Page 15 of The Bratva King's Kidnapped Bride

At the restaurant, I took my place at the head of the table, surrounded by my guests in their finest attire. I’d worn a navy blue suit and shirt open at the neck. The cut on my cheek barely showed, though my knuckles were still in bad shape. I was on the edge of my chair, waiting to see her.

Once we were all seated, I could barely contain my impatience. Both with her and myself, because that wasn’t at all like me. She finally came out after drinks were served to introduce herself as our chef, and explain the menu.

She faltered over her words when she recognized me at once. Our eyes locked, and I let a smile curl my lips. Her face went pale, but she quickly rallied, smoothly explaining each dish we’d be experiencing that night. Bright color crept up from her white chef’s coat, and my fingers clenched in my lap with the urge to stroke the wisps of hair that fell from her tight ponytail off of her neck.

As she spoke, I never let her free of my gaze, but I couldn’t care less what we’d be eating. I only wanted to hear one thing from her.

Yes.

She finished her speech, turned, and fled back to the kitchen. I waited until my guests were enjoying the appetizer, a shrimp dish with scallions, to excuse myself and head back to the kitchen.

From the doorway, I just watched her for a moment, enjoying the ease and confidence of her motions as she flipped several steaks and then deftly stirred a sauce. Was I actually getting turned on by watching a woman cook? This woman, yes, I was. Only Katie.

As soon as she turned away from the hot stoves and headed toward a hallway, I made my move. Intercepting her with a firm grip on her arm, I pulled her away from her crew, into a storage closet. Shutting the door behind us, I backed her against it, my hands caging her in on either side of her head.

She gasped, looking up at me with wide eyes. But not trying to run away. “Aleks… I had no idea…”

I ignored her attempts at an excuse. I didn’t need to hear it.

“Do you have an answer for me yet?” I asked, leaning close enough to feel her warm breath on my cheek.

Her lips parted, and her tongue darted out to wet them. “Answer?”

Her feigning ignorance was adorable. Irresistible. My hunger had been left unsated for too long. I moved the final inch, our mouths colliding. Moments later, her hands were grappling at my shirt with such desperation she was pulling it out of my waistband. My fingers tangled in her hair, messing up her ponytail. It was wild and hot and breathless, and over much too soon.

She turned her face to break the kiss, ducking her chin down. Both of us swayed on our feet. No, I wasn’t getting over her.

“Tell me your answer,” I demanded.

Still gripping my shirt, she shoved at my chest. I stayed exactly where I was. She looked up at me, shoving harder. “Your meal will burn. The party will be ruined.”

With a low chuckle, I moved away, but slipped my hand around hers before she could leave the supply room. Her eyes fluttered shut as her hand slid into mine, and she paused, halfway out the door.

“Keep thinking about it, Katie,” I told her. “I’m going to get your answer when dinner is over.”

With a gasp, she hurried out, trying to pull her hair back up into its band. It took me a few moments to get myself in order, shirt tucked in, and breathing under control. The brief encounter shook me more than it should have, but when I went back to my guests, I was confident I’d get what I wanted.

I always did.

Chapter 9 - Katie

I returned from the supply room just in time to keep my white sauce from curdling, and my hand shook as I gripped the spoon. How was I still standing?

How was Aleks, the host of this last-minute party?

I had scrambled since yesterday, promising miracles and meaning to deliver, because I was so happy to be getting a call for a catering job at all. It was even better when the lovely lady who made the booking said it was going to be at the very restaurant, I slaved away most evenings. For one glorious night, I would be in charge of the kitchen, with Chef Dannilo nowhere in sight or shouting distance. Word would get back to him about the successful party, and he’d stop punishing me and give me back my sous chef position and the much bigger paycheck.

I’d barely slept from excitement, planning the perfect meal, all the way down to messaging Nataliye in Italy, asking her what kinds of wines would go best with my selections.

Well, imagine my shock when I went out to smoothly introduce myself, all worldly wise and professional. That big, handsome man stared me down like I was the main course. Sipping one of the very wines his own daughter told me to serve.

I took the sauce off the heat and checked on the stuffed mushrooms, unable to get my bearings back after those heated moments in the supply room. Time had stopped, all the noise my helpers were making in the kitchen just a few feet away vanished. It was only his hands and mouth, his woodsy scent, like rain after a hike through the woods.

How did Aleks do that? He was lucky I didn’t scorch every last item on that menu I worked so hard to create. I had a good mind to turn off all the burners, send my friends home, and walk out. Clearly, he’d booked the party to shake me like this, and he’d succeeded. And while I would have let him drag me back into that supply closet again, I was a little bit pissed off underneath my shattered nerves.

No, hell no. I was a professional, and it didn’t matter who booked my catering company, or rather, brought it back from the dead for this one party; I was grateful for the tidy sum it was bringing in. It was much needed and would be gone as soon as it hit my bank account, because I was going to send my sister on the trip to DC with her political science class. After Jenna raved about it, she pretended she didn’t want to go, but it was clear she was desperate to visit the place she hoped to work one day.

We’d both had to go without too many things after our parents’ accident, but since I was two years older, I had been able to experience more of the lux life than she did, and she’d had more years struggling to get through the overcrowded public school system in a not-so-great neighborhood. She never complained, kept her head down, and powered through it all to make it into her first-choice university. I was determined she wouldn’t miss a thing while she was there.

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