Page 34 of Paved in Venom

“This is beautiful.” She grabs the railing and looks down, and the sight of her so close to the edge makes my fucking palms sweat and my heart speed up.

“Goddamn,” I blurt out, stepping closer and wrapping an arm around her upper chest to pull her back.

She laughs and looks up at me. “Scared of heights?”

“No, I just don’t like seeing you so close to the edge.”

Her smile widens, and I know I’m not going to like what she does next. I can see the mischief in her blue eyes, the desire to see how far she can push things. It’s the same glint I’ve caught a glimpse of before, except this time there isn’t any terror mixed with it. It’s a look that’s damn near hypnotizing—a look I’ll never be able to resist. How the hell did she get me wrapped around her finger so damn quickly?

“So this would bother you?” she asks, giving a playful laugh as she hikes a foot up onto the lower railing.

Even with my arm still wrapped around her it makes me too nervous to let her continue, so I don’t. I pick her up and carry her back inside, locking the damn door behind me.

Chapter 6

Simona

I’ve decided I like to see Danil worried about me. When those grey eyes turn serious and his whole body radiates with this need to protect me and I know he’s seconds away from putting his hands on me, it’s like a damn drug, and I want more. My parents were very loving, but I’ve never had a man act protective towards me, especially not a man like Danil. I knew putting my foot on the railing would get a reaction. I just didn’t think he’d actually pick me up and carry me inside. It did not escape my notice that he locked the door so I can’t make a mad dash back out there and touch my toes to the railing.

“Afraid I’m going to lose my balance and fall to a grisly death?”

He raises a dark brow at me. “That’s not funny. Don’t even joke about that.”

“What exactly do you and your brothers do?” I ask him. “I mean, besides you stealing money for them and trying to bust sex trafficking rings.”

He keeps his eyes on mine when he says, “We’re a Bratva. We started in Moscow, and then after Alina was taken, we came here because everything we could find about her disappearance led us to this city. We have men under us who do whatever we tell them to do, and we’re slowly taking over a section of the city. When it’s time, we’ll take over completely, and as soon as we find Alina, we’re going to kill a lot of people.”

His eyes light up when he says that last bit, reminding me that I really don’t know a damn thing about the man who’s currently holding me.

“You’re looking forward to killing them, aren’t you?”

“Very much so, sladkaya. I’ve seen enough evidence of what they do, and I’m very much looking forward to spilling their blood. Sometimes that thought is the only thing that keeps me going.”

He pulls me closer and kisses my forehead, and the sweetness of that touch is in such sharp contrast to what he’s just told me.

“And now I have another reason to want to kill them,” he whispers against my skin. “I’m going to find the doctor who touched you, and I’m going to make him pay. He’ll beg for death long before I’m ready to give it to him.”

It’s hard for me to imagine the man who’s been so sweet to me killing someone, but it doesn’t sound like a bunch of bravado. He’s not bragging or trying to make himself sound tough. He’s just stating a fact, and that’s unsettling but also kind of comforting, and I have no idea what to do with that, so I ignore it.

“Those women at the club last night seemed to know you pretty well,” I say, changing the subject.

He sighs and sets me down on the edge of the bed. Grabbing my hand, he lifts it up so he can take a look at my tattoo, checking to see if the redness has gone down.

“I’ve never fucked any of them if that’s what you’re wondering.”

I wasn’t. I mean, maybe I was, kind of. “Do you like going to that club?”

“No, I do not.”

“But you get lap dances there and stuff?” I’m surprised by how much I hate the idea of some woman grinding away in his lap.

“There’s no and stuff,” he says, running his thumb along my skin beneath the tattoo. “I’ve had to get a few lap dances. There’s no way around it. If I’d said no, it would’ve been suspicious as hell, especially since we’re supposed to be into this sort of thing.”

I think about how to ask the next question without being too obvious. Keeping my eyes on his hand and the way his thumb is still stroking my inner wrist, I ask, “So is that something you’re going to continue to do?”

He doesn’t answer, and when I finally meet his eyes, there’s a soft smile playing at his lips. “No, sladkaya. I have an excuse to say no now. It’s not suspicious if I already have a woman in my lap. Everyone knows how much I paid for you. They’re going to expect me to have you with me. It’s your ass that’s going to be grinding in my lap.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling like a dumbass. “Yeah, about that.” I look everywhere but at him when I say, “I don’t really have much experience with anything like that, so maybe it’s best if we don’t do that.”

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