Page 19 of Bratva Prisoner
“Maksim…”
His name comes out like a plea, though I’m not sure what I’m asking for. More distance? Less? For him to stop looking at me like he wants to devour me, or for him to actually do it?
“Say it again,” he murmurs with his mouth so close to mine that I can feel his breath against my lips.
“Maksim.”
His hand slides from my cheek to the back of my neck, where his fingers tangle in my wet hair as he tilts my head back. I think he’s going to kiss me, hope he’s going to kiss me. I need him to kiss me more than I need my next breath.
Instead, the sound of a phone ringing cuts through the moment.
He freezes with his hand still entangled in my hair and his body still pressed against mine as the sound continues on the deck, just a few feet away.
“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath.
“Your phone?”
“My emergency line.” He looks genuinely pained to be pulling away from me. “I have to answer it.”
“Emergency line?”
“Each of my brothers has a specific ringtone set up for unique situations. That’s Dimitri, and he only uses that number for family emergencies.”
The mention of family emergencies cuts through the haze of desire clouding my judgment. Of course he has to answer it. Of course this moment, this perfect bubble of want and possibility, has to be interrupted by reality.
“Go,” I tell him, though every cell in my body is screaming at him to stay. “Answer it.”
He releases me reluctantly, and as he does, his hands trail down my arms as he backs toward the shallow end of the pool. The loss of his body heat leaves me feeling cold despite the warm water.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he instructs.
As if I could. As if I want to.
I float in the center of the pool, watching him prepare to take the call that’s going to shatter whatever spell we’ve been under. My body still thrums with unfulfilled desire, still aches from the promise of his touch, but I know the moment is gone.
Reality has a way of intruding on even the most perfect escapes.
Chapter 7 - Maksim
I snatch my phone from where it landed on the pool deck when I stripped out of my clothes with water still dripping from my hair as I swipe to answer Dimitri’s call. Behind me, Alyssa is floating in the center of the pool, and her strawberry blonde hair is spread around her like a halo. Everything inside me screams at me to ignore the phone and finish what we started, but in my line of work, that’s just not an option.
“This better be life or death,” I growl into the phone.
“It is,” my brother confirms. “We need you at the warehouse. Now.”
Dimitri’s voice is filled with panic, which puts me on high alert at once. My brother doesn’t spook easily, which makes his current tone all the more concerning.
“What happened?”
“Our crew found three bodies in one of our shipping containers. Fresh ones. Someone’s sending a message.”
Fuck. This is exactly the kind of situation that requires immediate damage control before it spirals into a full-scale war. Bodies in our territory mean someone’s either testing our defenses or trying to frame us for murders we didn’t commit.
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Make it fifteen. And bring your diplomatic face; we might need to smooth some ruffled feathers.”
I end the call and turn back to Alyssa, who’s watching me with her head tilted to the side. The desire that was burning between us moments ago hasn’t disappeared, but it’s going to have to wait.
