Page 16 of Kneel for Me

Instead, he blew out a soft breath and lowered his gaze to focus on his food. When I leaned back in my seat, Igor arched a questioning brow at me, but I just shook my head slightly, hoping he took the hint not to push it.

I wasfinallymaking some headway with Adrian, and I wouldnotlet anything fucking ruin it. If Igor decided to open his big, fat mouth, I was going to wring his neck. Because if he did, I’d have to start all the way back over with Adrian.

And fuck, I did not want to have to do that. I’d waited long enough to have the man I’d been obsessing over for years. It wasmytime now.

“What did James say when you called him?” I asked once Adrian had cleared about half his plate.

He shook his head. “Didn’t get to talk to him. I talked to Darren instead. I don’t know what their plans are, but Darren told me he’d sit down with Jaxon and James to fill them in. I’m sure I’ll get a call from James once they figure out a course of action.”

“Let me know when you do,” I told him.

“There’s got to be bigger players involved,” Igor said, setting his fork down and grabbing his coffee. He leaned back in his seat and drummed his fingernails along the side of his mug. “Ninel doesn’t know anything about this life. I’m sure she’s only with Boris for the promise of wealth.” I snorted. That woman was as vain as they came, and the moment I’d put a bullet through her late husband’s forehead, she’d become broke and destitute.

“Boris isn’t smart enough to pull something like this off on his own,” Mark said, shaking his head. While he might only be my driver, Mark was around me enough to know the ins and outs of this family. I’d tried promoting him once, but he rejected it, claiming he didn’t want the responsibility.

Boris had always just been a lackey for the family, nothing more. Just a little foot soldier that knew nothing about the family except trying to protect it when called to action. He hadn’t even been on anyone’s private team. Easily disposable. Which was why I’d gotten rid of him after I’d dropped Leonid, Inessa’s father.

“No, but he may have made connections while he worked for us,” Igor reminded us. I scowled. “He was around just enough to know who was who. To know which fish were the big ones and to know who we had good relations with and who we didn’t.”

“Fuck,” Adrian swore. He dropped his fork to his plate with a loud clatter and pinched the bridge of his nose. I didn’t like how stressed he seemed. “I don’t understand why he’s turning against the Jacksons though. The family didn’t do anything to him or Ninel.” He looked at me. “All their grievances are with you.” His words were coated with bitterness.

“True, but our alliance wouldn’t have even happened had Jaxon not agreed to marry Inessa,” I reminded him. “And with Adrik dead and my own father gone, James is the only person he has left to lash out at. All I did to himpersonallywas relieve him of his duties as a soldier, and he got a pretty good severance package just so I could get him out of my face.” I shrugged one shoulder and took a sip of my coffee. “Besides, I don’t think it’s just your family they’re after, Adrian. They took down my plane, my pilot, and my flight attendant.”

He shook his head. “But they waited until I was on that plane, too. Take out the consigliere, and you leave my family reeling. And I’m practically a brother to James. Taking me out would be personal.”

Anger burned through my veins at his assessment, and I set my coffee down so hard, the scalding liquid sloshed over the sides and splashed onto the table. I leaned over, bringing our faces so close together that every breath he expelled washed over my face.

“Trying to take you out was personalto me,” I growled, no longer willing to hide just how fucking feral I was over him. “The moment they targeted the Jacksons, they fucked withme,kotik.”

“Why?” he snarled, getting frustrated. His brows furrowed. “What does it even matter to you, Ivan?”

My hand snapped out, wrapping around his throat. He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing beneath my palm. His pupils blew wide, and his lips parted the slightest bit. I heard Mark mutter something along the lines of, “Well, this is certainly a development,” but I ignored him, keeping my focus on my little kitten.

“I have been obsessed with you foryears,kotik,” I told him. “I kept my distance, waiting to see if you’d give me a chance. I took my time with you because spooking you is way too fucking easy and would just make you block me out even more. But when that mother fucker tried negotiating his life, using your family as a bargaining chip, I already knew, with or without James’s consent, I was getting involved.”

“This isn’t your problem.I’mnot your problem, Ivan.”

“But youare,” I corrected him. “You’ve been my problem from the very moment I laid eyes on you several years ago, Adrian. There’s not a fucking move you’ve made that I haven’t been aware of.” His eyes widened in disbelief. I tightened my grip, cutting off his air supply, and hewhimpered. Oh, fuck, the way he whimpered for me… It sent need spiking hotly through my veins, and my cock hardened so fast that for a moment, I couldn’t breathe either.

“We’re going to find Boris and Ninel,kotik. And when we do, you’re going to watch as I slowly skin them alive while prying every fucking sin they’ve committed against you from their wretched mouths. And then, when I have every name in their playbook, I’m going to unleash you on them and watch as you make thembleedforme. For daring to evenattemptto take you from me.” I slackened my grip just a bit and arched a brow at him. “Are we on the same page?”

Slowly, he nodded. I stroked my thumb along the column of his throat. “You don’t have marbles rolling around inside your head,kotik. Give me your words.”

“Yes,” he rasped, his voice strangled. “We’re on the same page, sir.”

Christ, he wasperfect.

Igor made a choking sound, but I just smiled at my kitten. “Good boy,” I murmured.

The sound he made was a mix between a whimper and a choke, and his cheeks flushed hotly. And when that pink tongue swiped over his bottom lip, it took every bit of my restraint not to ravage his mouth and claim it as my own.

14

Adrian

Bracing myself on the shower wall, I rested my forehead on my arm, my lips parting as I groaned low in my throat. My fingers tightened around my length, and my breath stuttered from my lungs as I slid my hand down my shaft and then came back up, twisting my hand around the tip. Ivan had kept me on edge all fucking day, and I didn’t even think he’d done it on purpose.

It was justhim. It was alwaysjust him. He was so effortlessly teasing without even trying. I always ended up with a case of blue balls around him, even before we came to whatever truce this was that we had.

---