Page 7 of Crystal Wrath
“Personal reasons.”
I step closer to her, using my body to shield her from the man’s view. “Another lie, Natalia...or whatever your real name is.”
She looks up at me, conflict written in her eyes. She’s measuring options and calculating risks. I recognize the process. I’ve done it countless times myself.
“Elena,” she says finally, her voice barely above a whisper. “My name is Elena.”
The truth, freely given. It’s a start.
“Elena,” I repeat, tasting her real name. It suits her better than Natalia. Less cold. More fire. “And what brings Elena to my world, pretending to be a Russian heiress?”
She visibly struggles with her answer, her eyes darting to the man in the gray suit and back to me.
“Curiosity,” she says finally. “And maybe a bit of desperation.”
“Dangerous combination.”
“So I’ve been told.”
I reach out tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The gesture is intimate, but she doesn’t pull away.
“You’re playing with fire,” I warn her.
“Maybe fire is exactly what I need.”
Her voice is soft but determined, and something in her words and the way she looks at me ignites a spark deep in my chest. I thought I’d buried it long ago in the frozen ground of my homeland.
She’s a mystery I want to unravel, slowly and thoroughly. And despite the risk and the obvious deception, I find myself drawn to her like a moth to flame.
Elena struggles to maintain her cover, but she seems captivated by my presence. Our chemistry crackles and the tension between us becomes impossible to ignore.
“Stay close to me tonight,” I whisper. “Consider it protection.”
“From what?”
I glance at the man in the gray suit, who now watches us with open hostility. “From whatever you’re running from. And from whatever brought you here in the first place.”
She nods slowly, understanding dawning in her eyes. She might be a fraud, but she isn’t stupid. She recognizes the offer in my words.
“And what’s the price for such protection?” she questions.
I smile, slow and deliberate. “We’ll negotiate that later.”
As I lead her back inside, I catch Sergey’s eye across the room and nod once. He understands immediately, moving to intercept the man in the gray suit.
Tonight, Elena belongs to me. Tomorrow, I’ll discover what she’s really after. And then we’ll see just how far this dangerous game can go.
3
ELENA
I’m losing control of the situation. Fast.
The charade of playing Natalia Petrova lasts exactly thirty-six minutes before Renat Rostov sees through me like I’m made of glass. And yet here I am, still by his side, my real name on his lips, walking deeper into the lion’s den instead of running for the exit.
“The Marcelli estate has been in their family for three generations,” Renat says, his hand resting on the small of my back as he guides me down a dimly lit corridor. “Old money from Sicily that found new purpose in Miami.”
Every nerve ending where his fingers touch me through the thin fabric of my dress feels electrified. The heat of his palm seeps into my skin, and I fight to keep my breathing steady. This isn’t part of the plan. None of this is part of the plan.
