Page 27 of Disguised as Love

He was all serious now. No sign of the smile that had taken my breath away not only because it was beautiful but because I’d been so relieved to see him alive.

“You’re right. There is nothing funny about this, but it was what I had to do at the moment. I’m sorry I worried you.”

He’d known. Known exactly why I’d slapped him. He’d understood the relief and fury that had built inside me. I was unaccustomed to having anyone read me as he did. I hated it. Hated that he was the only person to have ever done so.

“I wasn’t worried,” I denied. “I was mad you let them dismiss me.”

His lip twitched ever so slightly.

“What happened?” I demanded, pacing around a small fountain near a wrought-iron bench that had been on the grounds for as long as I could remember. It was surrounded by peonies and carnations that mixed with the wild chamomile whose scent had always calmed me growing up but seemed completely ineffective today.

Malone’s partial smile slipped away. “They have plans for you. And for me.”

The fear that had subsided coursed through me again. It wasn’t anything I didn’t already know. Papa had told me to stay away for a reason, but it was still terrifying to hear.

“What plans?” I asked, my breath shaky.

“Who are you promised to?” he asked, a frown marring his face.

My feet stilled.

“What?”

“Gennady said I couldn’t have you because you were already promised to someone else.”

His tone sounded…angry. As if I was truly his girlfriend, and I’d somehow cheated on him. I sat on the bench before my legs gave out on me, and he watched with a hooded gaze.

“No one. I’ve promised to marry no one.” I shook my head, and Papa’s voice returned to me. You cannot come home, Raechka. Never.

“I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me the truth.”

This pissed me off. I stormed back to him and shoved a finger into the brick wall of his chest. “You are the one who insisted on coming. I told you it was a mistake. I’ve told you all I could. I know nothing about Rurik, or Papa, or even Malik’s business. I know nothing about being promised to anyone. I assumed Papa didn’t want me to come back because of my breakthroughs with the photovoltaic nano cells. You…you don’t get to come here and act like you have some hold on me. I don’t owe you anything. If you die here, it’s on you.”

It was a lie. The truth was the complete opposite. If he died here, it would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Feel better now?” he asked calmly, as if none of this was disturbing him.

I growled. “No. You are completely infur?”

He yanked me up tight against his body, and his mouth landed on mine. The shock caused me to freeze. His lips were enticingly soft when they’d always appeared so hard, and the heat of them seemed to melt into me, spreading a honey-like glow and causing my skin to prickle like it did when stepping from the cold into the warmth of the sun. A knot in my chest let go, and then I was kissing him back.

He shifted so his hand tangled with my hair, forcing my head to tilt as he deepened the kiss, tongue flicking against the seam of my mouth. My brain was screaming to push him away, but my body was craving more. I wanted to know if the inner recesses of him would taste like the salt water and clove he smelled of, so I let him in.

He groaned as I opened my mouth, and I swallowed the sound as my body ignited. My hands went to the nape of his neck, nails scratching into the dense weave. Our tongues battled it out, exploring, demanding, each wanting to control the heated embrace?the most passionate kiss I’d ever had in my life. Every single cell of my body was responding. My limbs curled into him, my core seeking his, and that was when I came to my senses.

I shoved at him with all my might, but he didn’t let me go. He held me tight as we stared into each other’s faces, our gazes falling to lips and heaving chests before our eyes met again. I was in the arms of a federal agent. I’d kissed him, knowing exactly why he was there. To bring my family down. To ruin Papa’s name. Arrest Malik. Arrest Papa’s friends. I was being used…and I couldn’t lose sight of that.

I struggled again, and he stilled me. “Stop fighting. We have an audience.”

His eyes flicked toward the house without moving his head.

“What? Who?” I demanded quietly.

“Your brother,” he said so softly. “If you keep struggling, he’s going to know we lied.”

The tension left my limbs. I leaned my forehead against his chest, hating the way my body wanted to kiss him again. Wanted to explore every single recess of his chiseled body. Hating that the kiss had been as fake as our relationship when I’d felt more human…more real…than I had in years with his lips on mine.

His strong arms wrapped around me tighter. From a distance, it would look like he was consoling me. Holding me together as I fell apart, but all I wanted to do was run. Run from him, and his embrace, and the fire that he’d lit within me. Run from Rurik, and his plans, and the ties that bound me to Russia and a family who was as criminal as it was charitable.

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