Bartolo shook his head. “It has to be you, Ania.”
“You know Mitya would never allow such a thing,” she said softly, admitting it aloud. She wasn’t happy to say it. It made her sound like a “yes” woman, but it was also the best excuse in the world and one a man like Bartolo would understand. She even lowered her lashes and looked as submissive as possible. She should have gone into acting.
“We will double the money.”
The fee had always been a small fortune. To double it was ridiculous, and that only made her all the more suspicious. She shook her head. “You can talk to Mitya. If he agrees, then I’ll drive for you, but, signor Anwar, there are several good drivers. Even if you think someone will try to intercept, there are dozens of decent drivers.”
“Not like you.”
She’d done some street racing. Make that a lot of street racing. That had been one way to hone her driving skills and get the adrenaline rush she craved. But she hadn’t done any driving where others could see her. She’d pinned up her hair and used a street name, mostly so her father and grandfather wouldn’t find out she was sneaking out to race. She’d been doing that since she was sixteen.
There was such conviction in Bartolo’s voice, as if he knew about her driving skills. How? As far as she was concerned, it was impossible for them to know, so why keep pushing for her?
“Perhaps, but I’m getting married to Mitya, and he has very strong ideas on what his wife should or shouldn’t do. I don’t think taking jobs racing across the country comes under the heading of what he’d prefer. Like I said, you can have a word with him about this. I’m not entirely opposed to driving for you.” She flashed her sweetest smile. Her words were sincere enough, not lies, because she loved driving.
Fortunately, even though Mitya didn’t want her involved in any way, she was certain Sevastyan would give in and include her—privately of course—in Mitya’s security team. Sevastyan had questioned her twice about her abilities with weapons, but he’d been most interested in her driving skills.
Bartolo sighed. “Your man is difficult, Ania. He comes from Russia. His father is a great vor there and controls most of the ports. He rules with an iron fist, very bloody, and he wipes out his enemies the moment they show themselves. Mitya is a product of this man. Some say he is even more ruthless. If that is so, I don’t want to get on his bad side by suggesting his wife drive for us.”
Ania leaned toward him and lowered her voice as if they were co-conspirators. “I don’t want to get on his bad side either.” She flashed a small smile, almost teasing him.
Bartolo shook his head. “Girl, you’re wasted on that Russian. He might be the best at business, but he won’t ever know what he’s got in you.”
“I’m really sorry I can’t drive for you.” On one level that was the strict truth, but on another, she worried that the Anwar family might know more than they were saying about her family’s deaths. “Signor Anwar, Joshua Tregre is here. He’s from New Orleans. Is it possible he might be able to help? I’ve never met him, but I know Mitya and Sevastyan both know him. Fyodor’s wife, Evangeline, is his cousin.”
Bartolo stood up, shaking his head, indicating their private meeting was over. “No, no, don’t worry your head. We’ll find a solution.” He walked to the door, waiting for his bodyguards to go out first. He hung back, turning to her. “Do you know why your family was targeted, Ania?”
She shook her head. Tears burned close all over again. She had to stop being a faucet at the mention of her family. “No. I talked several times with my father about it, but he didn’t seem to know either. He was very . . . upset. He counted everyone he worked for as his friend. He thought work had to be involved, but there was no reason that he knew of that would make a friend become his enemy.”
“He had no territory for power-hungry families to want to grab.” Bartolo sounded as if he was musing aloud. “He carried packages for others as well as my family. Could he have seen something others wanted him dead over?”
“If he had, he certainly didn’t tell me. And then did my mother and grandmother see it? Did my grandfather? I know I didn’t, and they still came after me.”
Bartolo had one foot out the door when she told him. He stopped dead in his tracks. Frozen there. Very slowly he turned back to her, as did his sons. “Ania, are you saying someone has tried to kill you?”
She nodded. “Yes, more than once.”
Bartolo looked at his sons. “Find out who did this thing. She’s protected. Spread the word. If someone has a hit out on her, they had better retract it or we will be merciless coming after them. Our families go back a long way, Ania. A long way. You are one of us, and there are few shifters left. We need every woman. I see why Mitya would guard you so carefully. I was upset that you were with him before, but now I’m glad.”
He leaned down and brushed both her cheeks with his dry lips. “If you need me, you call. Call one of the boys. It doesn’t matter what time, day or night, Ania, you call, we’ll come.”
That choked her up. “Thanks, signor Anwar. That means so much to me.” He sounded so sincere and almost angry. No, he was angry. The looks he was giving his sons made her think he wanted to start a war.
Both Enrico and Samuele hugged her and followed their father into the great room, where many of the guests were still gathered. Mitya and the others emerged from the den. She could see Mitya looking around for her. He spotted her almost immediately, as if he had radar. He murmured something to the men and came across the room toward her.
The crowd parted for him. Mitya was just that way. He started walking, easy, panther-like strides, confident and a little on the lethal side. She made herself really look at him. He was a big man, a good six four or more, his shoulders wide and his chest broad. He had the roped muscles of the leopard, and when he moved, he had that same easy, almost lazy stride that could turn into a blur of motion that fast.
His face was rugged male. A strong jaw with that perpetual five-o’clock shadow. Those piercing, focused eyes that could melt her when he fastened his gaze on her. His nose was very aristocratic, or it would have been had it not been broken at one time. That, along with several scars on his face, particularly around his left eye, only served to make him look even more gorgeous to her.
Mitya came right up to her, his hand cupping her face, thumb sliding over her skin. He inhaled sharply. “Why is it, kotyonok, that you are always surrounded by men?”
“I don’t know. It just happens.” She tried a tentative smile because he wasn’t smiling. Not at all.
“And why is it that I get that information from your bodyguards and not you?” His tone was mild, and his thumb continued to caress her cheek.
She leaned into his hand. “Probably because I left my cell upstairs in the bedroom, but I was very grateful to have Kiriil and Matvei looking after me while you looked after our guests.”
He bent his head to brush her lips gently. “You look tired, baby. I’ll get these people to go. Drake is staying with his wife at the Bannaconni ranch. Elijah and Eli are staying at a hotel near the bakery. I think Joshua is staying at Fyodor’s. In any case, tomorrow is another day. They’ll be coming back tomorrow, and you can visit with the women while I have a meeting with the men.”
They were definitely going to have to have a talk, but not now, not with so many guests still there. They’d come to honor her father, and she loved that, but she wanted them all to go home. Mitya swept his arm around her.
“After everyone is gone, Sevastyan will do a sweep to make certain there are no listening devices anywhere or cameras left behind.” Mitya gestured toward the stairs. “We know no one has gotten upstairs. I had men stationed on the stairs to prevent that.”
“Did anyone try?”
He smiled, looking a little bit like a pleased wolf. “Several, but they were stopped and noted. Go on up, and I’ll join you in about a half a
n hour. It won’t take longer than that to get everyone moving.”
A bath would be just the thing to get all the kinks out. She still found it astounding that grief could cause the body to hurt every bit as badly as it did the soul.
Ania looked up at his face and she couldn’t help framing it with both hands. “Thank you for taking care of all this for me. For taking care of me. You were the one shot several times only four days ago, but you still did all this for me. I really appreciate it.”
“I’ll always take care of you, Ania.”
She looked into his eyes for a long time, searching for something that was just out of reach. She couldn’t find it. She didn’t even know what it was. At that moment, Jewel was very quiet. There was no terrible fear welling up to tell her to run. There was only this man who had done for her what was unexpected and wonderful. She went up on her toes and brushed her own kiss across his lips.
“A bath sounds perfect. If you would say my good-byes to everyone, I would greatly appreciate it. Especially Evangeline. She looks tired, and she really helped me out this evening, running interference.”
“I’m sorry I had to slip away for a few minutes. I had to warn Bannaconni and Drake that something wasn’t right. Amory worked for Drake, and he’d been in Bannaconni’s home. Emma, his wife, often cooked for the men working for them. They ate in the house, family style.” His voice turned hard. “I don’t like to think that Amory sat at their table with Emma and the children, eating the food she prepared for them, and then betrayed them.”
“I don’t like it either, Mitya. Of course you had to warn them. There could be listening devices in their homes.” She put her hand on the banister, suddenly needing to go somewhere quiet. She’d been born into the world of criminals, but she’d always lived on the fringe. She looked around at the men and women in Mitya’s home. Almost every single one was involved in some way or another in crime. Shaking her head, she turned and walked up the stairs.
10
MITYA reached down to lift his woman out of the cold bath. She was sound asleep, curled up like a little drowned kitten. Her hair floated around her like a mermaid’s might. Long and thick, she had hair most shifters had. When he looked very closely, he could see the various colors streaked through the dark strands. Her lashes were thick and long, like her dark hair, and there was the faintest scattering of freckles across her elegant nose.
He loved her mouth. Her lips were full and formed a perfect bow. When she smiled, she had straight, white teeth, although on the bottom, there was one tooth that was just a little crooked. He was particularly fond of that tooth.
Water poured off Ania’s body as he cradled her against his chest. Immediately she turned in to him, seeking warmth. His body was always hot, and she used him like her personal furnace. One-handed, he wrapped a towel around her, trying to soak up the water dripping from her hair. Lashes fluttered and then lifted. She smiled at him, and immediately his heart ached.
“Hi.”
“You stayed in the bath too long. You’re shivering.”
“Your fault,” she declared, burrowing closer as if she could get inside him.
She didn’t have far to go; she was already inside, wrapping herself around his heart, and he wasn’t certain how it had happened. He kept drying her off, using just one hand as he seated himself on the edge of the bed. He held her against him with the other, although she didn’t try to pull away. She felt elusive to him, as if any moment she might make a run for it.
He bent his head and inhaled her fragrance. He loved the way she smelled. He had to face it, even if it was only privately, he loved everything about her. “Why did I smell all those men on you?”
She sent him another smile, this one a little mischievous. “You leave me alone too long and they just flock around me like I’m a magnet.”
He knew she was teasing him, but it was the truth. She just wasn’t aware it was the truth. “I recognized Marzio Caruso’s scent.” It had to be said, and he knew it would come out gruff. He felt murderous every time Alessandro Caruso got near Ania. “His sons were close to you as well.”
“Marzio had a lot to say. I was nervous at first, talking to him, afraid he might be the one responsible for the death of my family. I didn’t want it to be the Carusos. My father was friends with them. Good friends. I knew it would have broken his heart if he found out Marzio had ordered a hit on him. On all of us.”
“You don’t believe it was the Carusos?” He wrapped her hair with the towel, soaking up the water even as he held her close to him. She wasn’t wearing a stitch and her skin gleamed a soft peach from the light shining through the bank of windows along the west side of the bedroom and the glass roof overhead. The roof had a seal that covered the glass most of the time, but when he wanted, he could open the double doors and let the moonlight into the room. He had them open now.
“I honestly don’t know, Mitya, but it didn’t feel as if Marzio was involved. He mostly was there to tell me you were a man to do business with but not a man to marry. He was worried about me.”
“I see. And did he have a solution for this?”
“He thought I should marry one of his sons. If not, I could seek asylum in his home.”
Mitya did his best to remain relaxed. His woman was lying in his arms, naked, drowsy, sexy as hell and totally relaxed. She hadn’t left with Marzio, not that she would have gotten out the door. He did need to know whether or not he had to make a visit to Houston. If he didn’t like what he heard, Marzio and his sons were going to have very short lives.
“You’re still here,” Mitya pointed out.
She let her lashes drift down again. “Better the devil you know and all that.” Her voice was teasing. Her lashes lifted again and her eyes blazed a vivid indigo, a deep purple that always took his breath.
“Mitya, I don’t want Alessandro Caruso. I’m not attracted to him. I seem to be rather attracted to you. So much so, every other man pales in comparison.”
His heart pounded. She was amazing. He knew she had reservations. He also knew she was a little afraid of him. Okay, being truthful, quite afraid of him, yet she had the courage to tell him how she felt.
“That’s a good thing, Ania. I don’t want to have to fight for you, but if that’s what it takes, I certainly would. You’re more than worth it.”
“I need to go to bed. I’m really, really exhausted.”
He had already pulled back the sheets and blankets, so it was easy enough to round the bed, put a knee into the middle of it and gently deposit her onto the mattress. She rolled over, curling like she did when she wanted to sleep. Knees to chest, hands tucked under her pillow. He used the towel to wring the rest of the water from her hair. Somewhere, he knew there was a hair dryer. If he didn’t use it, that much hair would get a good portion of their bed wet.
“Mitya?”
He had hurried to the bathroom to start rummaging through the drawers. He half turned. “Yeah, baby?”
“I really don’t want anyone else. It’s Jewel. Something’s really wrong there. How do we figure it out? I don’t know what to do.”
Unlike Mitya, Ania hadn’t known her leopard. Jewel hadn’t made an appearance until she was actually in the throes of the Han Vol Dan. Now, she was emerging, pushing her way to the surface, demanding to be allowed out. They hadn’t completely formed their bond of trust with each other. She was learning to talk to her leopard, but it took time. He, on the other hand, was very familiar with Dymka and his vicious, terrifying ways.
He found the appliance he wanted and brought it back to the bedroom to plug in. “I’ll talk to Dymka and find out the problem.” He turned on the dryer and sat on the edge of the bed, directing the heat through the mass of damp strands.
“Please do it now, Mitya. She affects my ability to think straight. When she’s very close to the surface, I can’t tell if she’s the one afraid or if I am.”
Another straight admittance. He really liked that trait in her. That please twisted at him. One part of him liked to hear her say it, the other part was a churning mass of upset stomach. He hadn’t heard the word often. That wasn’t exactly the truth. He had heard it when he was extracting information for his father, or deliberately going after someone his father said was a traitor or hadn’t paid the money owed. When he’d been his father’s enforcer, he’d heard that word too many times.
She started to turn toward him, but he had her hair in a fist and she couldn’t move.
“Just lie there, kotyonok.”
“What’s wrong?”
She was too connected to him. He cursed under his breath. “I’m going to talk to him now. Just give me a minute or two. He can be difficult.” He hesitated, and then made his confession. She was going to find out anyway. “That was an understatement. Dymka is moody, edgy, merciless and ruthless.”
“Like you?”
There was no accusation or judgment. There was no humor either. He had to own that one. “Like me,” he admitted. “Ania, I would never hurt you.”
“Talk to your leopard before you tell me that. I have the feeling he threatened Jewel.” There was the tiniest bit of denunciation in her tone now.
Dymka. He wasn’t going to waste any time. Why is Jewel so afraid of you?
His query was met with silence. Mitya’s anger instantly began to stir. Fucking answer me right now. You said something or did something that has her retreating. Worse, she’s willing to forgo her bond with you and find another mate.
An explosion of rage greeted that statement. That will never happen. I will kill any leopard that tries to take her from me.
Mitya was certain Dymka would do just that. His leopard was bigger and stronger than most others. He was far more experienced. He had been a fighter since Mitya was a toddler and had honed his skills over the years, fighting time and again with more experienced leopards until he was so proficient others avoided him.
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