Page 25 of Diamond Don

I missed her. Until now, I thought I didn’t, believing her deceit had soured the longing and attraction I felt for her. I assumed I had realized at last that I am better off without her.

But I was an idiot. After a week apart, merely seeing Kat in person brings me a lot of relief. It’s almost as if I have been painfully holding in a breath the entire time we were apart. But now that we are in the same room, I can let it go, exhaling and allowing the tension I have been carrying on my shoulders to leave my body.

“Nikolai, what’s going on? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?”

I’m not sure what I expected her to say, but I feel too emotionally raw to deal with her games. If she thinks that playing dumb or a damsel in distress will save her, then I have overestimated her.

“Isn’t it obvious? You took something of mine, so I took you.”

11

NIK

Kat seems even more confused and hurt than when I first walked into the room. She must be a very skilled actress to manage the stunt she pulled on me successfully, but I am still impressed.

“What are you talking about? I took something from you? I have no idea what you mean—” she says, stopping mid-sentence. A small gasp escapes her lips, and her big blue eyes widen.

“No.” She shakes her head in horror.

“Yes,” I say with a grin.

“It can’t be.”

“And yet, here we are.” I gesture to the bed where she is restrained.

She dramatically flops back on it, closing her eyes tightly shut.

“This can’t be happening to me,” she says, groaning.

“I assure you, it is.”

Kat lies down on the bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling and shaking her head in what I assume is denial. She suddenly repositions herself, sitting up as much as she can within the constraints of her restraints, which isn’t much at all. Narrowing her eyes, she studies me with suspicion.

“Just who are you, exactly?”

I can’t hold back a smirk. “Come on now, Kat. The game is over. You can drop the charade now. We both know you know who I am. Why else would you have set out to con me?”

She gasps at my casual mention of her name.

“That’s right, Ms. Devereaux. You no longer have me at a disadvantage. I’m now very familiar with who you are and what you do. It was a little silly to deny me your name when you allowed me to get to know you so thoroughly, don’t you think?”

The maddening woman has the nerve to shoot me an aggravated look.

“Look, Nikolai—if that’s even your real name—” she says, looking down her nose at me.

My amused grin grows bigger, and I cover the distance between us, stopping next to the enormous bed. I smile at her as she glares at me.

“That’s fucking precious coming from you. I am not the one who conned you. I am not the who crashed a party to commit grand larceny. I did not steal from you the most valuable diamond in the world. I do not go out of my way to seduce unsuspecting men into helping me get away with the heist of the century and maybe even murder.”

“Whoa, whoa, now wait just a minute,” she says. “First of all, don’t flatter yourself. I did not set out to seduce you. You came onto me. Very strongly, too, if I recall correctly. You approached me. You wouldn’t let me leave, though God knows I tried. I’d even go as far as to say you just wouldn’t be dissuaded.”

“I don’t remember you putting up too much of a fight. Or any fight at all, actually,” I say. “I do remember you begging me to kiss you, though. And, of course, how could I forget? I specifically recall you stripping your clothes for me and grinding on my lap moments before you couldn’t stop yourself from coming around my?—”

Kat grabs one of the pillows from the bed and attempts to hit me in the face with it. The leather cuffs make her actions awkward and considerably reduce her speed, so I see the move coming from a mile away. I sidestep and grab the offending pillow, throwing it far away where she can’t reach it.

“You,” she says, grunting with frustration as her face blushes deep with emotion. “I may not know all I should about who you are, but I do know you are the most insufferable, overly confident asshole I have ever met.”

“I may be an asshole, I’ll give you that. You won’t get any argument from me on that one. But overly confident? Really, Kat. You and I both know that, if anything, I’m being too modest.” I wink at her. “But we are getting off track. I brought you here today for a complete different reason, as you know very well.”

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