Page 16 of Claimed Bratva Virgin

Her skin was soft—bruised but soft—and I allowed my fingers to move with a mind of their own to run a little longer, up the curve of her throat, and brush past her lips. She winced but didn’t move.

I eyed her mouth, fighting the irrational desire to feel them against my finger again. Instead, I fixed my digits at the back of her neck and let them thread lightly into her hair.

Did I say anything about being a man of reasonable integrity? If yes, then honesty was also in the mix.

I edged closer, close enough to watch the flecks in her eyes grow wider and darker, when I whispered in Russian, “You are beautiful, Leonya.”

Her shock surprised me because it meant she understood me. I didn’t know how much Russian she knew, but I was convinced she heard my compliment.

She probably didn’t know I’d quickly figured it out, and I wasn’t willing to blow her cover. For now.

I needed a distraction for both our sakes, and I remembered I had my fingers in her hair. When I leaned forward, her eyes dropped to my mouth.

Our breaths lingered in the same space, and my mouth burned from the intensity of her stare. Until the loud shink of silver slicing through something caught her attention.

I retracted and rose to my feet like I’d been burned, and her attention diverted to the full strands of brown hair in my hand. Anger flashed over her face when she realized what I’d done, and she gnashed her teeth.

“What the—”

I didn’t allow her to finish. I shut down the rest of her words with a victorious, lopsided grin. Enzo was going to get it as proof that we had his daughter. Colombo was one of the most cold-blooded bastards on the planet, but every single one in the Bratva, and other syndicates, from the Irish to the fucking Armenians, knew he had a soft spot reserved for his blood.

She and her fucking brother were his Achilles heel. And now, it was her in exchange for Jabril.

If he didn’t surrender, we both knew what would happen.

“Now, it definitely smells like rats and weasels in here.”

I looked around. “Rats and weasels? Funny, I thought I sent one of my men down here to clean up the place. You know, make it nice and cozy for you, our special guest.”

“Really? No one’s been down here.”

“Ah….” I tapped my chin, folded one arm across my chest, and shook my head. “Must have been another mistaken order for another room. I’ll send someone down here to take care of you as soon as I’m able to send your father this gift.”

Something cold and hard fleeted past her eyes, and she tilted back so I could catch the slant curve of her lips. “I should have known that’s what was in it for you.”

What the hell was she blabbing about?

The smile on her face baited me, reeling me in to dive in and discover what dirty little secret she wanted me to uncover.

I should have legged it to the door and walked away without prying to save myself the trouble of dealing with the bitter princess.

But I’d touched her, gotten close enough to catch the peculiar swirl of green mixed in the depth of hazel, and knew what texture her lips were beneath my fingers. I’d broken my unspoken and unwritten rules to keep my distance from the tempting Italian belle.

Surely, taking a dive to uncover a dirty secret was nothing.

“What the fuck are you on about?”

Her smile brightened somewhat with more darkness, and the spark in her eyes had a wicked glint. “J.E. Papa stole him from you, did he not?”

The humor was gone, and a scowl settled on my lips while I waited for her to confirm the nagging thought inside my head. I flicked the blade and slid it into its sheath.

“And you know this because?”

“Because…” the girl recreated her two-year-old CCTV smile, and I knew what hung on the tip of that tongue of hers before she concluded it, “it was my idea.”

Chapter 6 – Leonora

Now that Rafayel was gone, I released the most satisfying scream of frustration I’d ever mustered. After my confession, it should have been satisfying watching him seethe and stomp off with red ears and a clamped jaw. And it was a miracle when steam didn’t blow out his ears.

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