Page 90 of Ruthless Reign

“There’s only one lady I care about impressing.” He swoops down and lays a kiss on my neck. “And she’s right here.”

I roll my eyes even as my belly tightens with need. “You sweet talker, you.”

“It’s more like I craved the normalcy of cooking. My life has been anything but normal.” He comes to stand beside me, taking the mushrooms I’ve cleaned and begins chopping them with practiced ease. “My mother never did wake up from that coma.”

The air is snatched from my lungs. I want to say something comforting, but I don’t know what. He keeps his focus on the task in front of him.

“I can’t imagine what that was like.” I bite my lip. “Was it just you and your father afterwards?”

“No. I killed my father the day I found out my mother was gone.”

Sorrow knots my gut. I understand his actions, but it’s just a lot to process.

“I spent a few years on the streets afterwards. I was a bit of a loose cannon. Fighting, running scams, trying to get myself killed because I didn’t have the balls to do it myself.”

I force down the lump lodged in my throat, but Roman seems unfazed.

“I learned early not to rely on anyone but myself. Things changed when I met Maxim and he took me under his wing. He gave me a purpose. He and Pavel, they’re my family now.”

“It certainly explains your loyalty to him.”

“I owe Maxim my life.” He gathers the cut mushrooms and throws them in a hot pan with garlic and thyme. The sound of sizzling fills the room, followed by a rich, earthy aroma. “Now, I have a chance to pay back his loyalty.”

“How is that?” I lean back against the wall.

“By allowing Maxim to step back from his business. Pavel and I will run the syndicate while he lives his life.” His voice softens, but shadows linger beneath his words. “When Maxim lost his young son, I didn’t think he’d ever smile again. Since marrying Kira, everything’s changed.”

My heart does a nose dive in my chest. I'm thrilled Kira’s found her soulmate, but sometimes I feel a twinge of self-pity, realizing I may never experience that.

In another life, Roman and I could be more. More than this one time, more than a forbidden affair. Because even after I free myself from Anatoly, I need to break free from this life. From this city. No matter how safe Roman makes me feel, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s partners with Anatoly. Part of the world I’m trying to escape, for me and Sofiya.

I rub the back of my neck. “What about you? What happens when you meet the woman of your dreams and want to settle down and make babies?”

His eyebrows pull together while he focuses on stirring the mushrooms. “I don’t see that happening for me.”

“You might feel differently in the future. With the right person.” I don’t know why I’m pushing the issue. Imagining Roman with another woman, even worse, imagining another woman carrying his baby, makes me feel sick.

“I’m not exactly marriage material. No one in this life is. It’s why Maxim is taking a step back from the business. Because the life we lead will never be safe for those we love.”

“Is that why you’ve been single for all the time I’ve known you? Well, I assumed you were single,” I’m quick to correct myself. “Maybe you weren’t.”

He tilts his head, eyes fixed on me. “Like I said, you’re the first woman, other than those I employ, to step into my bedroom. And the only person that I’ve brought here.”

I chew on my lip. Am I just interesting to Roman because I’m off-limits? Maybe a brief affair is perfect for him. Great sex, no attachments, and at the end of the day, I’m marrying someone else. He probably gets off on how forbidden this all is. All that talk of needing me earlier was just talk. Of course he doesn’t mean it.

“If I found the right woman,” he muses, all of his attention focused on me. “Maybe I’d feel differently. Maybe I’d even leave this life.”

Bitterness fills my throat. “The right woman, huh? Someone like Katerina?”

Roman dumps the cooked pasta into a colander in the sink and turns to face me, his hands gripping the edge of the counter tightly. “Is that what you think? That Katerina is my type?”

I lick my dry lips. I don’t know what I think other than that I need a reaction from him. “I get that your date was 'business’,” I say, using air quotes, “but Katerina is gorgeous. Sure, she might be a bit shallow, but she's in your circle, right? Marrying your business partner's sister would strengthen your alliance.”

Roman stalks toward me, a scowl marring his handsome face. I feel like a trapped animal with nowhere to run.

Why is he mad at me? I’m only stating facts.

He stops just inches away from me. His hand grips my hair, and he tilts my head back so I'm looking up at him. Our lips are so close that we're breathing the same air.

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