Page 21 of Rurik
Was this how her brothers always felt? Did they have to get close to preternatural creatures to betray them? For the first time in her life, she had to face the fact that maybe her brothers were right about her. She might not be cut out for their line ofwork.
Charlotte took a quick shower and dressed. Rurik was already in his clothes from last night, examining his motorcycle jacket with a dark scowl. He slid a finger through one of the bullet holes and let out a stream of curse words. When he saw that she was watching him, he swung his jacket on. It was funny, she knew she should be freaked out over him being shot, but whenever she thought about it, she calmed and focused on one thought—she was safe and she was withhim.
“We will need to stop at my apartment again before weleave.”
“Okay.” She collected her purse, her coat, and her camera. Then she walked over to the mini-fridge and opened the door, careful to angle herself so she blocked hisview.
“I’m grabbing some snacks for the plane. You want anything?” She tucked a small black carrying case between two candy bars and crammed them into her purse, burying themdeep.
“No, my plane will have the necessary amenities.” Rurik laughed. “Caviar from the Black Sea, if youwish.”
“Not much of a caviar fan,” she said as she shut the mini-fridge door. She had jeans and a nice sweater on, along with a thick blue peacoat. She hoped it would be warm enough for where they weregoing.
“Nor am I,” Rurik said with a chuckle. “But it isexpected.”
She waved a hand over herself. “Do I need different clothes, or are theseokay?”
Rurik smiled. “I much prefer youwithoutclothes, but it is cold outside and I wouldn’t want you tofreeze.”
“Ha ha.” She laughed sarcastically at his teasing, even though she liked it. A hot blush flooded herface.
“There it is.” His low rumbling chuckle made her burn withdesire.
“There whatis?”
“Your blush. It’s quite a fun challenge to see what makes you turn red, my little rose.” He slid a hand beneath her coat to stroke her lower back, giving her ass a playfulsqueeze.
She smacked his chest. “Are we leaving now?” If they stayed here much longer, she was afraid they would end up back in bed and doing what they’d almost done last night and this morning. It was exactly what she wanted. And that’s what made this game they were playing sodangerous.
* * *
“Youfailed,”Dimitri snapped at Luis Silva. Luis, the battle dragon of the Silva family who controlled most of Brazil, curled his lips in a challenge. He slammed his hands down on Dimitri’s desk. Dimitri looked at those hands, unimpressed by the cracks they’d made in the woodfinish.
“Last night wasn’t my fault,” Luis said. “Those bullets you provided me? Completelyunderpowered.”
“That is the nature of asubsonicsilenced pistol,” Dimitri countered. He’d overestimated this man’s intelligence. “You didn’t want to attract attention to yourself, now didyou?”
“Yes, but to do it right, I’d have to go right up to him and shoot him point-blank. You think I’m going to do that in front of securitycameras?”
“And what the fuck were you doing shooting up one of the nicer hotels in Moscow in the first place? You were supposed to take care of it from the shadows, not in the limelight. Don’t make me regret this alliance,Silva.”
Luis’s black eyes were as dark as obsidian, but Dimitri didn’t backdown.
“He was with a woman. A human. I was curious to see if she would be given hisprotection.”
Dimitri calmed a little. “I know the woman. I saw her too.” If Rurik was protecting a woman, they might be able to useher.
“He took at least three bullets when he shielded her from the attack. That was instinct. She means something to him.” Silva pulled out a slender switchblade and flicked it open. He tossed it into the air, catching it by the handle as it came back down. A pointless display of agility, Dimitri thought, common among those compensating for actualtalent.
“You plan on kidnapping her to lure himin?”
Luis nodded with a sly grin. “To the shadows, as you put it. The Ramirez family, do you remember them? They controlled most of Brazil a hundred yearsago.”
“I remember.” Dimitri hadn’t liked Pablo Ramirez. He reminded Dimitri too much of Grigori Barinov and his brothers, no doubt part of the reason the two houses had once had an alliance. Pablo had believed dragons were supposed to be guardians to humans rather than their rulers. In other words, he’d been afool.
“Pablo mated a mortal woman. We took her, and after we had our fun, we used her to lure Pablo’s family into a trap.” Luis snapped his fingers. “And that was the end of the Ramirez line. It cost me ten of my men, but men can bereplaced.”
Dimitri didn’t smile like Luis did. “Pablo was too trusting. Rurik is no fool. You won’t catch him off guard. Not enough to kill him. And he won’t take a mate. He’s resisted the lurebefore.”
