Page 94 of Claimed By Desire

“You want to beat the shit out of me again?” I ask him when we take a break. It’s around one in the morning. I hate leaving Natalya alone for this long, but she should be asleep. IT’s taking all my willpower not to check the cameras, including the one in the bedroom.

Added with her permission, of course. Turns out, she’s as much of a voyeur as I am.

“Not really.” He drinks back a beer and sighs. “You think I don’t get it? The second she fucked up that marriage, I had a feeling I was next.”

“For what it’s worth, it wasn’t my idea.”

“I know that.”

“Adriano wanted it.”

“Like I said. I get it.”

“Natalya’s a mess. She feels guilty as hell.”

“I’d probably feel the same way if I were in her position.”

“What do you want her to do, Lev?” I crush my empty can and toss it aside before getting another. I toss him one too. We crack them open together. “I’m the father of her child.”

He absorbs that in silence for a moment. “I wish she’d done what she was supposed to do. I wish I didn’t have to clean up her mess. But if I’m being really honest with myself, I’m happy it’s you.”

That surprises me. I sit back and study him. “You mean that?”

“If my sister’s going to marry someone, it might as well be a man I consider worthy. I don’t like the way it happened, and I sure as fuck don’t like the consequences, but I’m happy knowing you’ll be there to take care of her. I can’t handle losing another sibling.”

“You have my word, Lev. No matter what. She’ll be safe.”

“I know that.” He sighs and stretches out his legs. “I just wish I didn’t have to marry some fucking Italian girl.”

“You might be able to get out of it. There could still be another way.”

Lev gives me a look, and we both know what it means. But before he can say anything, there’s a noise from the front of the building and a shadow falls across the room.

We both react fast. Lev scrambles for a weapon and comes up with a hammer. I leap to my feet and wind my arm back, ready to hurl a half-empty beer at the intruder to buy us some extra time. But we both freeze.

“I got an alert that someone was in my store again. I didn’t expect to find you two. I also didn’t expect to hear what I just heard.”

Oleg’s standing in the doorway. He’s wearing slacks, a button-down shirt, and has a gun pointed at my chest.

The old man looks furious. Just as angry as the last time I saw him.

“How long have you been there?” Lev asks, lowering his arm.

“Long enough.” Oleg’s face twists in rage. “Were you going to tell me?”

“Eventually,” Lev says.

“Not you. I mean him.” Oleg gestures at me with the gun.

“I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me.”

“I didn’t. I still don’t. And yet you are still a frustrating part of my life. You cut a deal with the Marinos behind my fucking back.”

I clench my jaw, but I don’t move. Oleg’s not the kind of man to be trifled with. He may not be young anymore, but he’s still ruthless and cold as ice. He’ll pull that trigger without much provocation, regardless of whether I’m married to his daughter or the father of his grandchild.

“Valentin tasked me with ending the war. Adriano’s the one that wants Lev to marry into his family.”

“And I wasn’t consulted? For some reason you, a man who is not a member of the Federov family, was part of the deal? While I was cut out, like you should have been.”

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