Page 44 of Sinful Promise

“We’ll deal with it when it happens,” he says as he stands.

He pulls me up, and I notice I’ve made a mess of the bed.

“The cabin steward will take care of it. Let’s rinse and see what the others are up to.”

I nod.

We shower and dress. When I walk, I feel that it’s somehow different. I’m afraid everyone will read my face and know what we did.

“Ratmim will find us,” I warn him. “He won’t care what happens to me.”

“I disagree. I’m betting on the fact that he does care. Why would you say that?” His blue eyes turn dark like a storm brewing on the horizon.

“I’m just saying he doesn’t like women.”

“He likes men?”

“No, he treats women terribly.”

He grabs my arm, no longer the sweet, tender lover he was only minutes ago.

“What aren’t you telling me?” he growls.

“Nothing,” I answer quickly, pushing his hand off. “You’re hurting me.”

He drops my arm and storms from the room.

Shit. He’s going to be so pissed when he figures out the truth.

18

ROMAN

We’re cruising at a leisurely ten knots along the French coast. Next week, Monte Carlo has an annual gala, and we will attend. A number of other wealthy people will be at the half-masked event, and it’s my cover for illicit business. Deals. What could be more exciting than holding criminal conversations under the watchful eye of the public? It’s the way of things. Few billionaires rise to the top without fucking over someone. I’d rather be the one doing the fucking and not the one getting fucked.

This is another reason the stolen guns mean so much to me. As Nikolay insinuated, I don’t make mistakes unless I’m being impetuous. I rip my mind away from my personal issues to take in the woman before me.

Dasha is beautiful in a one-piece halter-top jumper with wide pant legs. The top ties around her swanlike neck. I like keeping her to myself and protecting her from an uncertain fate. Having her around makes me want to be a better person, but how can we have a normal life since our beginning was based on dubious consent?

We leave our cabin and find the others lounging and enjoying cocktails on the main deck. Alex’s eyebrows furrow when he notices our arrival.

I give him a questioning look, and he pulls me to the side. “We need to go to your office right away.”

Fuck. If we can’t talk in the open, we have a problem. A litany of possible scenarios comes to mind, and I have a sinking feeling Dasha is one of them. She’s the result of a madcap adventure that wasn’t planned in advance, leaving plenty of room for error.

I need to call Nikolay. I don’t want my brother to think that I’ve gone rogue and stirred up trouble. Unfortunately, I have a suspicion that’s what happened.

Dasha’s green eyes question me. “Is everything okay?”

“It will be,” I answer and feign confidence. There’s no need to worry her unnecessarily.

“How did you and Irina meet and become friends? She’s awesome.”

“Irina and I met by chance at a party years ago. She was looking for information on Russian and Belarusian organizations, and I helped her with what I knew of Russian groups. She was looking for the man who murdered her mother at the time. She had just joined the DGSE, France’s counterintelligence and secret intelligence agency.”

“Wow, that’s quite the story.”

“It is, she’s great. So enjoy your time together,” I add.

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