by Rebel Adams
Daniil instantly rolled us straight off the bed…with a gun in his hand.
He landed on his back—with me on top of him.
My own shout cut off with a grunt from the impact while he pointed his gun up.
I stared down at him; my fingernails imbedded into his shoulders.
Ever so calmly, he puckered his lips…and blew.
A stray curl of my hair lifted and caught in the rest of its inhuman mess.
Apparently, it had been in his line of vision as he stared up at the bed.
Time ticked for a few moments.
I trembled as he held me with his free hand, wondering who the hell was in my room.
Daniil blinked slowly. His lips twitched. “Ember? Is that you?”
My breath caught in the silence.
A feminine reply from up on my bed, “Mm-hm.”
Ember was in my room?
“I would know that scream anywhere.” Daniil lowered his gun. “Anyone else here?”
Silence, then… “No.”
“What are you doing in here?” he asked as his hand rubbed up and down my bare back.
We both heard the deep, shaky sigh from above, and then she said quietly, “I came in to get my interview done, but,” she groaned, “I fell asleep. Christ, I’m so sorry.”
I let my head fall on Daniil’s shoulder, muttering, “There’s no privacy in life.”
I heard a choked snort from above. “Full of ironies.”
Sighing, I crawled backward, shy when it came to nudity unless the person in my bed was supposed to be there. Daniil’s eyes were glued to my bare breasts, and he licked his lips, his gaze turning shark hungry in an instant. I ignored him the best I could, pushing out from between the bed and the wall, and still on my hands and knees, looked for my shirt.
Though my gaze snagged on my luggage and duffle. They were open and had been rifled through. My eyes narrowed, and I breathed deeply. Ember had come in search and had lay in wait for me to return to probably intimidate me or talk me into giving her the damn photo when she could not find it. Not for the interview as she had said.
Finding my shirt, I slipped it on and stood as Daniil sat up from the floor, but he did not get up. I glanced down and saw why. He was rock hard and it showed blatantly under his soft mesh shorts. I found his shirt and threw it to him, jerking my head to the bathroom. “Why don’t you go take a shower? This won’t take long.”
I was pissed. Embarrassment was not even a factor right now. Daniil was staring at me. I could feel it, but I was too busy glaring at Ember to look his way. She was sitting cross-legged on my bed; her cheeks slightly pinked, but she was gazing right back at me with remote eyes.
In the corner of my vision, I saw him sluggishly put the shirt on over his head, and he said coolly, “I wouldn’t mind hearing the interview.”
My teeth clenched as my gaze snapped to him. Of course, he would not mind hearing it, so he could fucking proofread it and try to edit it. I asked furiously, “Maybe you would just prefer to leave entirely?”
His eyes narrowed, and he got up slowly, pulling his shirt down enough to cover his erection. He opened his mouth, and my nostrils flared, knowing he was going to say something to ruin this before it even began. He stared, and then his mouth snapped shut. He brushed past me and stalked into the bathroom, slamming the door hard enough to shake the walls. A few seconds later, I heard the spray of the shower.
I did not have time to think about what that meant though, because I turned my attention to Ember, who was staring at the wall where the bathroom was with a shocked expression. Picking up my duffle, I threw it at her. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing going through my shit? I should report you to the police right now!”
She caught it easily even though she had not been looking at me, and sat it calmly on the bed. “I want the photo.”
“I never would have guessed,” I shouted, pointing at my door. “Now get the fuck out of my room. If you ever pull this again, I will report you to the cops.”
Bristling even more as she leaned back on the bed, getting comfortable, she stated evenly, “If you give me that photo right now, I’ll give your father’s church a two hundred thousand dollar donation.” She reached into her purse on the bed and pulled out what looked like a money order. “I had this prepared if I couldn’t find the photo.” She neatly placed the money order on my bed.
My mouth shut, my temper instantly gone as I stared at that check with so many zeroes.
“I did a search on you and your family,” she stated bluntly. “Under the donations section on your father’s website, it states that the roof needs repairs and the pews need to be replaced.” She tapped the money order. “This would more than pay for the repairs needed.”
I gulped.
My father had been stressed the previous week after church service. Donations had been down for so long with the continuing recession that everything in the church was starting to break. The church needed that cash. I was not a perfect Christian by any stretch of the imagination, but I could not picture my father’s church shutting down because of lack of funds.
I cleared my throat and blinked up at her. I could see victory already in her eyes. It did not thrill me. She somehow knew I could be bought in this manner. I stiffened, coming back to myself now I was not looking at the church’s salvation.
I crossed my arms and leaned back against the dresser. “That money order, plus three off the record questions of my choice, right now, for a copy of the photo and a guarantee from you that you won’t give it to anyone else to publish before I do.” I paused thoughtfully. “And you can’t get pissed at me because of the photo and try to back out of our deal for your interview.” I was still planning to get that interview with her. It was pay dirt material.
Her eyebrows snapped together. “Why would I get upset about the photo? It does show them kissing, doesn’t it?”
I shrugged. “Yes, the photo shows them kissing.”
Her nostrils flared like mine had earlier, and she stayed quiet, watching. At least a couple minutes passed as she stared me down. I just waited patiently, thinking about what article I was going to write tonight and get it sent off before deadline, which was coming up…I glanced at my watch…pretty damn quickly.
“Fine,” she muttered. “You have a deal.”
I nodded, but did not move to get the memory card, asking my first question I wanted to know. “Question one.” I saw her shoulders tense, which told me she was wary, planning to tell me the truth. “Have you and Grigori ever been lovers?” Daniil had said, kind of, that Grigori loved her, but that did not mean she’d had sex with him. It could be unrequited love, and if that was the case, I was barking up the wrong tree in my effort to drag the Donovans in the mud.
Ember froze. Her gaze hooded even as her eyes went frigid. That pretty much gave me my answer right there. But ‘pretty much’ was not fact. “Why do you want to know?”
I shook my head. “Your responding with a question wasn’t part of the deal.” I waited.
She eventually dropped her gaze, staring at the bedspread, not moving. I finally got my damn answer when she stated, “Yes.” She was so stiff she looked like she was going to break.
I sucked in a breath and rested more firmly against the dresser, and took my own turn to stare at the bedspread. Its green embroidered tropical flowers blurred as I tried to decide what question to ask now. I had not been sure before. It had all depended on what her answer might have been, since I had several routes to take. And really, big stories often came from people following their heart or the money. I knew she already had money, even after she gave all of Brent and Cole’s worldly possessions back to them when they returned. She had been rich from her late-grandmother, her late-father, and her late-husband. I tried not to stress over the fact there were a lot of ‘lates’ in there.
My next question was just a nicety before I asked my final one. “Why do you want the photo so badly?” It did not make sense, since it
was of Grigori kissing someone else.
Her lips pursed, surprising me when she hesitated. She growled under her breath and then cracked her neck both ways. “You will not print anything about this to harm Grigori.” Her eyes were sharp on mine, assessing.
“I already said it’s off the record.” But boy, my curiosity was now thrumming.
She snorted but answered swiftly. “I didn’t trust Zoya, so I sent someone to Russia to dig up what they could on her. She’s hiding the fact from Grigori that she’s married. I plan to send the photo to her husband. He needs to take her ass back to Russia.”
Oh. My. God. I really wished I could print that.
Longing for that missed story, I hopped up on the dresser and got comfortable, leaning back against the wall. I looked her straight in the eyes, asking evenly, “Are you more in love with Brent and Cole or Grigori?” She had to have loved Brent and Cole at one point. She’d had their kids.
The barest flinch. But I saw it. She barked, “What the hell type of question is that?”
I just stared. We had already gone over what she was allowed.
Ember jumped off the bed, and I scooted back, worried now she was going to kick my ass since she was so furious. She did not come after me though. She just started pacing. She walked back and forth across my room, her body stiff for a full minute before…shit…tears started rolling down her cheeks.
I was a bitch when it came to my job, and this was going to be part of it. I had seen many people cry and beg when they did not want me to publish a story. I had never faltered in revealing the truth. However, even my heart ached a little seeing the obvious pain that she hid behind her cold mask, her hot tears spilling down her cheeks as she continued her trek across my room and back.
She suddenly stopped, and when she spoke, her voice was void of any emotion. “I won’t ever be in love again.”
I was pissed and sorry for her, all at the same time. She had finagled a way around the question and still answered it to what she truly thought. That much was apparent on her face.
Dammit!
I looked away from her. I was so annoyed that my one question had been wasted…that it took me a moment to realize that she had in essence still given me my answer. It was the fact that she had taken so long to answer. My gut had been right once again.
I nodded and jumped off the dresser, grabbing my bra that was lying on the floor by the bed. I had transferred the photo onto this memory card and erased the rest from my other. Lifting my laptop from my duffle, I pulled the memory card out and quickly made a copy for her on a spare memory stick. Stuffing the original memory card back into my bra, I handed over the memory stick.
She had been peering over my shoulder when I transferred it, and I had heard her quick intake of breath when she had seen the photo. She knew what she had looked like on it, and she had immediately moved away from me, her eyes livid as she stared, but she had kept quiet and stuck with the deal.
But now, within just a moment of time, I found myself flat on my back from my legs being kicked out from under me and a deadly Ember with a forearm to my throat as I wheezed. She stated calmly and slowly, “I’m not going to go back on our deal. However, I am going to tell you that if you tell a soul,” she paused, glancing at the bathroom, “any soul about what you gave me or the answers I gave you, I will find a way to make your life a living hell. I can make it happen.” She smiled. It was scary as fuck. “Or I’ll just kill you if I get bored with the game.”
I rasped in a breath, unable to move at all, my eyes wide as I saw true death in her eyes.
She was just as crazy as Daniil could be.
Why the hell did I keep underestimating these people?
Get the story, and get out. Easy enough, and yet I kept fucking it up.
The bathroom door opened, and Daniil stepped out wearing only a towel around his waist, his wet hair slicked back to show his face in stark relief, and water dripping down his bare tan chest and calves. Ember froze on top of me, staring down into my eyes that were bulging as she pressed harder, making sure her threat got through. Daniil rested a shoulder against the wall, asking calmly, “Ember, is there a reason why you’re choking Ms. Forter? I somehow doubt that could be good for your article.”
My eyes started to water, and I really started to struggle when I felt dizziness take hold.
I had seriously underestimated them both.
He was just going to let me die here on the floor.
But when Ember did not move immediately, still staring at me with those emotionless eyes, mine shutting as true darkness seeped in; I felt the floor vibrate under me and heard him shout, “Get the hell off her!” She was suddenly gone, and I heard her grunt right before I was being lifted in damp arms. I started choking, air coming in hard as Daniil held me, yelling at her, “Go get some damn sleep, Ember. You fucking need it.”
I blinked at him. My throat burned and felt crushed as I got in enough air to stop seeing sparkles. I started struggling in his arms. This had been a bad fucking idea. Really bad, obviously. This group brought nothing but trouble.
“Stop moving,” he shouted, still glaring off to the side, but when he looked down at me, I must have been showing some, okay, probably a lot of what I was feeling on my face because he cursed, and dammit, held me tighter. He glanced back up; a quick peek showed Ember sprawled against a wall, holding her head. He stated with instant calm, “Ember, you need to leave. And seriously, get some damn sleep. I know you’ve been roaming the halls until dawn every night. That’s not healthy.”
“Fucking bodyguards,” she grumbled harshly.
I took my first deep breath and gave a hard shove against Daniil’s chest.
Daniil grunted, and almost lost his grip on me as I twisted, but he caught me.
I rasped, “Both of you fucking leave. Now.” I shoved him again. “I want you both out!”
Ember chuckled, sounding criminal, as she stood. She strolled right past us. “Good luck with her.” I heard my door open. “Remember what I said, Elizabeth.” My door clicked shut.
I glared at Daniil, ready to cry. I wanted him gone. Good sex or not, he was bad news.
He stared down at me as I struggled, holding me tightly. Grandly, he sighed, and then stated in quiet voice, “You are not at all what I’ve always gone for.”
I choked, and a sob escaped. What a crazy old asshole. Pushing against his chest was doing no good, so I turned my head and bit his shoulder hard, and really started struggling when he almost released me. But he grunted and leaned down to my shoulder and bit me.
I yelped, my teeth unlatching from his skin.
He instantly released his bite.
I grabbed my hurt shoulder, staring. Shocked. He had never hurt me before. It had only been the possibility of it that had scared me. Now that he had, I did not know what to think of it.
He shook his head, walking toward the bathroom. “You bite me, I’ll bite you back.”
I rubbed my shoulder, gawking as he moved into the bathroom…and stepped directly into the shower, putting us both under the water’s spray.
I was fully clothed. He was wearing a towel. I still had my tennis shoes on!
“What the hell are you doing?” I shouted in a rasp, my voice not recovered.
“I’m showering, Ms. Forter.” His stared. “I haven’t actually done that yet. If you look carefully, I still have dirt in my hair. All I did was wet that towel,” he jerked his head at a soaking towel that lay on the bathroom floor with dirt streaks on it, “and wipe off with it, and get my hair wet. I was listening the whole time. Your father’s going to be very pleased with that money.” When my jaw dropped, he murmured softly, “I wouldn’t have let her hurt you. I thought she would get off you when I made my presence known.” He shook his head. “She’s really…” He sighed heavily. “She needs some damn sleep. She’s not doing well right now.”
Oh.
As I blinked water out of my eyes, the water was pooling where my body was bent at the
stomach and pressed up against his chest. “You’re still bad news.” That much was true.
He shrugged, easily lifting me up and down with the motion, the pooling water rippling and splashing. “I can’t deny that. However, in my defense, when I choose a lover, I take care of that woman. I won’t let anyone harm you.” His expression turned forbidding. “If they try, they will be dealt with.”
I tried not to gawk. “I’m just asking for trouble if I let this happen.”
His expression slowly altered into sensual knowing confidence, his eyes spiraling to shark hungry. “The trouble is half the fun. The other half is all in how you get into trouble.”
I felt my eyebrows come together. “Tell me you didn’t teach your children that.”
He chuckled. “I’ve taught my children many things, but not that. That’s all mine.”
I nodded. “That explains a lot.”
He shoulders shook. “Thank you.”
I sighed in exasperation. “I should be running from you right now.”
He smiled, and it was a little daunting. “My legs are longer. I would easily catch you.”
I pointed a finger right at the tip of his nose. “You don’t play fair.”
His smile turned wicked. “No, I don’t.”
Still a little overwhelmed, I swallowed and immediately grimaced. “My throat hurts.”
His grinned disappeared, and he set me on my feet right under the spray, my curls instantly plastering to my head. As the water ran over my face, he gently lifted my chin, bending to view the damage. I shut my eyes against the water’s onslaught. I felt his fingers probing lightly, and I flinched.
He cursed quietly. “You’re going to have a nasty bruise. It’s already swelling.” He released my chin. “I’ll be back in a second.”
“All right,” I rasped as he got out of the shower. I started stripping down. I tried not to swallow too much as I peeled my clothing off. I tossed the items out onto the tiles, listening to Daniil speak in Russian since he had not shut the door. I quickly rubbed hotel shampoo that smelled like roses into my hair, feeling the dirt and grime wash away down my body. As I scrubbed my scalp and picked through my curls, I heard him step back into the shower.