back to his office.
Ava had been there before a few times, but she studied the place as they stepped inside, possibly searching for whatever may have been changed. Nothing had been. It was still the same white with the giant oak desk, row of shelves and navy blue carpets. No personal touches. Nothing to really make it his.
“Thank you, Penny,” he told the blonde, who shot him one final look of disapproval and walked out.
Ava didn’t notice, thankfully.
He led her to the single sheet of glass overlooking the city and positioned her in front of him with her back to his chest.
“What do you think?”
Ava’s shoulder lifted beneath his hand in a shrug. “Beautiful. Why?”
“Think you could see yourself working with this view?”
He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear the note of apprehension in her voice when she spoke.
“Possibly … why?”
His hands slipped off her shoulders and he took a step back, then another, until he was leaning against the desk.
“I don’t want it.”
Ava turned on the needle point of her heels. “What?”
He motioned to the view. “I can’t work here. I don’t want to be here. Just sitting here makes me feel like I’m being strangled.”
She started towards him, slowly, apprehensively, the way someone would approach an injured animal.
“What’s wrong?”
He shook his head. “I don’t belong in an office, love. I can’t do the suit and tie business. I’m the Devil,” he whispered low enough just for her to hear. “I belong down there with my people.”
She searched his eyes, reading him the way only she could. “Okay,” she soothed, lifting a hand and touching the side of his face. “Well, that’s okay. No one expects—”
“They do.” He laughed a bit bitterly. “They all expect me to just jump into this,” he tugged on his blazer, “and come in here and sit at this desk and do something. That’s not me.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay, so what do you want?”
He set his hands on her waist and pulled her to him until she stood in the V of his legs. He looked deep into her beautiful eyes.
“I want you to start this with me.” He motioned absently at the office. “Whatever you want. I don’t care. I’ll back you. I’ll be partner with you. I’ll attend whatever meeting you want, but, please, for the love of God, please don’t make me sit behind this desk.”
Her laugh sang down his spine. She slipped her arms around his shoulders and drew her the rest of the way to her. Her brow touched his.
“But you look so sexy in a suit,” she teased him.
“Myshka…”
She kissed him lightly on the tip of his nose. “Fine. I’ll save you.” She pulled back a notch and tipped her head to the side. “Well, Mr. Tasarov, I’ll have to consider your offer carefully and have my people call your people.”
She broke off with a squealing giggle when he dug his fingers into her side.
“Don’t tease me, woman. This is serious.”
She was still giggling when Penny returned, files in hand.
“Sir,” she mumbled, placing the folder on the desk.
She started to turn away, but Ava called after her. She glanced back, eyebrows raised over the rim of her glasses.
“Ma’am?”
“What do you know about the fashion industry?”
There was something profoundly magical about watching the lights flicker to life throughout the city as the world slipped into darkness around it. It was the only good quality about being so up high, in Dimitri’s opinion. He watched as men and women got into cabs and buses and made their way home. He watched children get shooed inside for the night. He watched as the business section slumbered and the residence areas crackled to life. The transition was always so fluid, so graceful.
“Hey.” Ava stepped up beside him, a flute of champagne in hand. “So, I sent Penny home. Most of the paperwork is signed. We’ll do the rest in the morning.” She slipped an arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. “There’s more we need to do, but we’ll deal with them gradually. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
He hummed.
“You sure you want to do this?” She tipped her face back to peer at him. “You’re about to become partner to a fashion magazine. Quite possibly what will be the biggest fashion magazines in the world, if I have anything to say about it.”
He smiled at her confidence. “I have no doubt, and I can live with that.”
She nodded. “Good. It’s going to be amazing, but I might actually have to steal Penny from you. For real this time.”
Dimitri laughed. He kissed the top of her head.
“She’s yours.”
It was her turn to hum. “Think she’ll be okay working with a mainlander building an empire in the north?”
“Got that, huh?”
She nodded, taking a sip of her drink. “Yup, not very subtle about her disapproval, is she? But I reminded her she was a southerner in the north, so … we’ll see.”
She sighed, a soft, content sound that had him slipping his arm around her and pulling her in close.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” She snuggled into him. “Just can’t believe we’re here. Everything we’ve faced seems like a movie I watched once.”
“It’s not over.”
Her head jerked up off his chest. “What?”
He took the glass from her and set it on the desk. He drew her back to him. His palms smoothed up and down her back.
“Marry me.” He went on quickly before she could answer. “I want to add the husband to the partner, the monster, the devil, the man, the lover, the friend. I want to make up the last eight years I never should have let us lose. I want to be the father to our eight headed babies.” He grinned when she burst out laughing. “I want to be everything you need, Ava. I want to be the reason you can’t stop smiling, the reason you blush when you sit. I want to be the reason you feel safe and loved.”
She sobered and rose up on her toes to hook his neck with her arms. Her eyes continued to dance mischievously.
“I want to say yes. I’m very tempted,” she admitted with a sad little shake of her head. “But I can’t until you take me to put our locks on all the lock bridges around the world and travel across Europe and make love everywhere. Like you promised.”
He tugged her closer.
“Say yes and I’ll buy you the bridges.”
Her eyes narrowed teasingly. “Is this a negotiation then?”
His hands slid up and closed in her hair. He pulled her face up and kissed her.
“Marry me, woman.” He nipped at her bottom lip. “Make me the luckiest man on earth.”
She moaned softly. “So, this is about you now, is it?” Her hands struggled between them and his pants were undone. “Maybe you should convince me by christening my new office.”
He took her against the window, one leg bent around his hip as he drove into her, asking her again and again with every thrust to marry him. It wasn’t how he’d envisioned the proposal, but they’d both certainly remember it.
“Yes,” she whispered into his ear as he slipped free of her sated body and pulled her into his arms. “I’ll marry you.”
The End
Have You Tried…
TRANSCENDING DARKNESS
Crime Lord Interconnected Standalone
Book 1
One: Sign the contract.
Juliette Romero had a debt to pay, a debt that wasn’t even hers. But it was the only way to keep her family safe and all she had to do was sell her body and soul to the devil.
Killian McClary wasn’t called the Scarlet Wolf for nothing. He’d been the head of the McClary Organization since he was fifteen and had built a reputation for being a ruthless son of a bitch when it came to runnin
g the city’s underbelly, not to mention merciless when it came to punishing those who betray him. He didn’t believe in weaknesses. Only results. Juliette, with her shy smiles and hot little body was a weakness unlike any other and yet he was powerless to resist one more taste of her sweet flesh.
Two: Become his for a year.
When given the choice between her life or her body, what could Juliette possibly do, but submit to a man whose very name invoked fear in the hearts of others? She just never anticipated falling for his dark, hungry eyes and clever hands, or the way the beast in him made her feel oddly safe and cherished.
But what will happen when Killian’s dark past finally catches up to him and threatens the woman he can no longer imagine himself without? What will happen when both sides find themselves caught in a web of passion, lies and broken promises? Can Juliette tame the wolf or will her love for him devour them both?
Three: Don’t fall in love.
Boundaries will be crossed, loyalties will be tested and lives will be changed forever.
AVAILABLE in Paperback & eBook
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About Airicka Phoenix
Airicka Phoenix lives in a world where unicorns, fairies and mermaids run amok through her home on a daily basis. When she's not chasing after pixies and rounding up imps, also known as her four children, she can be found conjuring imaginary friends to play with. Airicka is the prolific author of over eighteen novels for those who crave strong, female leads, sexy alpha heroes and out of control desires. She's a multi genre author who writes young adult, new adult and adult contemporary and paranormal romance.
For more about Airicka and the realm she rules with an iron fist--and tons of chocolate--visit her at: www.AirickaPhoenix.com
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The Devil's Beauty (Crime Lord Interconnected Standalone Book 2) Page 52