Page 41 of Deceptive Vows
He was going to kiss me, and with the intensity in his eyes, it wouldn’t be a kiss I’d forget.
My breath caught, body tensing in anticipation. Imagine my disappointment when his target changed and his lips touched my neck, ran up the side, and pressed a kiss next to my ear. It wasn’t until that moment I realized how desperate I was to feel his lips on mine. How had I gone from cautious pretense to craving his kiss in mere days?
When he straightened, internally, I felt a hollow ache that rivaled the emptiness of standingbefore my burned home. “I’ll see you in a little bit. Enjoy your bath.” He smiled.
“Okay,” I whispered as he pulled away.
His absence chilled me more than it should have. That realization sobered me.
How did I walk this tightrope I’d found myself on? Despite the need for a quick answer, none came. I’d known the mission was dangerous, possibly deadly. I never thought the victim would be me or my heart.
Chapter Fifteen
NAZAR
“That smells delicious.”Nearly an hour later, Thea ambled into the living room in silk pajamas, her hair still damp.
I swallowed hard. She had no idea what she looked like—soft, real, and more dangerous to my focus than any woman I'd ever met. I took it as a sign of trust that she felt comfortable enough to appear this way.
"Blini." I flipped it in the pan, refocusing on the task.
My day had been full as I negotiated terms for the theater acquisition, lining up contractors, and prepping for inspections. The building was sound,but it would need reinforcement and surveillance setups before it could serve our purpose. And I still hadn't heard back on the offer I'd submitted.
When her eyebrows knitted together, I added, “Similar to crepes. My father used to make these when I was little, when I needed comfort.” I’d fixed her breakfast earlier too. Nothing special, just eggs and bacon, but I’d relished the light sparking in her eyes.
It did something to me. That look made me ache to be the reason she looked that way again.
She joined me in the kitchen. “And there's meat?”
“Fruit as well. Savory or sweet to fill them.” I gestured to both options with my spatula, keeping my movements controlled despite my awareness of her proximity.
“Breakfast, now dinner. If you keep doing this, you’re going to spoil me.” She leaned her hip against the island counter.
I glanced at her as I stirred the fruit. “A man should spoil a woman,da?” She was the only woman I wanted to take care of, to spoil, to dote on. Her smile was worth every bit of effort.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Pa would spoil Ma. He’d bring herflowers for no reason. More than once, I caught them dancing in the kitchen. Of course, they had their disagreements, but they were so in love.”
“My father would often tell me stories about my mother. Their courtship, what she was like.” My fingers tightened around the handle of the pan.
“How old were you when you lost her?”
“Ten.”
A soft exhale. “I’m sorry. Is it okay if I ask how?”
Nodding, I set my spoon on the rest and returned to making the blini. “She was with my baby brother, coming home from the store when they were gunned down outside our home. My father and I were across town when it happened.” I flipped the blini, jaw tightening as memories surfaced. “I will never forget his scream when he found out. It was the most gut-wrenching thing I’d ever heard.”
Thea’s fingers wrapped around my wrist. “That’s awful. Are the killers dead?”
“Da,” I replied through clenched teeth. “Igor, Pasha’s father, and mine killed them all. But we didn’t know Lev Popov had a son, Sergei. Lev had deliberately hidden the boy, and he’d swornrevenge. Last year, after spending years underground rebuilding, the Gray Wolves announced their return by killing our fathers in an ambush.”
I’d stopped cooking and was staring at the blini in the pan.
“My father and I were close. He was a good, decent man. On the darker end of morally gray than I, but good to me nonetheless. I still find myself wanting to seek out his guidance.”
Thea released my wrist, wrapped her arms around my bicep and set her chin on my arm, looking up at me. “Yes, and to not find them there makes the wound fresh once more.”
“Da.” The word came out soft.
