Page 2 of Ruthless Love

“You sure?” She steps closer, smiling as she whispers the words to my lips, but the hard lines of my unamused face are enough response for her to turn and walk away.

I look down one side of the street and up the other. No vehicle in my drive. No unfamiliar cars in sight. Those heels are going to be a bitch getting her to wherever her ride is.

Still pissed, I let her suffer a few blisters and shut the door before grabbing my phone. Clicking to return the last call received, I’m met with the same sultry voice.

“Domino’s Pizza.”

“Spare me the mind-fucks, Mav. You said the Five. Next time, I’d better see hair rollers, flannel pajama bottoms, and goddamn Ugg slippers. We good?”

“I ... overstepped. You’ll never see her again.”

And that’s as close to an apology as I’m getting. The line disconnects.

My pillow might be calling, but my overzealous mind is racing, and for the first time in months I feel alive. Emptying the contents of the pouch on my bed, I find a puzzle, some hypothetical strategy question about how to extract secrets from a terrorist leader.

But I know this is far from hypothetical.

Also in the pouch are a few cryptic geographical references, some meaningless trinkets that I easily decipher, and about a year’s salary in cash that brings a smug smile to my face.

“Come to Daddy.”

Chapter One

EVIE

Present Day

“Where’s your ring?”

My fiancé looks more pleasantly amused than rightfully annoyed as he enters my corner office at Long Multinational headquarters. The presence of him fills the room, and he closes the door behind him. As his eyes meet mine, I take in a needed breath and watch his approach, a hungry panther ready to pounce as he takes my hand and gives it a sweet kiss.

His eyes never leave mine, and we do this little dance of him studying me. He waits for my reply, feeling my pulse beneath his well-placed fingers along the inside of my wrist, seeing what secrets I’ll reveal through my subconscious.

Oh, and that’s not paranoia talking. It’s reality. My reality.

I’m engaged to Dimitri Antonov, the ninth richest man in the world. A breakout Russian billionaire with rough edges that add to his allure, ties to his homeland that keep him away for weeks at a time, and major trust issues. Add to that he’s a man who never takes no for an answer, and how did I ever think he wouldn’t show up unannounced?

But I’m not backing down.

“We’ve discussed this. Everything happened so fast. And you’re always out of town. There’s never time for ... us.” I drop my gaze, heavy with the shame that I haven’t slept with the man since the night of our engagement, and it’s not for lack of trying. “I’m not sure we should—”

Before I can finish, his lips are on mine, rough with stubble and insistence. Dominant and invasive, his tongue fills my mouth, and his hands aren’t gentle as they pry open my thighs. And just like that, I’m soaked. His finger glides along the fine lace of my panties, and I melt into a horny little puddle in the palm of his hands.

The roughness of his kiss disappears, and so does his finger.

“Don’t stop,” I beg, waiting for this man to undo me.

But as his searing-hot desire takes on a familiar chill, he doesn’t. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the reason he came here to begin with. My engagement ring. And like the eleven other times I’ve broken things off with him, he wastes no time sliding it back on my finger.

“Keep it on while I’m gone, Evelyn. We’ll pick up where we left off when I return.” He checks his watch. “Flight to catch.”

He places a faint peck on my still panting lips and leaves, taking his hot finger and tasty lips with him.

Because the fucker is a total ass.

I’m about two seconds from humping my stapler when another set of light knocks on my office door rachets up my last damn nerve. “What?”

“And hello to you too.” My boss, Margot Long, waltzes in, looking every bit the cat that ate the canary. “Everything okay?”

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