Chapter Six

Anton’s eyes popped open and darkness saturated his vision. The low, constant beeping coming from the security panel on the wall was a heck of a lot noisier when the bedroom was quiet. Not that it mattered because even the softest of noises would wake Anton up now.

He kicked the blankets off his legs before sliding out of the bed with as much stealth as he could manage. Viviana turned in the sheets, but her eyes stayed closed and she continued sleeping.

Fuck, he loved having her in his bed, even if all they were doing was sleeping.

Anton grabbed the handgun from the bedside drawer before crossing the room to observe the movement on the wall panel. Sure enough, the sensors were going crazy, showing excessive activity on the bottom floor.

He pressed the silence button to stop the low beeps, but continued to watch three rooms light up one after the other to signal a presence was inside.

That didn’t feel right to Anton. Clarissa and the bulls understood they had to key in their codes at night if they woke up and needed something. They had been living in the safe house for a while before Viviana arrived, so they weren’t ones to forget procedure. Rocco had a large, metal kennel he stayed in at night, so it couldn’t be him.

The security system should have been beeping far louder than what it was if someone had come from the outside in; however, it was that they managed to get in. And no one should have been able to get in because two bulls were at both entrances. Still, if there was anything Anton knew not to do, it was to underestimate someone’s drive when they wanted something.

Anton glanced over his shoulder at Viviana and his worry grew. The locks between the floors would keep the intruder from coming up, but once he went down the stairs to handle the issue, it would leave the door opened.

It didn’t much matter. He didn’t have a choice.

If somebody had managed to get inside, Anton was going to make fucking sure they didn’t ever leave unless it was in garbage bags.

The gun in his hand snapped loudly as he cocked the hammer.

“Anton?”

“Shit, I’m sorry. Go back to sleep,” he said, turning to face Viviana and keeping the gun hidden. “I’ll be right back. Just have to use the bathroom.”

Viviana rubbed at her eyes and sat up. “No, I heard your gun. What’s wrong?” Anton wished he could lie to her, but the lights on the panel were still blinking brightly on the wall. When her gaze caught the warning from the security, fear welled in her eyes. “Is that …?”

His heart rate picked up at the tremor in her voice.

“Go back to sleep,” he repeated calmly.

“Anton—”

“Don’t, Vine. Trust me. Lay your head down on that pillow, close your eyes, and I will wake you up in the morning like I did yesterday, and the day before.”

Anton understood he was asking a lot in his simple request. Chances were if someone was downstairs and they had managed to get past the bulls and the security measures somehow, it wouldn’t be fun, quiet, or easy when he went down there. He wasn’t afraid. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had come into his home assuming he’d be an easy kill. However, Anton was worried for Viviana and her well-being, emotionally and physically.

“Can you do that for me, please?” Anton asked.

Viviana bit her lip, nodding. “Okay.”

Not wanting to risk the possible intruder having any more time inside the home than he had already been given, Anton grabbed his cell phone off the small desk and left the bedroom. He shut the door behind him, and it wasn’t five seconds later he heard quiet footsteps before the door’s lock clicked.

Smart girl, he thought with a cold smile. But Anton also knew she wouldn’t sleep until he was back in that bed with her.

Dialing the bull who should have been at the front entrance to the house, Anton pressed the phone to his ear and waited.

“Boss?”

“Breach,” he said coolly.

“What? No way, Boss. Joe is in the back and I’m—”

“According to the security panels, someone is downstairs and they got in without setting off the goddamn night alarm. As of now, I can’t hear anything, but when I get in the stairwell I very well might. If someone got into this house on your watch, I will gut you, Rory. Do you fucking understand me?”

“Yeah, Boss, I got you,” Rory answered. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I’ll call Joe … if he’s back there.”

Yeah, Anton wondered that, too. What if someone had taken out one of his guys? It was possible.

“You do that. Ten seconds and I want you coming in from the front and him moving in through the back if you can get him on the phone. We meet in the kitchen. Let’s try to keep it quiet. Vine’s trying to sleep and Sasha won’t appreciate being woken up by someone’s screams.”

“Got it.”

Anton hung the phone up and made his way down the hallway, not bothering to turn on any lights as he went. Once he opened the door to the stairwell, the panel downstairs would notify the intruder that Anton was coming down. He wanted to be ready for whoever it was, not the other way around, so he took a moment to gather his thoughts and calm his raging emotions as he came to the stairwell door.

It took him all of three seconds to blink away whatever hesitation might have remained. Tightening his grip on his gun, Anton opened the door and took the stairs two at a time. Instead of his nerves growing as he neared the bottom door, he only became calmer He could already taste the blood on his tongue.

And now he was just pissed the fuck off.

Somebody was going to bleed for waking him up and scaring Viviana. They’d get even worse if it was an intruder. A soft whine behind the door at the bottom of the stairs stopped Anton from slamming it open.

“Rocco?” he asked.

The animal should have been inside his kennel. He had never escaped, or tried to, before.

The pup barked loudly, but his master knew it wasn’t a warning like he’d been trained for, rather an indication of his excitement.

“Rocco, you little—”

Anton gritted his teeth and opened the door to find the German shepherd wagging his tail with his tongue sticking out.

“Boss?” Rory called out from the darkness.

“Fucking Rocco,” Joe growled, coming around from the kitchen.

“Is everything okay?”

Anton frowned at Clarissa’s groggy voice adding to the mix.

“Everything’s fine,” Rory said lowly. “Go to bed.”

The previous anger and desire to kill Anton had been feeling ebbed away as he stared down at his waiting dog. Clearly, Rocco had set off the sensors from the inside, and it wasn’t something they’d ever had to deal with before.

“How’d you get out, huh?” he asked the pup.

The two bulls had come to stand in the hallway, each sporting amused expressions.

“Boss?” Joe asked, hiding his grin with his hand.

Now Anton just felt stupid. Viviana was probably upstairs freaking out.

Perfect, he thought.

“Take Rocco out to piss, and then get him back in his kennel.”

Rory snorted. “Can’t. I noticed it on the way in. He must have broken one of the hinges because the side collapsed in.”

The dog in question seemed wholly unbothered that he had caused such concern and ruckus. Why on earth was he trying to escape, now? Did he want to be closer to Viviana?

“Viviana?” Anton asked, noticing immediately that the dog perked up at her name. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. No way was the dog sleeping in his bedroom every night. “No way, Rocco. You have a bed.”

Rocco whined and cocked his head in a lupine way. “No,” Anton repeated.

“This is really fun and all …”

Anton tossed a glare at Joe and it gave Rocco all the time he needed to push past his master and jog up the stairwell. Cussing low under his breath, Anton knew there would be no fighting with the dog, never mind Viviana when she found out what happened.

“So, no gutting?” Rory asked cheerfully.

“Shut up.”

“Night, Boss,” Joe said as Anton turned away.

“The amount of money I spent on that dog’s training …”

Grumbling under his breath, he followed the same path the animal had taken.

• • •

With Viviana on one side and Ivan on the other, Rocco strolled at a comfortable pace between them but never trotted more than a foot or two ahead. His large head stood higher than her hip, ears twitching every few seconds as his nose would drop to the ground to sniff before coming back up again like he hadn’t changed his course.

The quiet Brooklyn suburb where Anton had situated the safe house was just that, quiet. She wasn’t at all familiar with the area, the roads, or where it was exactly that they were. Ivan had returned to the safe house nearly a week later, and when she gained the courage to ask him, he wouldn’t say, simply pointing out that it wasn’t important so long as she was comfortable.

And she was, oddly.

Sure, things were a little awkward here and there, but Viviana couldn’t ignore the way she enjoyed waking up to Anton’s blue eyes or feeling his finger trailing up and down her cheek. Despite her and Anton sharing his bed every night, he hadn’t stepped over any boundaries. For all intents, he was a gentleman. Maybe he was just waiting for her to make some kind of move. Hell, he hadn’t even kissed her, and she was so wanting for that.

“So …” Ivan murmured, kicking a stray pebble off the walk onto the street. Rocco’s ears perked at the action, but he didn’t make a move to go after the rock. “Anton was happier this morning than I’ve seen him in years. Using his given name didn’t get me the automatic, knee-jerk growl it usually does when he’s in a morning kind of mood.”

She barely acknowledged that he’d spoken. “And how many years is that, exactly?”

“A few,” he replied vaguely. “Since he was a young man and me in my early twenties, I suppose.”

After a long week that involved Anton taking her through a room by room tour of their multi-storied home, and showing her where she could find anything she needed, he handed over a disposable cell phone with pre-programmed numbers. It included anyone and everyone she might possibly need to call, starting with his. According to him, once every couple of months they would replace the phone with a new one as a precautionary measure. Even though the calls couldn’t be recorded, she still needed to be careful about what she said during conversations or texts.

Then, Ivan had finally come around with the things promised, like that laptop and the credit cards. With those two things, she could buy just about whatever it was she wanted. Viviana was still considering all that lace, satin, and silk…

“Anton mentioned something about switching vehicles before he comes home so no one follows him?” she asked quietly.

Ivan chuckled. “Not fun when it has to be done three or four times before you lose the car trailing you. Either way, he has a few drivers waiting throughout the city at different spots and a simple text allows them to move to a new area quickly. The one under the Brooklyn Bridge nearly always seems to work, thank God.”

“Do you do that, I mean, before coming here?”

“Of course!” He almost looked offended at her question. “I would never take risks like that, Vine.”

“I’m sorry; it’s just been a lot to take in. That’s all.” Sighing, she looked away, enjoying the peaceful streets and trees with leaves just starting to change color. Viviana missed New York, despite Canada’s hospitable people and the few friends she managed to make there. “What’s he doing today, anyway?”

The chiding click of Ivan’s tongue told her that was the wrong thing to ask. “Vine …”

“Just wondering.”

“What I can tell you is that he had an early meeting this morning with many others like us, to inform them of your safe arrival and begin to set a proper watch in place between all the crews throughout the city. Usually I’d accompany him, but he felt safer with Erik going and me staying with you until you’ve had more time to adjust and settle.”

Remembering the older man sitting on the couch the first night she woke up in the safe house, Viviana wondered what his place was in their group. “Erik, what is it he does, exactly?”

Ivan’s lips drew a tight line before he answered with, “A bookmaker of sorts, who collects payments, assures the proper enticements for certain people are in place, and whatever else needs to be handled in regards to cash and things. Generally we’re considered the two spies, above the Brigadiers, but below your Anton, we keep a close watch on everyone, or try to. In a manner of speaking, we are his right and left hand where he can’t always be, you understand?”

“Enticements.” She tried hard not to scoff. “You mean bribes.”

“You call it whatever you want. I call it what I need to in order for your future husband to stay out of prison.”

His blunt honesty silenced her instantly, reminding her that the life they lived daily was no game, it was real, and frighteningly dangerous. One misstep on their part and she’d be stuck like her mother who spent ten out of her twenty-four years of marriage with a husband behind bars. Not all of those years were consecutive, but regardless, it wasn’t something Viviana was ready to handle, or think about, for that matter.

With her hand trailing along the back of Rocco’s neck, she hummed softly under her breath. Despite the fear he had caused the other night by getting out of his kennel, she still adored the dog. According to Anton, because Viviana slept like the dead and rarely heard a thing, Rocco was attempting to get upstairs more often at night now, too. The furry companion pushed his large head against the palm instinctively, enjoying her contact as much as she liked giving it to him.

“He’s glad to have you with him,” Ivan interjected kindly, bringing her out of her musings.

“Anton?”

“No,” he said, laughing. “Well yes, him as well, but Rocco, I mean. I remember when Anton ordered him from the breeder in San Francisco four years ago. That pup didn’t know up from down, wouldn’t listen to a thing he was told, shit in every corner he could find, and then suddenly he was gone and came back a whole different animal. Anton still has that chaise he nearly destroyed his first week home. Got it restored, I believe. It was antique, belonged to his grandmother’s mother.”

The things she knew about Anton’s grandmother, or any of his family really, were very little, and she felt ashamed to even admit that to herself. Even though their marriage had been arranged for years, that didn’t mean there weren’t a lot of things in between she didn’t know or understand about him, his upbringing, or the people left behind.

“His grandmother, she died a long time ago, right?”

Ivan nodded. “While his mother was pregnant with him, actually. A stray bullet where there shouldn’t have been a gun was the cause, unfortunately. Nicoli always kept her present in the family in some way, and Anton still has his grandmother from his mother’s side, but I think he wished he had known this one as an individual instead of just the stories they told. Who wouldn’t?”

Viviana had to agree. Her grandparents on both sides had played a massive part in her life growing up, though after her family was killed, her father’s parents made a point of keeping her at a distance that Sonny felt comfortable with. It hurt her—still did—but she wasn’t about to admit it out loud and give her uncle the satisfaction of seeing her struggle with one more thing he caused. In some ways, she understood her grandparents needed to make that decision, but it in no way meant that she had to agree with it.

It wasn’t long before they reached the dog park. Viviana found a bench to sit on quickly enough and waited for Ivan to join her. Surprising her, he pulled a collar with tags jingling from his coat pocket and placed it around Rocco’s neck, speaking quietly in Russian before the dog was off, running immediately in the direction of the water.

“He always needs his identifier inside the gates,” Ivan informed her as he sat down. “Some of these owners get antsy around an unmarked dog, despite his excellent behavior. They’re quick to call animal control and we don’t need that nonsense. Anton has a collar he keeps on him, too. I imagine he has one for you to keep as well, but probably forgot, given the excitement over the last week.”

Crossing her jean-covered legs and tightening the belt to the tweed coat she wore, Viviana settled into the bench just in time to see Rocco cut through the water of the pond. He looked almost carefree for a moment, like any dog would, until she watched him come back up. His eyes and ears searched her position out immediately to make sure she was still sitting where he had left her.

“He never gets a second off, does he?” Viviana wondered.

“Rocco knows his place,” Ivan replied flippantly. “This is probably the farthest he’ll allow himself to be from your person, unless you leave him to go out and do something alone, which you will, eventually. He’s all right if someone he knows is still with him, like Clarissa or myself, but Rocco couldn’t be left alone for more than a day; he needs his master—masters,” he corrected quickly, shooting her a small smile, “… to feel as if he’s acting—or reacting—properly. He’s very much like a furry little child … one who can’t speak.”

“Why that breed? Not that I don’t think he’s a good choice, I’m just curious.”

Ivan’s laughter caused her to grin. “German shepherds are known to be the chosen breed of officials. Anton’s method of raising his finger to the police. Imagine how they must feel to know their scenting or search-and-rescue animals can be outdone by a criminal’s pup.”

She clicked her tongue in mock disapproval, giggling. “Figures. I probably should have guessed that, no?”

He winked cheekily in response. “Maybe, though Rocco is more than just that. His ability to scent is incredible, more so than even the best scenting dogs officials use. They found that specialty of his during training, and it was something Anton demanded they focus on.”

“What is it that he scents?”

“Nearly anything that would be of some use to us. Hidden explosives, uncirculated cash or large stacks of handled money, weapons, drugs, bodily fluids, and people, of course. There are a few other little things, like hidden electronic devices, although if there are a lot of those in a room he is unfamiliar with, it can sometimes confuse him as to his purpose.”

Damn, Viviana was confused. “I didn’t realize electronics gave off a specific scent.”

His answering shrug was dismissive. “Everything has a scent, we humans are just unable to smell it.” A few minutes passed them by in a comfortable quiet while they watched Rocco play his own version of catch with a stick in the water. At that moment, Ivan sighed beside her, drawing her attention away from the playful pup once more. “Is everything a go then, Vine?”

“Pardon?”

“With you, Anton, and the marriage, I meant. Am I free to begin drawing up the proper paperwork and things we need to go ahead?”

Viviana found it odd how her first inclination was to agree without wondering first if she should speak to Anton. She didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable around Ivan, even though she knew exactly what he was, and the things he was capable of. But, at the same time, she also understood his importance to Anton—the situations they had likely been placed in together, the amount of trust and confidence that must have been shared between the two. She had to expect at some level, that Ivan would give her the same respect, given their positions.

“Of course,” she finally answered, offering him a smile. Thinking about exactly what he’d asked her, something else fluttered through her mind. “What paperwork needs to be drawn up, anyway?”

Ivan cleared his throat nervously. “Well, Anton’s last will and testament would need to be changed, for one thing, as he wants. Any of his possessions—houses, cars, and things of that nature—would be better switched into your name; if an arrest occurred, and fines or restitution was expected to be paid, the government could not seize what is not his.”

There was an unspoken and at the end of his explanation. “What else?”

“There’s also the small issue of a prenuptial agreement between the two of you,” he said, looking away and avoiding her questioning gaze.

“Excuse me?” The noise level in her tone rose a little higher. Like hell … “Why on earth—”

“For you,” Ivan interrupted, stressing his words for her to understand. “Anton is required to sign a prenuptial agreement for you, Vine.”

“Anton is required …” Trailing off, she scoffed because even the words coming out of her mouth felt wrong. “That is ridiculous. The inheritance from my father’s estate was nothing compared to the money we both know he has. He doesn’t need to sign a damned thing, Ivan, and I won’t be asking for him to, that’s for sure.”

The lawyer beside her looked awkward, as if he’d just shoved his foot in his mouth. “It would not be for the money from your father’s estate. This is money you don’t yet have, coming from a different place.”

Confusion ran rampant as Viviana tried to process his words. “Shouldn’t I have been made aware of this … money?”

“No, being the executor of the will, I wasn’t required to make you aware until certain requirements were met.”

“Like a marriage,” she managed to grasp, her voice growing quiet.

Ivan glanced sideways from the corners of his eyes, nodding sharply. “Like a marriage,” he repeated. “Specifically, a marriage with Anton before your twenty-fifth birthday.”

“That’s …” Struck dumb, she fell silent, her mouth growing slack. “Who did it come from?”

“Not really important right now,” Ivan offered, sounding apologetic with a frown marring his features. “I’m sorry that I can’t explain more of this to you, but it is not in my instructions or orders to do so.”

Again, she grew quiet, needing to look anywhere but at the man sitting next to her. Anger was the first emotion to bubble up. They were hiding more things, things that directly involved her that would affect her future beyond her own choices. Not only did she not understand why they were doing it, but they wouldn’t give her the smallest of hints to work it out, either.

How was she ever supposed to trust them?

Standing abruptly, Ivan followed suit to her actions. “Don’t,” she mumbled through clenched teeth, a hand held out to ask him to stay. “I want to go for a walk, to think, or … something.” Cry, likely, that’s what Viviana wanted to do, but in private. She figured this was a better choice than yelling her anger out at Ivan, anyway. “Surely I can handle going for a walk without someone at my side, right?”

“Yes, of course.” He whistled low under his breath and Rocco was trotting back to them in an instant. Shaking water droplets from his fur, the dog waited patiently as his collar was unhooked. With his finger pointed at a dark sedan with tinted windows parked in the visitor’s section of the park, Ivan said, “That is the only car trailing you. They are your guards. Two other men are close by on foot, but I doubt you will notice them, and they will not approach you unless they need to. You’re safe to walk if you’d like, and I’m sorry that I upset you, Vine. It wasn’t my intention.”

Without a word, she turned and walked away. With no one at her side, Rocco stayed a good two paces ahead, his nose to the ground and ears twitching at every sound and movement surrounding them. Paying little attention to the pathways they traveled through the park, she only noticed that the deeper they went, the thicker the trees became. Joggers, mothers with strollers, and the occasional couple sauntered past, never paying her or Rocco any mind as they went. The dog barely acknowledged them either.

With a heavy heart, muddled up feelings, and a slow sense of being unsure about her surroundings, Viviana realized she didn’t know where in the hell they were. Stopping short, she peered around. Sunlight filtered through the pretty colored leaves all around, her flats crunching against the dried brush underfoot.

A quiet kind of stillness settled heavily on her senses as Rocco looked back, brown eyes wide and waiting, his tail standing high. Looking around once more, she didn’t see a soul following, and there was no way the car Ivan had pointed out earlier could have traveled down the path she took.

Oddly, her first thought wasn’t to run. It wasn’t that she was free of being watched, or that she was now available to make herself scarce if she wanted to. In fact, she didn’t think for a second that running now could be the one way out of the arrangement with Anton she’d agreed to … because Viviana didn’t want to.

What she wanted was Anton.

And she suddenly felt exposed.

Unsafe.

Unprotected way out in the open.

They’ll find me in the bay, she thought, with a bullet through the back of my head just like Roman.

Or maybe it’d be more like her mother and brother’s death, burned alive in a car that had apparently careened off a small cliff before catching fire, leaving them trapped inside. If anything happened to Viviana, she knew Anton would kill every member of the Cosa Nostra he could get his hands on until he felt the slightest bit better, even if that would only lead to his ultimate end.

Air caught in her throat, chokingly so. Turning sharply, her flats hit the ground faster than a walk but not quite as brisk as a jog. Rocco was fast to take the lead again. When the breeze shifted, her dog stopped, ears perking immediately. A tail lifted higher and a sharp, short bark fell from his muzzle, halting her as well.

Fear coursed through her heart, adrenaline spiking as she considered turning around again. Blood rushed her ringing ears, strumming hard and fast, echoing and overtaking the calm sounds of the park. Going back in the other direction would likely lead to her getting even more lost than she already was, but going forward only directed her to something the dog felt the need to alert her to.

Unsure, Viviana froze to the spot, her hand slipping inside her coat pocket to find the semi-automatic .40 Smith and Wesson pistol Anton had handed over earlier in the week. Illegal with the serial numbers filed off and no registration to show ownership, the gun was compact enough to stay hidden in a pocket or purse. She had to admit that the firearm appealed to a certain side of her, despite the initial reluctance she felt to carry it at first.

The small wag of Rocco’s tail melted her tension for only a split second. He wouldn’t show excitement in regards to danger, right?

A figure entered her vision from around the small bend of the pathway, the blurry form making Viviana realize then that tears had started gathering in her eyes. Blinking away the wetness and breathing deep as she took in the man walking closer to her, relief began to settle through her panic.

Wearing a dark suit with the jacket unbuttoned to show the pale blue dress shirt underneath, a grey scarf hanging untied around his neck, and a fedora tilted down on his face, all of her apprehension drifted away. A cigarette was tossed from his fingertips to the ground, smoke billowing out in a grey cloud.

That wasn’t what he left the house wearing that morning.

The very view of Anton’s confident, smooth stride as he came closer had the strangest effect on her lungs and heart. Butterflies were fighting their way up from her stomach into her throat, leaving Viviana unable to breathe or speak. Overwhelmed and on a sensory overload, her worry faded a little more.

Anton looked up from under the fedora, the side of his lips quirking into a smile, making her stressed shoulders ease up when he came to a stop by Rocco’s side. His hand found its way into the dog’s coat. “Lost, Vine?”

“No,” she breathed, and feeling stupid, she looked away. “Maybe a little. I thought there were men watching after me?”

“There are,” he said, smirking. “Ivan asked them to stay a few paces away to give you some privacy.”

Anger simmered on low again. “He called you?”

Anton’s cocky smirk faded. “No, I was already on my way here. I knew you were walking Rocco with Ivan, so I came to the park first. Ivan was waiting for you to return when I arrived, so I decided to just take a walk and come find you myself. I was speaking to one of your bulls two minutes ago. That’s how I knew this was the path you came down.”

“Oh.” Realizing it was still early in the afternoon, if not maybe a little closer to supper, she wondered why he was even back this early. Usually he strolled into the safe house with just enough time to sit down to eat an evening meal. “I thought you had a lot of stuff to do today?”

The sight of his grin returning made her heart ache in the best way. Anton looked down at Rocco whose tail thumped happily to the ground. The pup was so pleased to have his other master close again.

“I did, and I handled what was most important like I needed to. Then, I realized that I missed you, and so that took precedence. I wanted to see you,” he murmured quietly, still not looking back up. “Sending a text or calling seemed really ridiculous considering I have a half a dozen cars that I could jump into and come home to be with you. There are enough people who can handle things when I decide to take a day off. I’ve been busy this week, I know, and I’m sorry for that. Maybe I’ll try taking days away more often … now that you’re here.”

“You didn’t ha—”

“I did,” he interrupted, regarding her finally. Bright, blue eyes shined with emotions and want so thick she could feel it; her breathing stuttered. “I’ve already spent too many years keeping the distance for your safety. Now, I want to be closer. Close that gap for me, Vine.”

There was no waver in her actions when she moved fast to meet his embrace. With his strong arms locked tight around her small shoulders, the sense of security and safety slowly faded back into her senses. The slight tremor rocking her shoulders had her understanding just how panicky and fearful she had become.

“Hey, you’re fine, okay?” His lips pressed down on the top of her head as he whispered, “They were close enough, baby. Just following orders like they were told to and giving you some breathing room. Ivan was worried you had been the one who called me after your disagreement and that’s why I came back early.” Anton sighed when she tensed at the mention of his lawyer again. Really, it wasn’t something she wanted to get into, but he clearly wasn’t going to give her that choice. “Speaking of which, the money he mentioned … all that nonsense, don’t worry about it. It’s not at all important. It’s not mine, it wasn’t ever meant to be, and it has no real bearing on the arrangement, anyway. I’ve known about the prenuptial agreement for a while and already agreed to sign when he had it ready.”

“Just …” A huff of breath escaped her. “Why all this secrecy?”

“I missed you,” he said instead.

“You woke me up to say goodbye this morning. You were only gone a few hours.”

Anton shrugged, tilting her head up. His mouth brushed feather-light kisses on her cold cheeks, warming the flesh instantly. It was the closest he’d come to kissing her lips, and suddenly she was overwhelmed with wanting the heat of his mouth on hers. Shivering from everything but the cold, he held her tighter as his eyes flickered with something she didn’t recognize.

“What is it?” Viviana asked, worried something had happened he didn’t mention. “You’re here, so I’m good now. We can … I don’t know, do whatever. Go back to the house if you want, or take Rocco back to that pond he seems to like.”

“What I want …” Trailing off, he abruptly kissed her hard with no warning, her mouth opening instantly to taste the sweetness of his.

The taste of cigarettes and the faintest trace of bourbon was heavy on his tongue. It swept into her willing mouth with force. The kiss wasn’t gentle, soft, or slow like she expected, but instead he commanded with his mouth on hers, dominating and wanting so heavily with every sweep of his tongue. Tasting, needing, feeling. The ache that traveled from her middle outwards was all-encompassing. When his lips slowed, pecking light touches to the corner of her mouth, his thumbs rolled over her smiling cheeks.

“I missed you,” he repeated with a throaty tone that had her muscles constricting. “Didn’t take the chance to kiss you, either. The first thing I should have done when you agreed to marry me last week was lay you across that bed and show you how happy that made me. Or just kissed you; that would have worked, too, hmm?”

“I was starting to think you didn’t want to kiss me,” she teased.

Anton’s eyebrow cocked at the statement. “I want to do a lot more than just kiss you, Viviana.”

His hand ran down her coat to push against the small of her back. Pressing lightly, he drove Viviana’s body into his. Underneath his dress pants, the length of his thick erection pressed to her side, making his point clear. Her throbbing sex clenched at the thought of his suggestion, desire raging a war within her body while she breathed in the smell of him all hot and heavy.

“All week you haven’t once—”

“I know,” he interjected softly, smiling just a little. “I was battling something, I suppose. Trying to make sure you were doing this because you wanted to …”

“Because I wanted you,” she assumed when he wouldn’t finish.

Anton sighed. “That, too.”

“What is it you want, Anton?”

“I want to go home; I think Rocco has played enough, no?”

“Okay.” Actually, that was more than okay. “But—”

“No buts, things can wait, others can answer, and doors will be locked.”

Driving her frame closer again, his fingers danced along the front of her shirt and down to the waistline of jeans only to slip under the fabric skillfully. Anton hummed low and deep from the back of his throat at the sound of her harsh intake of air. She felt his digits skim the sides of dampened panties.

“Let me touch you. I’ve waited so long … I need to.”

Viviana gave her approval with a nod. The opened jacket he wore hid her trembling frame when two fingers swept underneath the fabric and between her fleshy folds and tapping hard to her swollen, heated clit. The whimper that fell from her parted lips tumbled out loudly, his responding chuckles reverberating down to the pulsing at the apex of her thighs even more.

“Nine years is too long to wait for us. Feel this, you’re already soaking my fingers at the thought. I have time to make up for. Home …” he demanded again, leaning down to nip his teeth on her jaw and removing his hand. “Let’s go.”

Was she supposed to say no?