Page 118 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

I shake my head. His fingers start to loosen, then tighten once more over my jaw.

“I don’t know. I rather like it when you can’t speak.”

Ass.

I force my lips open and graze my teeth against his palm, a threat of what I’m willing to do. The action startles him enough that he loosens his grip. I sag in his arms. He swears and stumbles backward. I lean forward, breaking his hold, and then whirl around to face him.

“Don’t ever sneak up on me or touch me without my permission,” I snap.

He rights himself and stares me down. He’s nearly a foot taller than me. Steam swirls around him. With the dim lighting and his dark suit, he looks like a demon lying in wait.

I reach into my pocket and hit the button on my recorder.

“You’re the one who followed me, Grey.”

“Which I think you wanted, Mr. Drakos.”

He arches a brow, the one with a small scar bisecting the dark hair. “Oh?”

“Or perhaps I interrupted an assignation?” I smile sweetly at him. “Is Natalie White joining you?”

His lips curve up. “Jealous, Grey?”

I manage not to snarl at him. “I don’t have any interest in another woman’s leftovers.”

His amusement disappears as his mouth flattens into a grim line. “Keep your speculations about my private life out of your gossip rag.”

That he didn’t deny a personal relationship with Natalie bothers me for reasons I don’t care to examine. That he calls my workgossipinfuriates me to the point I almost lose focus and lash out.

Stay on target.

“Gossip implies the facts have not been verified, Mr. Drakos. I always verify.”

“And ruin people’s lives in the process.”

Men like Gavriil have no idea whatruinmeans to the average person. Have no idea about the children left behind, the women with broken hearts, the families without a penny to their name. All they care about is their own wealth, their reputations.

“I’m not in the business of ruining people. I reveal them for who they really are.”

“Then you should know that my brother and I are not like my father.”

He’s got me there. In all my research on the Drakos men, I found little to suggest that Rafael and Gavriil were close with Lucifer. The subtle venom in Gavriil’s voice makes me wonder what happened before he grew up, those early years that are still a mystery. If there’s something there that can be used to further my cause.

However, as I’ve learned the hard way, the words that come out of someone’s mouth, the expressions of grief or outrage or sympathy, all of it can be twisted, manipulated. I’ve talked with Gavriil less than a dozen times over the years, all in a professional capacity. I don’t know him nearly well enough to know if he’s lying right now. If his supposed disgust of his father is real or an act.

“We’ll see.”

Gavriil’s eyes narrow to slits. “The man was cruel, arrogant and greedy.”

“Agreed.”

“And I don’t begrudge the first story you published about him.”

I blink in surprise. “You read it.”

“It was well researched. Lucifer was wrong.”

I mentally note his use of his father’s first name.

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