Page 62 of Emerald Vices

Her eyebrows knit together. “Does it help you to be self-disparaging? Or is it just another wall to keep me out?”

She tries to disentangle herself from me, but I grab her and pull her back down against my chest. “Come on, stop?—”

“No, you stop,” she retorts. “I’m trying to have a real conversation with you.”

With a deep breath, I cup her face. “I’m trying, too, okay? You’re gonna have to be patient with me.”

She sighs into my touch. “I can be patient.”

“That requires you to stay in my bed even when I’m pissing you off.”

That almost wrings a smile out of her. “You don’t have to introduce me to her right away. I don’t want to pressure you. I’m just saying I’d like to meet her one day.”

I nod. “One day.”

“Preferably before the twins go off to college, though.”

I plant a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll do my best.” She opens her mouth and then snaps it shut almost immediately. “What?”

“Nothing.”

I roll my eyes. “Come on, lastochka. All or nothing, remember?”

“I was just wondering… did you ever introduce Maria to your mother?”

“No.”

“How come?”

“Because I had no desire to show Maria my past.”

Natalia sits up, straddling me. The little temptress knows exactly what she’s doing as she sinks back against me. “Your past is part of who you are.”

I grip her hips. “I didn’t want to look back. I certainly didn’t want Maria looking back with me.”

“Why?”

“Are you always this chatty after sex?”

She slaps her palms against my chest. “Answer the question.”

“Because my father is Slavik. And because my mother is a mentally fragile woman who was completely destroyed by him. I didn’t want to give her a reason to run.”

“She wouldn’t have,” she assures me.

“That’s sweet of you. But need I remind you, you didn’t know Maria.”

“Yes, but I know what it’s like to—” She stops short, blushes fiercely, then clears her throat and tries again. “—erm, I know what it’s like to care about someone. Deeply.”

I sit up, readjusting her on my lap. She flushes, and I know she’s feeling the same heat between us as I am.

“I’m Slavik’s son, Natalia. Aren’t you just a little bit worried that I might be more like him than either one of us knows? I can be as ruthless,” I tell her softly. “I can be as demanding, as controlling, as uncompromising as he is.”

“But you could never hurt a woman.”

Her indignation has me pulling her forward, as close to me as I can get her. For once, I’m actually grateful for her sweet naivete. I push a lock of hair back behind her ear. “I’ve already hurt you. More times than I can count.”

She bites her bottom lip. “That’s different.”

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