Page 76 of Unbreakable Vow

“It means I called in a favor.”

“And you’re sure we don’t have loose lips in our ranks?” I eye him.

His jaw tenses. “I’m worried about the same thing. Someone had to have given your cousin something for him to think he could go approach the authorities. Whatever it was, it was small, not worthy of anything but enough to get a new detective’s dick hard. Which means someone had to have been talking.”

“And we still don’t know who,” I say.

“There are only a handful of men that would be close enough to our business dealings that would know anything to hurt us. I don’t doubt their loyalty.”

“I don’t either. But we need to be sure.” I catch Cora’s glance as she looks for me in the crowd. The dance is finally over, and that fucker has his hands off her. “We need to set a trap. Leak information, see if it goes anywhere outside.”

He agrees with a nod. “I’ll figure something out.” He’s all smiles when Cora approaches us.

That dress makes her look like the belle of the ball, and all I want to do is rip it off of her and use her body in ways that would make her scream my name.

“Andrei.” Cora grins at him. “Thank you for not letting him barge onto the dance floor. He looked ready to kill when I looked over here.” She laughs, and it’s the most magical sound I’ve heard all night.

“He was, but I managed to make him behave.” Andrei nods. “I need to have a conversation with someone before I head home. I’ll call you tomorrow, Sergei.”

“Did you enjoy the dance?” I ask.

“Not really. I mean it was fine, but he wasn’t very fun. He kept talking about his business he’s going into. Jewelry making or something.” She runs her hand over my chest, pretending to brush away something on my suit. “I think he wants to discuss it with you.”

I wrap my fingers around her wrist before she can pull away and flatten her hand to my chest. I’ve grown used to these little touches of hers.

“What’s wrong?” Her eyes widen when I don’t release her right away.

“People are going to try to use you to get to me,” I say.

She nods. “I figured that out already. I’ve been invited to luncheons, dinners, and other social stuff that I didn’t know people actually did still. I’m not even sure what high tea is.” She looks over her shoulder to be sure we’re not being overheard. “I thought that only happened in books, or at least in Europe. Not in Chicago.”

“It makes them feel better than everyone else to pretend they’re high society in some other country. It’s just a game.” I bring her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to her palm.

She’s so innocent. It’s easy to forget how new she is to this world of mine.

“You don’t have to go to any of them,” I assure her.

“Well, I might go to the garden tea.” Her mouth kicks up to the right, a mischievous grin. “I’ve always wanted to go to a tea party. A real one, with the little sandwiches and all that.”

I laugh before I can stop myself. It’s too much. The beauty in her soul matches every gorgeous inch of her physical self.

She deadpans, “Did you just laugh?”

I clear my throat and drop her hand. “It’s late. We should get home.”

“It’s not that late,” she says as I tuck her hand into my arm and lead us through the crowd.

I stop, lean down to her ear so only she can hear my words. “You should have been naked and sprawled out in my bed hours ago. If you make me wait any longer, I’ll have to punish your ass before I let you have your relief.”

She gasps a little, then leans away from me so I can see her face clearly.

Her pupils have already exploded with arousal.

“How would you do that?” She’s nearly breathless when she asks the question.

Oh, she’s too easy.

I kiss her cheek, an innocent brush of my lips, then move higher to her neck, just below her earlobe. A tiny nip.

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