Chapter 9
Something had changed. Sergei watched her approach and knew immediately that something was wrong.
She looked fresh and beautiful, her hair dancing around her shoulders like a dark cloud, but something in her eyes that had definitely changed.
Damn, he thought, as his fingers tightened around the glass. He shouldn’t have touched her like that earlier. He’d scared her off. This whole plan had just gone to hell. Well, not the revenge aspect of his plan, but he hadn’t anticipated wanting Katia so intensely. Hell, they shouldn’t even be here in Grand Cayman! A pseudo honeymoon had been a perfect plan. His idea had been to have all of his team in place, marry Katia, and then his people could move in to take control of Sosta’s companies and homes. He’d been working for months to ensure that everyone was in place, that the bank employees were ready to freeze his assets, he’d hired the right people to take over the running of the companies…everything had been strategically put in place so that they were ready in a moment’s notice to take over and banish Sosta from his homes, his companies, his goon squad, and leave him with no money.
Sergei had also anticipated that it wouldn’t be a simple matter. Just because Sosta had been kicked out, that wouldn’t mean he didn’t have a battle ahead. But Sergei knew his enemy and had established contingency maneuvers. There were plans in place to stop him from crafting any sort of effective rally.
The one aspect of his plan that he hadn’t counted on was Katia. She was lovely, sweet, kind, and…so painfully beautiful, it made his body ache! This trip…it had been a perfect way to snub Sosta. Yes, he’d thought about an affair with her. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that they could burn up the sheets together.
But that was before he’d gotten to know her. That was all before he’d understood that she was kind and generous, so sweetly innocent but still tough and strong, surviving under horrible pressure, even figuring out how to mess with her father’s head and disrupt the man’s infrastructure. Sergei chuckled, thinking about the computer program Katia had developed. It was so brilliant, he wished he’d thought of it years ago.
No, Katia definitely wasn’t a typical twenty-something woman. His experience had taught him that women in their mid-twenties were career minded, determined, and ambitious, almost single mindedly ambitious. Or the opposite, they were trying to trap him into marriage and the life of leisure that a marriage to him would provide.
Over the years, he’d learned to enjoy the first group of lovely ladies and assiduously avoid the second group. He’d never considered marriage. Hell, he’d never expected to even survive his war with Sosta. His only plan had been to destroy his enemy and, if he fell during that battle, so be it. He had accepted that fate.
What he hadn’t expected was Katia. From the first moment he’d met her, he’d found her fascinating. Stronger in many ways than any woman he’d ever met and that turned him on in ways he didn’t really understand. And yet, she was softer, more delicate and vulnerable than anyone he’d encountered before and he wasn’t exactly sure how to handle that softness.
Even after everything she’d gone through in her life, she was still generous and caring. He’d read the reports about her generosity, but had scoffed at the information. No one was that sweet and kind. Altruism was only a façade to an ulterior motive.
But so far, he hadn’t been able to determine what her scheme was. And his only conclusion was that she was the first genuinely caring person he’d ever met.
And that stumped him. How did a rough and determined, revenge-oriented man, like him, protect a woman like Katia?
The only answer that came to mind was that he had to stay away from her. He couldn’t sully her with his presence or his touch. Leave. That was the answer. He had to get her home. And not to that dump she’d been living in before. No, he’d buy her a house and ensure that she was safe. He’d hire an army to protect her and surround her house with that army, if that’s what it took to protect her from her father.
He pushed away from the railing, determined to tell the captain that they needed to head back to port. He’d call his pilot and warn him to be ready to fly back to Virginia this afternoon. He definitely couldn’t stay here with Katia in the warm, Caribbean sunshine. Not after this afternoon. The way she’d looked at him, the soft longing in her eyes and the eager sensuality of her response to his touch…even now, after a cold shower and a stern mental lecture where he admonished himself to keep his hands off her, he still couldn’t bring his body under control. Just the thought of her walking towards him in those shorts, seeing her long legs….
No, they needed to leave before he hurt her.
That was his plan, at least.
Then she stepped through the doorway and smiled at him. That smile told him that something was wrong. There was wariness in her eyes now and it made him hurt deep down in his gut. No, he couldn’t handle Katia being hurt. Never!
“What’s wrong, Katia?” Sergei asked as he watched her approach. His body tensed, ready for battle. If Sosta had found them…But no. The look in her eyes told him that her wariness had nothing to do with her father.
“Sergei, I understand what you’re trying to do here,” she started off, folding her hands in front of her.
He didn’t like the look in her eyes and reached out, taking one of her hands and pulling her closer. “What do you think I’m trying to do?” he asked, basking in her brown gaze for a few more minutes.
She smiled carefully and he hated the polite expression. He wanted that genuine smile just one more time.
“You’re trying to poke the bear, so to speak.”
He smiled down into her soft, brown gaze, just enjoying this time with her. “Who would that bear be?” he asked, amusement breaking through his grim thoughts.
“You are trying to get someone to take pictures of us here so that my father will see them. Right?” He opened his mouth to reply, but her hand on his chest stopped the words. He felt her gentle touch all the way down to his groin and the effect was powerful.
“Don’t worry. I understand what you’re doing. You want my father to lose his temper because you’re touching me. You’re even staging things so that the pictures will look more intimate than what the reality is. Am I right?” She laughed at his stunned expression, taking that as validation of her assumption.
Sergei felt her soft fingers pat his chest and had to grit his teeth to stop himself wrapping his arms around her and kissing her like he wanted to. That would scare her, he reminded himself. No kissing, no more touching, and…
Whatever he’d been about to tell her was knocked out of his head when she continued.
“So, as much as I appreciate your efforts to pretend as if we’re a real couple and that you’re interested in me, there’s really no need.”
He stared at her for another long moment, his mind struggling to function since she was still touching his chest.
When her hand started to pull away, his own slapped over hers, keeping her fingers right there on his chest. Hell, he wanted to rip off the linen shirt he’d grabbed after his shower, just so that he could feel her fingers against his skin. He hated the material that blocked her fingers. With a growl, he pushed away from the railing, feeling like a predator about to pounce on his prey.
“Let me get this straight,” he growled and pulled her even closer. “You think that I’m only pretending to want you, Katia?” When her soft lips formed a surprised “O”, he shook his head. “Oh, no, my dear. My desire for your body is completely real. And you coming in here and telling me that it isn’t only means that I should prove it to you.”
He ignored the soft sway of her hair as she shook her head. “No, but…”
His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her forward until she was pressed against his body. “Pretending?” he growled. “I only wish that I was pretending.”
Then his head lowered, his lips covering hers. There was no response to her claim other than to prove her wrong in the most fundamental way.
Even as he devoured her lips, he told himself that this was wrong. But she felt so incredibly right in his arms…and the taste of her…! It was amazing! Sweeter than he could have imagined and he tangled his hands in her hair, pulling her head back so he could deepen the kiss. He swung her around so that he could press her against the wall, lifting her up so that she was cradling his erection against her hips. It was a twofold effort. He needed to prove that his desire for her was real. And he just couldn’t stop himself. He needed her. He needed the innocent taste of her, the way she kissed him back, startled at first, but as he deepened the kiss, she changed. When she allowed herself to feel, to accept his kiss, her response was nearly as voracious as his own.
His tongue invaded her mouth, tasting her, feeling her, and he’d never tasted anything so amazing as Katia. She was intoxicating. He thought about tasting her in other ways, finding out if she tasted this good all over her body. And especially…!
He pulled away, both of them breathing heavily as they stared at each other. Sergei wasn’t sure which of them was more shocked.
Slowly, he lowered her feet to the floor, his hands still holding her around her waist. Steadying her…or maybe he was steadying himself, he wasn’t sure. Gently, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I don’t want your father to see this,” he told her softly, his voice a rough caress. “I’m not touching you or kissing you in the hopes that your father will see pictures of us. Just the opposite,” he growled. “In fact, we convinced everyone that we were going to a different country for our honeymoon. Your father’s men are looking for us in Alaska right now.”
Lifting his head, he took a deep breath, trying to regain control. But as long as he was touching her, he couldn’t. And he wasn’t willing to relinquish his hold just yet. Her skin was so soft and…he realized that his hands had somehow made it underneath her shirt. Damn, she felt soft, smooth, and amazingly good.
Then her fingers shifted from his shoulders down his arms, her fingertips gliding against his skin and he grabbed her hands, pulling them away. When he saw the startled look in her beautiful, brown eyes, he just about lost whatever control he had left.
“Katia, don’t ever think that I don’t want you. Just the opposite. I want you too much. And that’s not good for you.”
“Why not?” she asked, licking her lips and causing him to focus on her mouth again.
Because of her innocently honest response to his kiss, he couldn’t give her anything less in return. “Because you weren’t in the plan.” She might be only twenty-three years old, but Sergei knew that the events of her life, her efforts over the past six years to not just survive, but to thrive and even thwart her father’s companies with her computer skills, made her seem much older. Significantly wiser. And yet, he knew that she was still inexperienced in so many ways.
She blinked and he pulled her against his body again. It served to keep his eyes from seeing her pretty gaze and also helped to keep him from kissing her again. But he felt her soft breasts against his chest, the sweet swell of her stomach against his groin. His hard, obviously aroused, groin.
He was just about to push her away for fear of his arousal scaring her off when her sweet arms wrapped around his waist. After that, there was no pulling back. He even kissed the top of her head, needing to touch her in so many ways.
Katia shivered, thinking that it was definitely a heady sensation to know that this intimidating, yet generous, kind, wonderful man wanted her. He was so strong and powerful, and yet, she could make him act like this with just a touch! He wanted her! His body more than showed her that he felt the same way towards her.
And that kiss!
It was nothing like the other times he’d kissed her. That kiss was voracious kissing! It was pounding desire and rampaging lust kissing!
“So…if I wasn’t in the plan, and you didn’t bring me here to rub salt into my father’s wounds,” she hesitated, enjoying being in his arms like this, “what is your plan?”
She sighed at the feeling of his hands sliding sensuously up and down her back. Just her back, but she thought it was a good sign!
“My plan never included coming here with you, Katia. It was to marry you, then protect you by heading to Moscow, and finishing up my plan to destroy Sosta.”
That gave her more hope. “So…what’s the new plan?”
He pulled away, but took her hand in his as he led her over to the table situated under an awning, holding out one of the chairs. “How about an update on what’s happened over the past twelve hours?” he offered.
Katia sat down in the chair, then waited until he’d sat down opposite her. “I think that would be great. What’s been going on?” she asked.
But he paused, waiting as one of the waiters stepped through the door, serving their meal. There was a delicious fruit punch to drink as well as a seafood salad and crispy sweet potato fries for dinner. The man bowed his way out of the area, and closed the door, giving them privacy.
“Just before you came back out here, I was going to call my pilot, fly you to a safe place, and put armed guards around a home that I will buy for you, then fly to Moscow, so that I could finish things with your father.” He lifted a hand to stop her protests, only continuing when she leaned back against the chair. “My team has already moved in to take over his corporate headquarters, frozen his assets, and switched out all of the executive management at every business he owns. All company accounts are locked out now. I have guards who have moved into each of his homes and swept out the current staff. If there are any homes that you would like to keep, you need to let me know, because as of tomorrow, every property that your mother inherited will go on the market for sale. And I’ll accept the cheapest price for each of them, unless you have other wishes.”
Katia’s admiration for him increased even more. “You’ve done all that? But we were just married yesterday.”
“I’ve been planning this move for months, Katia.”
A bit of her happiness diminished. “And I messed things up for you?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “You definitely are an unexpected pleasure.” He lifted his fork, indicating she should do the same. “Let’s eat and we’ll talk.”
She picked up her fork as well, but frowned at him across the table with a large dose of skepticism. “You’re trying to avoid the question.”
He laughed again as he stabbed a shrimp. “You’re very perceptive, Katia.”
She rolled her eyes as she looked at the meal in front of her. Suddenly, she realized how hungry she was. “This looks delicious,” she admitted as she took a bite of calamari, enjoying the tangy flavors of the spices. “But the distraction isn’t going to get you out of the conversation.”
He chuckled as he stabbed a scallop. “You are determined, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Answer the question.”
“And definitely not easily distracted.”
She pointed at him with her fork. “You’re still trying to change the subject. Sergei, why are we here?”
He sighed, watching her carefully and she waited patiently, able to figure out that he was working things through in his mind. She read his expression perfectly, knowing the moment that he decided to be honest with her.
“Everything changed the moment I met you.”
“How so?”
“You weren’t anything like what I was expecting, Katia.”
“What were you expecting?”
“Someone like your father,” he replied.
She laughed. “I hate my father. I always have. He treated me and my mother brutally.”
He nodded. “I understand that now. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought you might have some loyalty towards your father. But I should have known better.” He shook his head ruefully, obviously aware of his miscalculations. “Your father alienates just about every person he comes into contact with. Why would his daughter be any different?” he asked rhetorically.
“There’s no way you could have predicted what my father put me and my mother through.”
“Not true, Katia. Your father is a misogynist pig. He treats all women poorly. I should have anticipated your innocence, considering the way he kept your mother imprisoned in his house and only brought her out to display her occasionally. But even when she was still alive, your father loved to parade other women on his arm.”
She looked down at her plate, losing her appetite as she thought about her sweet mother and the sacrifice she made to get Katia out of that house safely. “It was his way of hurting her.”
“She loved him?” he asked.
She paused, carefully setting her fork down beside her plate. “In the beginning, I think she loved him very much. She never would have married him if she hadn’t. My mother just wasn’t the kind of person who could marry a man she didn’t love.”
“He could have coerced her,” he pointed out.
Katia thought about that, but then shook her head. “I don’t think that was what happened. She would have told me. But she didn’t say anything like that.”
“You two were close?”
“Very close. Too close sometimes.”
“What does that mean?”
Katia looked out at the ocean, not even aware of the beauty around her now. “Whenever my father perceived that we might be conspiring together against him, he would take one of us away. We’d be separated for however long he thought would help us hate each other, or teach us that we needed to remain on his good side. Then he’d bring us back together and treat us as if our separation was a punishment for whatever sins he thought we’d done against him.”
His scowl intensified. “Your father is more of a bastard than I’d thought.”
Katia laughed, picking up her fork again. “I’m guessing that’s pretty bad, since your opinion of my father was pretty low to start with.”
“Yes, but separating a mother from her child goes against the laws of nature.”
She chuckled. “If that was the worst thing he’d done over his lifetime, I wouldn’t hate him so much. But the man truly loved to hurt people. There was a vent in my bedroom that somehow connected to his office or the living room, I’m not sure which. But he discussed business and I could hear him through that vent. I heard some of the things he did over the years. It was truly horrible.”
“Such as?”
She shrugged. “I heard him order people to be murdered. Beaten.” She looked down at her plate. “He had no mercy. No soul. He was simply evil, Sergei. Which was why I was so careful to stay hidden over the last six years. And why I didn’t take large sums of money from his accounts, hoping he wouldn’t care and it would only annoy him. But taking his money, even small amounts, was the only way I could figure out how to get back at him for some of the crimes he committed. I gave it all to his victims. I didn’t want any of his money. Every penny was tainted.”
“I agree with you. Dismantling his businesses should include compensating all of his victims. For the families who lost a loved one, money won’t help. But there are families who lost their homes after their parents were killed. Giving them money to help might ease some of the burden.”
She agreed. “That’s very nice of you. My father is worth millions.”
His smile grew hard. “Yes, and all of it is yours now.”
She shivered. “Actually, it’s yours since my father stipulated that my husband controls everything.”
“I only control the stocks. You own them.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want them.”
“Then you can sell them when everything is over and done with.”
She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I can’t sell them. My father would somehow gain control again.”
The triumph on his handsome features completely obliterated the scar. “He can’t if he doesn’t have the money.”
She sighed, shaking her head and trying to restrain herself from leaping across the table to sit in his lap. “You don’t know how wily my father is. Nope. You’re just going to have to keep control of everything.”
He shrugged, dismissing the issue for now. “However things play out, Katia, know that a sexual relationship was never part of the bargain. I’m a bastard, but I don’t go so low as to use people.”
She stared at him, twirling her fork absently. “What if I want a sexual relationship?” she asked softly, startled that she’d actually asked the question. Thought it? Yeah! Absolutely! But saying the words hadn’t been her plan. She looked up into his blue eyes and caught her breath with the heat that was there, intensifying as he watched her.
“You don’t.”
His denial only increased her desire for him and obliterated her embarrassment over asking the question. “What if I do?”
He didn’t answer. But she could see that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. It was just up to her to convince him that she was sincere.
“Let’s eat. We’ll head back to town and then I’ll show you around the butterfly farm.”
She blinked and the moment was gone. He wasn’t going to entertain the possibility of a more intimate relationship with her. As she watched him carefully, her admiration, right along with her desire for him, grew exponentially. He wanted her. She could see it in his eyes, but he was trying not to hurt her, everything about the man screamed respect. And all she had to do was look at him for her mouth to go dry with desire.
Katia knew that he considered himself to barely be one step above her father when it came to evilness, but she knew differently. Sergei might be harsh and demanding, but that made him a good businessman. His core was good and kind. She doubted he ever abused his staff, most likely paid them extremely well, he definitely didn’t kidnap women and hold them as his personal sex slaves, he didn’t send “enforcers” out to beat or kill his competition, and she’d bet that he obeyed every law in each country in which he worked. He probably found all the loopholes in those laws, but that was different than flouting them.
Yep. The man was going to be her first lover. Now that she’d made the decision, Katia just had to figure out how to make it happen.
Decision made, his previous comment finally registered. Blinking, she refocused on the conversation. “Butterfly farm?” she asked, confused and not sure she’d heard him correctly. “A place where butterflies grow?”
His laughter, as always, sent a thrill of anticipation through her body. She hadn’t recognized what it was yesterday. But today, she was older and wiser.
“Yes. You’re going to love it.”
She tilted her head as she surveyed his expression. “How in the world do you know about a butterfly farm? You don’t look like the type who would enjoy looking at butterflies, much less the kind of man who would even research where to find butterflies.”
He shrugged, conceding her point and a sheepish expression crossed over his harsh features. “I didn’t. My assistant did.”
Stranger and stranger, she thought. “And your assistant assumed that you would want to visit butterflies?” she asked, her tone conveying her disbelief.
His lips pressed together for a moment and she saw a bit of color tinge his cheeks. “I may have asked my assistant to find places that you would enjoy,” he finally admitted.
The joy that burst through her heart at his words was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. That this hard, uncompromising man would actually direct his assistant to find things that she would like was…amazing! And completely endearing.
Her smile widened as she looked across the table at him. “I think walking through a butterfly farm would be wonderful. Thank you,” she whispered to him, delighted with his honesty as well as his thoughtfulness.
An hour later, the boat docked and she placed her hand in his as he helped her off the boat. She didn’t really need the help, but she let him anyway, simply because it felt good to have her hand in his. When she was firmly on the dock, she smiled up at him, thrilled when he kept her hand in his as they walked down the long walkway towards his car.
When he pulled up outside of a small structure that looked more like a trailer than a sturdy building, she wasn’t overly hopeful. “This is it?” she asked, her tone skeptical. Then again, why would any place here in the Caribbean have a great display of butterflies? It wasn’t as if the islands were easy for butterflies to reach. Then a horrible thought occurred to her and she stopped. He immediately looked down at her in concern and she bit her lip.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked over at the building, then back at him with a worried expression. “This isn’t the kind of place where they pin the butterflies up on the wall and we look at dead ones, is it?”
He chuckled even as he shook his head. “Since I’ve never been to a butterfly farm, I have no expectations. But that’s not how this place was advertised.”
She looked over at the innocuous door, then back up at him. “Okay, let’s find out what’s inside.”
In the front room, there were trinkets with butterfly themes and various butterfly ornaments, porcelain and metal butterflies to put on a wall that would brighten up a room and lots of butterfly paraphernalia. Sergei paid for tickets and Katia wandered over to the only other door in the building and…
“Oh my!” she gasped as she peered through the glass doors. Behind the small building was…it was a massive space covered in netting but with early evening sunshine spilling throughout the whole area. Plants and flowers were everywhere, but the most amazing sight was the number of butterflies flitting through the sunshine.
“Hurry!” she urged as Sergei slipped his wallet back into the back pocket of his shorts. “Oh, please!” she begged and grabbed his hand to pull him through the glass doors. They were in a sectioned off room with another separation, this one just a screen door with a wooden frame but she understood that this was used to keep the butterflies from going into the ticket area. “Sergei, this is amazing!” she whispered, hugging him and unknowingly pressing her breasts against his arm.
She also wasn’t aware of Sergei’s surprised, hungry look down at her, or the almost silent groan as he followed her through the door into the main part of the butterfly exhibit.
They stepped through and she lifted her eyes up, looking around at all of the brightly colored butterflies. Blue, pink, purple, striped, yellow, and black butterflies…they were everywhere! She’d never seen so many butterflies in one area and they were all flitting around, tasting the various potted flowers.
She walked along the stone pathway, not really paying attention to the leafy trees as she focused only on the glorious butterflies that were everywhere.
Suddenly, Katia felt Sergei’s strong arms around her waist and she froze. “Stand still,” he whispered, his voice low and sexy and so shockingly close to her ear.
“Why?” she asked, trying to be casual about his arms around her, but…well, that was pretty hard because she didn’t feel very casual about his arms around her, touching her like this. Very gently, she put her hands on his forearms, thinking that casual touch should be permissible. But in the next moment, she gasped when a tiny butterfly landed on her shoulder. “Wow!” she laughed. A moment later, another butterfly landed on her arm. As she and Sergei stood still, the butterflies came and went, landing and investigating her colorful clothing, then flitting off again. It was one of the most surreal moments of her life and she was thrilled to be sharing it with Sergei.
“Had enough?” he asked, his voice a low rumble.
She nodded and he straightened. Katia tried to hide her disappointment by looking away, but then she felt his hand on the small of her back and it actually slipped around her waist. Loving the sensation of his touch, she leaned into him, trying to tell him that she didn’t want him to stop.
When they’d walked full circle and were back at the screen door, she sighed and looked up at him. “Thank you, Sergei, that was…” she stopped as she looked at the netting that made up the ceiling, her mouth falling open in shock. Because perched there was one of the biggest butterflies she’d ever seen.
“That’s not real, is it?” she asked, pointing to the spot just over his shoulder.
Sergei turned and looked up, then back down at her. “That’s the Atlas butterfly. It has a wing span of about ten inches and is one of the largest in the world.”
Her mouth fell open as she continued to stare up at the huge butterfly. “I had no idea that there was a butterfly that huge!” she told him.
He laughed and moved behind her. But then his arm wrapped around her waist again, pulling her back against his chest and she was completely distracted from the massive butterfly. It wasn’t nearly as interesting as Sergei’s heat!
“You ready to go?”
With his question, images of him kissing her…and a lot more…flashed through her mind. Was she ready? Possibly! Another shiver went through her and she looked at him over her shoulder. The look in his eyes told her nothing about his intentions but she nodded anyway.
He once again took her hand and led her through both doors. Once they were out in the main room again, the person who had been selling the tickets handed her a beautifully wrapped box. “What’s this?” she asked, taking the box and following Sergei out of the building.
When they stepped outside again, she realized that the sun was much lower in the sky than she’d thought. Where had the day gone? She looked around, then down at the wrapped box, confused about so many things. She wanted Sergei to kiss her again, but was she ready for more? Clutching the box in her hands, she stared at him as he moved off to take a phone call. He was speaking in Spanish and Katia suddenly realized that she didn’t know very much about him. He might be the sweetest man she’d ever met, and the most virile, interesting, and amazingly kind man. But what did she truly know about him other than he had superior sleuthing skills and had found her before her father could?
Katia knew that he was kind and generous…but what was his favorite color? What kinds of foods does he prefer? Where did he grow up? And how? Other than the superficial details, the man was a completely mystery.
But she wanted him. She definitely wanted…more from him. Until this morning, he’d only given her chaste kisses but the way he’d kissed her on the ship earlier, that had been wonderful and…terrifying! She’d never been the kind of woman to have sex with a man she didn’t know. Hence, the reason she’d never had sex before. She hadn’t ever allowed a man to get close to her, needing to constantly be on the alert and ready to run at a moment’s notice.
He ended the call and turned back to her. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Fine.” She was nervous, wondering if he was going to make love to her tonight. He hadn’t touched her last night, sleeping in a separate room, but…they were married. Didn’t that make it okay? Especially since they both wanted the same thing!
But her heart pulled back a bit, wondering if she was going to get hurt. As she looked up into his crystal blue eyes, she realized that she was definitely going to get hurt. But maybe that pain would be worth the joy of experiencing the magic of being in his arms. And yeah, she knew that being with Sergei like that would definitely be magical. He had a look about him, a look that told her he knew a woman’s body extremely well and could give her pleasure beyond anything she’d ever imagined.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked her gently as he slid his phone back into a pocket.
Katia stared up at him, her head tilting to the side. “I was thinking that you’re a mystery.”
He chuckled and led her over to the car, holding the door open for her. “Not so much a mystery. I’m pretty basic.”
She smiled a moment before he closed the door. “I doubt that very much.”
He drove expertly through the winding streets of George Town, the capital city of Grand Cayman. It didn’t take very long to leave the city behind and drive along the road that skimmed the edge of the island. The ocean pounded against the rocky beaches as he drove to the north side of the island where the villa was located. “Are we heading to your house?” she asked as they rounded a corner in the road.
He shook his head. “No. I don’t own property on Grand Cayman. And I thought it would be better to rent a place instead of advertising where we were. Until everything is in place and I have confirmation from my transition team that your father is out, then I didn’t want to be too obvious.”
Makes sense, she thought. “Thank you for today. It was incredible.”
He looked over at her, but she couldn’t see his eyes clearly because of the dim light left over from the setting sun. She suspected that, if she could see his eyes, he might be winking at her and she shifted uncomfortably. A wink from a man seemed…a bit patronizing. He didn’t think of her as a child, did he? She was twenty-three years old! Not a child!
“How old are you?” she blurted out before she could think better of asking the question.
“I’m thirty-two. Why?”
She shrugged and turned to look out the windshield but it was darker here, more shadows as the moon inched higher, so there wasn’t much to look at besides the road in front of them. “I was just wondering about our age differences.” She stopped for a moment, considering her next comment carefully. “And wondering about the other differences we might have.”
He looked at her again before focusing back at the winding road. “You think our differences are vast?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. We certainly have something very important in common.”
“Our hatred of Sosta?”
She shifted again, holding the wrapped box in her hands, careful not to mess up the bow. “It seems so wrong to hate my father. But I do. And yes, that would be the biggest issue we have that is similar.”
“What Sosta put you through as a child seems to validate your anger towards him.”
“What were your parents like?” she asked, needing to change the subject. Her father was never a good topic of conversation and she felt both weepy when she thought about her mother’s passing at his cruel hands and angry at her father’s corrupt activities that had led them to this point in each of their lives.
“Why do you want to know?” he replied and she noticed his fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
She watched him carefully for a moment, then sighed. “You don’t have to tell me anything about them if it makes you uncomfortable. I understand that this is a difficult subject for you.”
There was a long silence and Katia suspected that he was going to ignore her question. Looking out the side window, she tried to come up with another topic of conversation. So she was startled when he spoke.
“My mother was beautiful, and probably why Sosta wanted her so badly. She’d gone to the market on the wrong day. It was the day he was doing something in one of the buildings across the street from the market and he saw her. She was kind and sweet.” She watched his fingers tighten almost spasmodically on the steering wheel. “She loved parties and would bake these elaborate birthday cakes for me every year. I remember one of them was a train, complete with an engine, a caboose, and even passenger cars. She would stay up after I went to bed at night to work on them. Every morning for the week before my birthday, I’d jump out of bed and race to the fridge to see what she’d done the night before. At first, I didn’t know what it was going to be, but towards my birthday, she started to fit all of the rectangle cakes together.” He paused again and she waited, holding her breath to hear whatever he might tell her next. “They were just rectangular cakes, but she had the most amazing imagination and used frosting and small pieces of candy to decorate each part of the train, connecting them with licorice.”
She smiled, warmed by the story. “She sounds like a wonderful woman.”
His jaw tightened and Katia knew that he was remembering other things about his mother. “She was.”
Hearing him tell the story made her feel special. It was like she knew a secret about him, something that he’d never shared with anyone else. “And your father?”
He laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “My dad loved my mom and was great. He used to take me fishing on the weekends. He’d say we were going for the whole weekend, but it always rained. We’d drive out to the spot he’d chosen and get the tent set up, the fishing poles ready, and whatever bait we’d need. Every time, he would check the weather forecast. No rain was ever predicted, but…well, summer weather is always a bit unpredictable and a summer storm would build. It happened so often that my mother would have dinner ready for us as soon as we walked through the door on the first night.”
Katia laughed, thinking that even the rain would be fun. She loved summer storms and the passion behind the thunder. “I guess it was too dangerous to stay out in the storm.”
He shrugged. “Hard to fish when the water is all stirred up too.”
They pulled into the driveway of the villa at that point and she sighed, wishing that they had another fifty miles to drive so that he would tell her more stories. They seemed so idyllic, so unlike what she experienced with her parents. Her childhood was filled with rules and isolation. Fear. Fear of her father’s temper or whatever other punishment he might mete out to her.
They stepped into the cool interior of the house and she turned to say something to him but he walked away. “I have some phone calls to make. I’ll see you at dinner.”
A moment later, she was standing alone in the beautiful, tiled foyer as she stared at the closed door to the office area. Katia tried not to be hurt, but she couldn’t hide her disappointment as she made her way up the stairs to the bedroom where someone had put her suitcase. She set the beautifully wrapped present on the edge of the bed, trying to figure out what to do now. Unfortunately, nothing brilliant occurred to her.
Lifting the wrapped box up, she carefully pulled the bow and the wrapping paper. When she pulled open the box, tears formed as she found the most beautiful butterfly she’d ever seen. The wings were made of some sort of material that sparkled as she turned it in the moonlight. It was delicate and carefully constructed, with antenna and colors that took her breath away.
He’d bought her a butterfly!
Sergei mentally berated himself for telling Katia those stories about his parents. Why the hell had he done that? And why had he even told her anything? He never told anyone about those memories of his family. Hell, he never even thought of them. He didn’t allow himself to dwell on the past. Thinking about his parents was too painful and he hadn’t opened his mind to those memories in years.
He focused on the present and the future, ensuring that he was five or ten steps ahead of Sosta at every moment. It was a constant game of chess and he was winning. He excelled at this chess game. Every move and countermove was perfectly orchestrated.
Every decision on Sosta’s part had been countered by a counter attack by Sergei. Sosta’s business partners had started pulling away from him years ago, as soon as Sosta began losing ground, caused by Sergei’s machinations. It had even taken Sosta years to figure out what Sergei was doing and several more to find out who was behind all of the financial setbacks.
Now wasn’t the time to become soft, he reminded himself. The end was near, he could taste it! He could feel Sosta’s fury! He didn’t even need to read his staff’s daily reports to know that Sosta was going ballistic.
So why was he telling Katia, a woman who had nothing to gain or lose in this race other than the destruction of her father, stories about his childhood? She had no reason to need any history from him. And those stories had been buried in his mind for decades!
Fishing! Damn, why had he even thought of that story? The rain had been miserable, they’d been hungry because, as usual, they’d planned to fish for their dinner. Yeah, they’d brought snacks and sides for their meal but since the rain had arrived, it was impossible to start a fire. Cooking wasn’t possible.
Looking out the window at the ocean, he tried to block out those memories – his father cursing as the thunder boomed in the distance, their laughter the last time they’d tried to go fishing and the rain moved in. They’d just unpacked everything and set up their tent when the rain started. Fat, heavy drops of rain at first. But the look Sergei had seen in his father’s eyes…the way they’d both sighed with resignation. And then the mad rush to toss everything back into the truck before the deluge started. They laughingly jumped into the seats after packing everything up, the water droplets splashed all over the dashboard when his father shook his head, caused both of them to laugh even harder.
“Chert voz’mi!” he cursed, spinning away from the window. “Hell!” Sergei repeated in English. He had work to do and a mission to finalize. His entire staff was working around the clock, literally, to ensure that Sosta Valissi couldn’t gain access to any of his company assets. Sergei had armed guards surrounding the man’s homes, so that he couldn’t get in now that his legal team had successfully claimed all of the residences through the court systems.
Everything was in place. Everything but his mind, that is! And it was all because of Katia’s sweet smile and her tentative touches. She was so soft and smelled like flowers. Blossoms! Damn, he was going soft when he compared a woman’s scent to flowers. What the hell was wrong with him?!
He opened his computer and read through the latest reports, focusing on important things. Once he had all of the information, he sent out new instructions to each section of the transition team. As he worked through the details, he came up with new ways to undermine Sosta’s efforts and gave instructions to have those gaps closed as well.
When he looked up, it was close to midnight.
With a guilty start, he realized what a bastard he’d been tonight. He’d left Katia all alone. Her confused look when he’d turned away from her earlier hit him hard.
He went in search of her and found her asleep on the sofa, a book in her hands and the glass butterfly sitting on the coffee table in front of her.
Ah hell! Were those tear stains on her cheek?
He cursed under his breath as he looked down at her in the dim light from one of the side table lights. She looked so beautiful and innocent like this, but he knew her to be a grown woman. And the way she’d kissed him back earlier had sent his mind spiraling.
None of this should have happened, he admonished himself. He should have been immune to her. There shouldn’t be any attraction to this woman. But Sergei couldn’t deny the intense pull he felt. Innocent or no, he wanted her. His body craved her touch and, all day, he’d struggled to keep his hands to himself. By the afternoon, he’d given up trying and had simply enjoyed the feel of her soft skin under his hands.
Damn, he shouldn’t have brought her here. If he’d wanted a honeymoon, he should have taken her to Paris or, even better, the arctic. The warm sunshine of the Caribbean demanded bathing suits and…well, his assistant had gone a bit overboard on the bathing suit area. Those skimpy pieces of nothing were going to mess with his head.
He hadn’t been lying earlier. He’d seen women in more revealing bathing suits. Hell, he’d seen many women in nothing at all and they hadn’t incited his lust the way Katia had in that black bathing suit. Her lush curves and all of that pale skin…he’d been a goner from the moment she’d stepped out of her stateroom.
And that butterfly! What a silly piece of whimsy. But as soon as he’d seen it, he knew that he wanted it for her. He didn’t even know the cost. He’d just asked the cashier to wrap it up for him and hand it to Katia on their way out. He hadn’t even looked at the receipt when he’d signed the credit card slip, knowing that the cost didn’t matter.
If anyone in his company had seen him buy that shiny butterfly, they would have stared at him like he’d lost his mind. Never had he done anything so outrageously sentimental!
Damn, the woman was driving him nuts!
With a sigh, he gently lifted her into his arms. Carrying her upstairs, he noticed her eyes flutter ever so slightly. But thankfully, she didn’t wake up. He wasn’t sure he could handle her softness against him plus those gorgeous dark eyes looking up at him with a sleepy smile. His good intentions were strained to the breaking point already and he couldn’t take any additional stimulation. Which was odd, since he’d never thought he had any good intentions inside of him to be strained. Everything in his life up to this moment had been focused on avenging his parents’ death at the hands of a cruel animal.
So why was he so drawn to Katia’s softness? She was the daughter of his enemy. He should hate her. He should be destroying her just as Sosta had destroyed his family.
And yet, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t even wake her up. Instead, he used one hand to pull the covers back, then gently placed her on the cool sheets. Her shoes were already off and he thought about pulling off the shorts she’d pulled on earlier in the day. But his throbbing erection wouldn’t allow him to do that. He was tempted to bend over her and kiss all of that beautiful, pale skin or nibble on her extremely sensitive neck.
With a careful tug, he jerked the sheet over her, gritting his teeth when she sighed in her sleep and rolled over. Her stunning body stretched out now that it was free of the constraints of the sofa and he had to turn away and walk out of the room before he followed through on any of the ideas flashing through his mind.