Page 15 of Preferential Treatment

“Thank you,” she replied briskly. “They’re great for stepping on throats.”

His gaze darkened. “Only one throat.”

Kate couldn’t help a smirk. Before she could speak, Mikhail’s big body was crowding her back against the wall. He braced one hand on the wall next to her head, caging her in as he glared down at her.

“Only one,” he repeated in a low growl.

Kate didn’t appreciate being intimidated, or the implication in his demand. She grabbed his tie and jerked, pulling his face close to hers. “Are you questioning my integrity?” she asked in a dangerously soft voice.

Mikhail’s hard expression slackened a touch, his dark gaze losing some of its focus. He swallowed, taking a moment to answer her. “No,” he finally said.

Kate adjusted her grip on the tie, twisting so that it tightened around his throat. “Are you sure about that?”

Neither one of them moved, but the nature of their stances had abruptly changed. Mikhail wasn’t caging her in—he was the one who was trapped. He wasn’t looming over her, but stooping to accommodate her height. The hand on the wall beside her head was no longer a threatening blockade to Kate, but a necessary point of balance for Mikhail.

“I’m sure, knyazhna,” he whispered.

Kate twisted his tie just a little tighter. “Good.” She released him, pushing against his chest. He ceded immediately, backing up a step. Kate smoothed a hand over her hair, making sure the wall hadn’t mussed it. Mikhail was collecting himself as well, gaze darting up and down the hall as he smoothed his shirt back down.

“Straighten your tie,” Kate said.

He did so. “Visit me tonight,” he said quietly, big fingers sliding along his collar to fix the fold.

Kate considered him. “Are you that eager to be punished?”

He winced faintly. “I would rather please you.”

“Maybe it pleases me to punish you.”

The heat in his eyes shone brighter. He leaned closer to her, his voice pitched low. “Then I—”

The sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the adjacent corridor. Kate and Mikhail flinched away from each other. He immediately strode past her, in the direction he’d been headed before. Kate started to follow him, then remembered she’d been headed in the opposite direction. Cursing herself for an idiot, she made an embarrassing U-turn, expensive new shoes clicking a frantic staccato over the floor as she hurried away.

“Oh, Mr. Volkov!” a young man’s voice greeted him brightly. “I was going to wait until the meeting this afternoon, but since I ran into you…”

Kate rounded the next corner, losing the rest of whatever the man was saying. Her heart was hammering, her breath coming too quickly, too shallowly. It had been a close call, but that wasn’t what had her pulse pounding. It was the look in his eyes while she’d choked him with his own tie. The deep purr of his voice when he’d started to whisper something wicked to her. She pressed the backs of her hands to her heated cheeks, fighting a ridiculous grin.

Just as she reached the elevators, her phone buzzed. She fished it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen.

My driver will pick you up at seven.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kate’s nerves were no calmer this time than they’d been the first time she’d arrived at Mikhail’s house. David Marx, the household manager, greeted her again and led her through the side entry.

“Mr. Volkov is in his office, but he said to show you up right away,” he explained as he took her coat and bag.

She followed him through the massive house, treading the same path they’d followed last time. The door to Mikhail’s office was ajar and his voice could be heard, speaking in a low rumble. Kate hesitated at the doorway, uncertain if she should walk in on what could be a confidential business conversation. But David gestured her in, so in she went.

Mikhail sat at his desk, still wearing his suit from work, brow furrowed as he continued speaking to the video conference on his laptop. He wasn’t speaking English, Kate realized. It wasn’t Russian either. It sounded like Mandarin, maybe, though she didn’t know a single word in the language, so she couldn’t really be sure.

Mikhail glanced up when Kate appeared in the doorway. His expression didn’t change at all, but something about him intensified at the sight of her. He said something brief to the other parties in the video conference, tapped a few keys, and closed his laptop, turning his full attention to Kate.

“Thank you, David,” Mikhail said, dark gaze burning into Kate. “Enjoy your night.”

David nodded. “You as well, sir. And you, Ms. Pasternak.” He turned and left.

Kate crossed her arms, leaning against the door frame, and gazed back at Mikhail. It was hard to fathom that she was supposed to be the one in control here. He was such an intense man. He didn’t have to speak or posture or threaten. His mere presence exuded its own force. It was up to Kate to leash all that and bring him to heel.

---