Page 51 of The Bratva's Innocent Sold Bride
“Ready whenever you are, Mrs. Fokin,” he said, same as he always did the last few mornings I was gainfully employed.
I stuttered, paused for a split second, worried he’d get in trouble if I pretended nothing was different. Ultimately, I just told him I was ready to go immediately. Why wait around and tempt fate? I silently promised the unwitting driver I’d take the fall if Mat blew a gasket over this, which he most certainly would unless I could get everything home before he returned.
The guards were already there, and unlike the driver, they’d been told I wasn’t supposed to be there. Mat also knew me well enough by then to know I would show up, so they were waiting.
“Sorry, ma’am.”
He did genuinely look sorry. This was probably the cushiest job he ever had, and he and his buddy had been working their way through all the Lord of the Rings movies when their game shows ended. The driver gave me a look of betrayal.
“Let’s just say I was getting a whitening treatment,” I said. There was a dentist in one of the other buildings in the office park.
“Let’s just go home before I end up in pain,” he said.
I put my hands on my hips and pointed to the thousands of dollars of equipment in the back. “We should at least pack this stuff up. I’m going to be working from home from now on.”
I could see the pity in their eyes and ignored it, acting like that was what I wanted all along. Who needed freedom and independence? They begrudgingly agreed, and I told them I just needed half an hour to get everything backed up and sent to Delta, leading them to believe the very act of unplugging the computers might threaten the data they held.
One of them must have snitched because before my time ran out, Mat came barreling in. There was a low, menacing conversation before he walked back to find me not so innocently tapping at a keyboard. Artem jumped up when he saw him, then immediately noticed the vibe and hurried to his bed, nose under his paws.
“Look,” I said. “Look how safe I am. There are three armed men out there if you count Bardil.” Which I did, since the driver was ripped and always carried a gun. There was no way he wasn’t as highly trained as the guards.
He shook his head at me, and I wilted. “I’m sorry, CJ.”
“You’re here now,” I said. “How much safer can I be?”
“I can’t be here all the time. I wish I could, but then how much work would either of us get done?”
I forced myself not to smile at his flirtatious tone. We’d been so close to falling into bed last night, so close to bliss. I still didn’t understand what changed.
“At least let me show you what I’ve done.”
He sat beside me, and I pointed out the specialty programs I’d written and the app I’d used to capture Terrence’s phone number. He looked impressed, but with no sign of budging on his decision.
“This is terrifying,” he said.
I laughed. “You can certainly do a lot of damage to people without even touching them if you want.”
He cracked his knuckles and grinned at me. “But where’s the fun in that?” Leaning close, he nudged my cheek with his nose. “I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” I asked, turning so our mouths were almost touching.
“Let’s put all this on the back burner for now. How about a little vacation?”
“After four days on the job?”
“Am I the best boss ever, or what?”
“I’m not sure you’re my boss anymore,” I told him, leaning back.
“I’m always going to be your boss,” he said, laughing when I swatted his arm. Grabbing the arms of my wheelie chair, he pulled me close again, kissing me until I would have agreed to anything. “Let’s get out of here,” he said when I was dazed. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
He stood, reaching for my hand to pull me up, dragging me into his arms and holding on like he hadn’t seen me in days when we’d just had our lips locked together for a solid two minutes.
“What about all this?”
“It’s not important right now. The information you found was a dead end, so don’t worry about it. We can start a new project—after the surprise.”
I wasn’t against a surprise, especially when it seemed like I’d still have a job to come back to. And I wasn’t against more of his kisses, either.
