Chapter Eleven

 

Oh, no, hell no, he was not going to be attracted to Kelly O’Gill.

So what if she could actually hold her own and so what if she was smart and looked gorgeous when she laughed at him? He had plenty of other women that he could date. Women who didn’t threaten to kill him.

All right, so that had been a joke, but it was only partly a joke. There’d been an edge of seriousness in her voice. Ivan had no doubt that while she might be smaller than he was, she’d be ruthless in a fight.

That idea really shouldn’t be a turn on.

Kelly continued to fill him in on the lieutenants as they ate, stopping every so often to snipe at him over something he’d said.

“Jesus, is everything I say going to piss you off?”

“I don’t know, depends on if you keep saying it in that condescending tone of voice.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, at least my accent doesn’t make it impossible to understand me.”

“No, it just makes you sound like the villain in a bad James Bond film.”

Ivan snorted. “I’ll have you know women find my accent attractive.”

“Oh? And they’ve told you this?”

“Yes, on several occasions.” He didn’t really like to go around bragging about his one night stands. He figured his actions spoke for themselves—and others could do the talking for him. But he was going to make an exception if Kelly kept needling him about his accent.

Never mind that he’d started it by needling her about hers. Her accent actually wasn’t that bad, just a trace of brogue. It was kind of beautiful.

Stop it. Bad thoughts, bad.

Kelly leaned in, a conspiratorial look on her face. “Then they were lying.”

Ivan let a smirk slide over his face. “I promise you, they weren’t.”

“Okay,” Kelly said, shrugging placatingly. “They weren’t.”

Ivan leaned in this time, lowering his voice. “Say what you will about French or Italian, but nothing gets a girl hotter than a guy whispering Russian in her ear while he fucks her.”

“Oh? And what does your incomprehensible language have on the languages that are literally named ‘Romantic’?”

“Because if a girl wanted romantic, she’d go for a French or Italian guy. If she wants to feel like a bad girl, she comes to me.” Ivan winked at her.

Kelly flushed, just a little, and he awarded himself a mental point. “Too bad you can’t use your dick to solve this mystery, then, or it’d already be settled by now wouldn’t it? Looks like we’ve just got to make do with your brain.”

“You think you’re real cute, don’t you?” He was starting to think she might be a bit cute, though, and that was the problem.

The waiter stopped by the present the check. “Any dessert for the lovely couple?”

“No, we’re good, but thank you,” Ivan said quickly, catching the glint of murder in Kelly’s eyes.

After he paid, they started to exit, but Ivan froze. “Oh, shit.”

Kelly nearly bumped into him. “What?”

“You know the Caparellis?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“Yeah, you know how the don’s younger brother has five daughters?”

Kelly’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t.”

“Yeah, well he’s walking in the door right now so how about we just go out the side entrance?”

Kelly rolled her eyes but crossed quickly through the restaurant with him, going out the side and around, texting her ride to pick her up down the street.

“I cannot believe you did that. All five? And none of them noticed?”

Ivan shrugged. “It was years ago, but you know how a Caparelli is. They hold grudges for decades.”

Kelly had to know this—their kind of people all had a dark sense of humor. It was kind of inevitable, growing up with parents and friends who arranged for smuggling, theft, and murder to happen on a daily basis. One of the long-running jokes among the mafia families was that of the Caparelli family temper.

Sure enough she snorted. “Yeah, I’m well aware. I remember my mom telling me never to date a Caparelli boy, I’d break his heart and then he’d murder Shane in an honor duel and where would we all be then?”

Yup. Typical mob humor.

Ivan took her by the elbow and led her around the block to wait for her car. “Did your mom ever say anything about Russian boys?”

“She did mention that the eldest Sokolov boy was a piece of work,” Kelly said, obviously teasing.

“Oh, weird, ‘cause my mom told me the O’Gill girl was a real psycho.”

Kelly laughed. “You want the god’s honest truth, my dad suggested I see about marrying you.”

“Wait, really?” That was irony for you. “No shit, my lieutenant, the one you met at lunch, Pavel—he told me I should date you. Acted like I’d be an idiot if I didn’t.”

“Hmm.” Kelly pretended to think about that. “Is he single? Can I have his number?”

To Ivan’s own surprise he found himself tightening his hold on her arm, just the slightest bit, a swoop of jealousy passing through his stomach. “Hey, can’t have you stealing my best lieutenant.”

“Also your only lieutenant, currently, unless you went through the shortlist and promoted everyone already.”

Ivan shook his head, not sure what to do with this woman who just didn’t seem to be able to stop giving him quips. “You think you’re real funny, don’t you?”

“Not as funny as your face.”

“Okay, that wasn’t your best.”

Kelly made a face. “True. What can I say, I’ve been besting you all night, I had to run out of good jokes at some point.”

She winked at him, and maybe it was the night air, or the fact that she was still sassing him two hours into this pseudo-date, or maybe it was the fact that he was lonely and hadn’t had a date in months. Or maybe it was just that she looked beautiful.

Maybe it was something else altogether—something comprised of all of those things, and none of those things.

Whatever the reason, though, Ivan saw the moment that Kelly started to feel it, too. The smile faded slightly from her face, and her eyes widened.

They were standing close, what with the cold, and it was so easy with his hand on her arm just to tug her a little bit closer. To make his intent clear.

The spark of confrontation that they’d been fanning all night felt like something else now. An entirely different kind of spark.

Kelly made a kind of scoffing noise. “And what do you think you’re doing?”

Ivan felt a smile ghost over his lips. “What do you think I’m doing?”

“Being annoying as—”

He kissed her, pulling her in and ducking his head down to close the last bit of distance because fuck if nothing else it would shut her up.

Kelly went stiff for a moment, her mouth already forming the last word of her sentence, but then she relaxed against him, pressing forward, as though determined to show him up.

Ivan felt himself pushed backwards, his back colliding with the wall of the alley, and he grabbed at her, not bothering to be gentle about it if she was going to go around shoving him into things. He was glad it was a warm night, no coats for either of them, leaving his hands free to roam over her back. Kelly sank a hand into his hair, tugging a little, tilting her mouth so that they had a better angle, and Ivan could feel a spike of heat shoot through him as he slid his tongue into her mouth.

She shuddered against him, arching her back a little so that their hips ground together, and Ivan tightened his hold on her. Kelly gave a tiny whimper at that so he slid one of his hands down to her ass and did it again, squeezing. She gave a little moan this time, pressing the sound right into his mouth.

It wasn’t the eager, pliant kisses he was used to from all the women who’d been quite happy to be seduced by him. Kelly kissed him back fiercely, like this was somehow annoying her as well as turning her on, demanding, taking from him all that she could.

Ivan’s hand slid down to the back of Kelly’s thigh, almost instinctively, his body craving more of her, calling out for friction and heat. He hitched her thigh up around his waist, rocking into it, rewarded by Kelly pressing closer into him and making a tiny noise of pleasure in the back of her throat. She pulled back momentarily, gasping for breath, and Ivan licked at the tendon in her neck before biting down on his softly. Kelly made a strangled noise and her hips jerked.

“So, remember that spot, is that right?” Ivan asked, hearing how his voice was starting to go rough.

Kelly glared at him for a second, then yanked him in and kissed him again, her hands grabbing at his shoulders like he might be thinking of going somewhere.

Fuck, she felt good, soft and warm in his arms, making him feel like he might fall apart just a little. Kelly ground against him once, a slow drag of their bodies together, and Ivan thought he might lose his mind just the tiniest bit. A crazy, insane part of him wanted to turn her around, press her against the wall and grind into her until they were both shaking messes, chasing that high.

Of course, her car would be there in just a moment. Drivers were chosen for their discretion and their ability to be selectively blind and deaf. There might be just enough room in the back for him to lay her out, get his hands up underneath her clothes, feel all that soft, flushed skin, tug aside her underwear and dive into that tight, wet heat…

Wait, fuck, what—what was he doing, had he lost his goddamn mind? Having a one night stand with the daughter of the man who was now mentoring him—a bad enough idea on its own. Having a one night stand with the woman who still might be a murder suspect?

No matter what Kelly said, he still only had her word for things. He couldn’t clear her until he saw the paperwork, talked to others and got a better picture. He couldn’t just trust in what she told him. She was raised in the mob. They were all good liars.

He was about to pull away when Kelly wrenched herself free, stumbling backwards.

She looked wrecked, her mouth pick and swollen, her eyes bright and shining, her hair mussed. Two spots of color stood high up in her cheeks, and Ivan could see a light pink mark where he’d bit her. Nothing that would stay until morning, but for now, he could see it and it made his pants tight, seeing his mark on her skin.

“That—that was a mistake,” Kelly said, quickly fixing herself up.

“Right. Yeah.” Apparently, she’d come to the same conclusion he did about this all being a very bad idea which, thank god, he didn’t want to have to deal with a woman feeling scorned. He had a feeling that a scorned Kelly O’Gill would be even more dangerous than the usual Kelly O’Gill.

They stared at one another awkwardly for a moment.

“I don’t even know what that was,” Kelly said quickly, rushed, clearly embarrassed.

“Yeah, no, just…” The heat of the moment? Temporary insanity?

“Right, exactly,” Kelly replied, as if he’d finished the sentence.

They stood there for another moment, staring at one another. Ivan had no idea what Kelly was thinking. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what he himself was thinking. Part of him wanted to grab her and fuck her right up against the wall, all the competitiveness between them morphing into a desire to frustrate her in an entirely different way, to make her scream his name. Another part of him never wanted to see her again, never wanted to deal with her attitude and this confusion.

For fuck’s sake, women were—or had been until he’d had to take over and couldn’t waste time on things like that—the simple part of his life. His dad had been a violent asshole that everyone has had to strive to subtly keep in line, Viktor had been mentally checked out for years, and lieutenants had been jockeying for position and eyeing the throne, seeing how unhinged the old man was becoming.

Going to a club, picking up a woman, letting himself get lost in her for a night, that was easy. He didn’t have to think about that.

Now a woman was the source of all of his confusion and frustration and he had no fucking clue what to do with that.

Kelly’s car pulled up, her driver getting out to grab the door for her. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she said, snappy, almost like she was using crankiness to put more distance between them.

“I want to see all the paperwork,” Ivan told her. “Not just some of it. No secrets, I don’t give a damn about your personal pride or family issues.”

Kelly flipped him off as she got into the car.

The arguing felt normal, safe, like backing off from the edge of a cliff.

Just what cliff he’d been about to jump off of, though—Ivan had no idea.