Page 51 of Born into Sin

Natalya feels my body tense and her first instinct is to cup the back of my neck and ask, “Are you okay?”

The tension leaves her face when she sees me smile. “Everything’s fine. Stop worrying about me, principessa. That’s my job, not yours. I do need to take care of something, though.” I kiss her again, needing to taste her once more, and she softens against me, kissing me back with a hunger that surprises me. She’d come hard, I’d made sure of that, but it’s obvious she’s not even close to being satisfied. It hurts my pride to leave her like this, but there’s no way in hell I can resist questioning the man they’re bringing me. I want to know who’s behind this and why they’re targeting Natalya. I want a fucking name, and when I get my hands on that fucker, I’m going to make sure he knows that he made the biggest mistake of his life when he put a target on my girl’s head.

Giving her tongue one last suck, I pull back and groan at how swollen her lips are, the top one even more plump than usual.

“God, you have the sexiest mouth I’ve ever seen.” I run my thumb over it, wishing she was on her knees again. “I’ll be as quick as I can, but this might take a while. Why don’t you call your dad back, and then maybe you can visit with Lucia in the kitchen? I know she’d love the company. She’ll also make sure you get some lunch.”

“I can’t stay with you?”

“No, sweetheart, not for this.”

She nods, but I can tell she doesn’t like to be excluded. There’s no way she can be involved in this part of my life, though. It’s not safe for her, and I’ll never do anything that puts her life at risk, so with a heavy sigh, I lift her sweet ass off my lap and set her down. She watches me stand, eyeing the erection that’s pressing against my pants with a hungry look in her eyes. I give her a wink and readjust myself.

I cup her face and kiss her forehead. “I’ll come and find you as soon as I’m done.”

“Okay.”

Forcing myself to let her go, I leave my office and head down the hall. I have a room set up in the basement for situations like this, and I know that’s where Dario is going to bring him. Sandro meets up with me by the basement door and gives another small laugh.

“You ready?”

“Of course,” I tell him. “Let’s get some fucking answers.”

He opens the door, letting me go first, and I take the stairs quickly, eager to get my answers. The basement is nice. It’s not some damp, concrete room like in a horror movie. It’s actually too nice. The plush carpet and cozy, leather furniture didn’t lend itself to interrogation. Lucia was sick of getting blood stains out of the carpet, and there wasn’t anything to muffle their screams except the door at the top of the stairs. I’d had to get creative and transform one of the rooms into something more appropriate. The carpet was ripped out, and soundproof padding was added to help block out the noise.

That’s the room I’m headed towards when the door opens and I hear a man yelling in Russian. Dario steps out, shutting it behind him, muffling the screams as he gives an annoyed sigh.

“He won’t shut the fuck up, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t speak a goddamn word of English.”

“Fuck,” I mutter, scrubbing a hand over my jaw. I don’t want to bring the Melnikov brothers into this yet. I’m not ready to hand everything over. I’m not ready to hand Natalya over. “I’m sure with enough motivation, he’ll remember his English.”

I’m all set to carve this fucker up, forcing him to remember the English he learned all the way back in grammar school when Sandro says in Italian, “Your girl is curious, Dominic.”

I look over my shoulder, seeing a flash of pink dress before she disappears around the corner. This is not what we agreed on when I left her in my office, nice and safe and far away from the dangerous Russian who may have very recently tried to kill her.

“Principessa,” I holler out to her, letting her hear the displeasure in my voice. I’m not a man who likes to be disobeyed, and the fact that she’s the one who’s done it is the only thing that’s keeping my temper in check. I round the corner and catch her right as she’s about to bolt back up the stairs. Hooking an arm around her waist, I pull her back against me.

“This isn’t what we agreed on,” I remind her in case she’s forgotten the conversation we had less than five minutes ago.

“I’m sorry. I was curious, and then I heard him yell that he was going to kill you all.”

“So you heard that and thought getting closer was the smartest option?”

She turns her head so she can glare up at me. I still have her in a tight grip, and the fire in her eyes is quickly making me hard again.

“I thought I could help, and I can help, Dominic.”

“No, you can’t, and I don’t want you anywhere near him. It’s not safe.”

“So I suppose you’ve learned Russian since the last time I saw you?”

I raise a brow at her sarcasm.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. Let me translate for you. I can help.”

“He might be the man who tried to kill you, and he doesn’t know you’re here, and I’m damn well going to keep it that way. He doesn’t get to look at you, principessa. I know what I’ll see in his eyes if he does, and then I’m going to end up killing him, and if I do that, then I can’t question him.”

She wiggles around so we’re chest to chest, and instead of being intimidated by the anger that’s radiating off me, she reaches her hands up and cups my face so she can pull me closer. Smiling, she gives me a soft kiss.

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