Page 66 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

I sigh in relief, but it's short-lived. A moment later, Nikolai appears in the doorway.

I turn and see his gray eyes skewering me.

"Inside," he says darkly. "Now."

I look down the hallway as if there might be a magic portal there I can escape through, but Nikolai makes a low noise in the back of his throat.

“You’re working down the hall, Belle. You’re staying in my hotel. You can’t run. I’ll find you.”

I frown and walk past him. “You don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I do, actually. You’re rather easy to read.”

He closes the door. It feels oddly like being sealed into a rocket ship out in space. Like the world beyond is far away and there’s only us.

Immediately, I feel myself being drawn to him. It’s a magnetic pull, a tingle in my body that seems to know where he is at all times.

I feel him standing behind me. Moving closer. When he whispers in my ear, I don’t even jump. I already know he’s there.

“Eavesdropping, are we?”

I shake my head. “I was coming to see you.”

“About what?”

“About…” I open my mouth, but the lie refuses to come. I have no excuse.

He clicks his tongue. “You’ll have to lie better than that if you want anyone to believe you.”

Suddenly, it comes to me. “About last night. About… what happened between us.”

He circles around me and leans back on his desk. It’s criminal how good he looks perched there. His muscular legs straining against the material of his dark gray pants, his fitted button-down tight across his chest. There’s some gray dusting the dark hair at his temples and every single goddamn inch of him is a work of art.

“Nothing happened between us,” he says.

“I know.” I ignore the pang of longing that comes from the traitor between my legs. “You seemed… upset when you left. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He snorts. “You are here to check on me?”

“I was,” I snap, hoping the lie is convincing. “Until I saw some skeezy guy walk in here.”

“I wouldn’t have suspected you to be so judgmental, Belle. A few tattoos and you assume someone is a criminal?”

He says it in a lilting, singsong kind of way. I know he’s toying with me. This is fun for him, watching me squirm. Watching me try and fail to tease out the dark truths hidden beneath his shiny lies.

“No, I assumed he was a criminal when you told him it was suspicious for him to be seen here.”

Nikolai’s smile slips. I know I’ve hit on something.

“It’s not usually suspicious for you to do legitimate business at your place of work, is it?” I challenge. “Unless, of course, the business you’re conducting isn’t official. Unless it’s illegal.”

“We already talked about this. Several times.” He lifts his hand, and I can’t help but remember that those same fingers were inside of me yesterday—which is obviously his intention. “If you need a refresher of why you’re going to do exactly what I say, I’m all too happy to give it… and I know you’re all too happy to receive.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Only for you, Miss Dowan.” He winks. It’s way more devastating than it should be. “Now, get back to work. You’re on a deadline.”

He walks around his desk like I’ve been dismissed. I’m tempted to flee. This is my opportunity to get out of here, to untangle myself from this man.

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