Page 117 of Fierce Pursuit

I wanted her. Needed her.

I needed to feel her writhing under me, to hear her moan my name again, so I could know in my soul that she was okay. That the fear hadn’t hollowed her out. That she was still mine.

But that wasn’t what she needed right now.

I exhaled, centering myself, pushing away the ache that throbbed deep in my body.

My needs didn’t matter. Only hers did.

I pulled the blanket up, tucking it carefully around her, smoothing it over her body so she was cocooned in warmth. Her hair had fallen across her face and I brushed it back, letting my fingers linger against the soft skin of her cheek.

She nuzzled into my touch, still lost in sleep, and something inside me clenched.

She was safe.

That was all that mattered.

I leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead, letting my lips rest there for a beat longer than necessary.

She was mine to take care of now. Today’s events didn’t change that, no matter what she may have said in anger.

For now, she just needed sleep.

And I would give her that.

While she slept, I picked up the duffel bag that had been discarded in the car and started going through the bills again. There had to be something else in that bag. If the money was a down payment for a hit, there needed to be more information than just a set of coordinates. Something that told us who the target was, what the payment was… anything.

I stayed quiet and thumbed through every bill, looking for any others that might have numbers or a message written on them.

Then the shouting started downstairs, and I knew my time guarding Marina was over, at least for now.

She was safe in this room.

Gregor had his own private army on the grounds.

Every inch of this mansion had cameras, security systems, and redundancy after redundancy to make sure it was completely secure. The compound was now under lockdown. No one else was getting on the property. The only men that would be allowed in the house would be family, and even then, only the inner circle.

Gregor would have spent more money than God to protect what was most important in his life. His wife and child.

Marina was now under that level of protection. Still,leaving her tore at my heart. It went against every instinct I had.

With a deep breath, I looked at her one more time and assured myself over and over that she was safe here. No one was going to come near her while she was within these walls. More importantly, the sooner I dealt with whatever was happening downstairs, the sooner I was going to be able to get back to her.

The sounds of voices yelling at each other led me to the kitchen where I found Gregor, Damien, and Mikhail standing around the kitchen island, each with a glass of vodka in their hands, ignoring the food laid out in front of them.

Across from them were my brothers, Artem and Pavel.

I cleared my throat to announce my arrival and all at once, the voices fell into silence.

My brothers each embraced me in a strong, comforting hug that I hadn’t realized how much I needed. With each firm pound on my back, I felt more secure, more alive and like myself.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“We got on a private plane from Moscow once we learned why you were in New York. We re-routed to Virginia and landed maybe twenty minutes ago,” Artem explained. “Gregor called us. He shouldn’t have had to. You should have told us what you were doing before you ever left Russia.”

If my brother ever managed to say more than two sentences without a lecture, or some kind of condemnation, I would die of a heart attack.

It was how he showed he cared, with judgment and an annoyed scowl.

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