Page 28 of Fatal Bonds

“What happened?”

Maks shakes his head, his eyes never lifting from his hands, and my heart thuds against my ribs as I wait for whatever horror could be so terrible that even Maks can’t bring himself to say it.

“He was a close friend of my family’s. They trusted him.Itrusted him. I welcomed him into my home, and the sick fuck forced himself on my niece. She was barely fifteen.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut, and my breath leaves me in a rush. I don’t know what I expected Maks to tell me, but this was not it.Thischanges everything. What I experienced in that office, I can’t imagine someone doing that and worse to a young, innocent girl. Fresh bile rises in my throat. Maks was right. Emiliano Costanzo is a monster. The world would be a better place without him.

Finally, Maks drops his hands and looks at me, his eyes haunted. “I should have protected her,” he rasps.

“You didn’t know,” I murmur, shuffling forward on the couch to slide my hand into his warm, calloused one. A sense of calming comfort surges through me as soon as our palms touch, and it brings the vivid memory of Emiliano’s contrasting handshake to my mind. A shudder ripples down my spine, releasing goosebumps across the back of my neck.

Maks’s fingers close around mine, and his sharp blue gaze bores into mine. “I knew exactly who he was when I sent you in to deal with him,” he says. “I’m sorry, Lindsey. I never should have put you in that position, never should have let you gonearthe bastard?—”

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m fine. You got me out of there before anything happened,” I assure him, scooting close enough that my knees meet his thigh.

Maks’s eyes shift pointedly to my chest, and my cheeks heat as I realize the top of my blouse is still undone. Quickly dropping his hand, I refasten the buttons Emiliano undid. Then I clear my throat uncomfortably as I meet Maks’s troubled gaze.

“Well, at least one good thing came out of it,” I say brightly.

“Oh?”

He sounds unconvinced, so I slip my hand into the pocket of my pencil skirt and pull out the small camera he sent me in with.

“I got the information you wanted,” I singsong, waving the palm-sized device near my ear.

A shocked laugh bursts from Maks, and the relief that washes across his face is so intense it makes my stomach somersault. Then his arms snake around my waist as he lifts me off the couch, standing to twirl me in a circle. “Lindsey, you’re brilliant! God, I could kiss you right now.”

His spin slows, and my feet find the ground as he stops, his eyes widening as if he only just realized what he said. Unspoken tension crackles between us, electrifying the air and making the fine hairs on my arms stand on end. Every line of Maks’s tight, firm body is pressed against mine, his strong arms wrapped around my waist. His familiar scent of tobacco and vanilla infuses the air that suddenly feels ten degrees warmer and thick with anticipation.

Maks relaxes his grip, his expression conflicted—like he’s sure he’s crossed a line but doesn’t know how to let go now that the damage is done. I know he must be replaying my words that sleeping with him was a mistake. Only, my feelings for Maks are completely different now. They’re different from what they were when I woke up in bed beside him just this morning. I don’t know what it means just yet. All I know is that Iwanthim to kiss me.

“Okay,” I breathe, staring up into his impossibly blue eyes.

Then his lips come crushing down on mine.

12

LINDSEY

The heat blossoming inside me makes my pulse quicken, and my back bows, my chest arching into Maks as his arms tighten around me, pulling me closer. The sexual tension that has been building between us feels explosive as my lips part and his tongue strokes between them. He’s a dangerously good kisser—adamant and possessive and at the same time achingly soft. Desire throbs between my thighs as I vividly recall his tongue bringing me to climax in his office at the club.

Gaining even a small insight into what has been driving Maks helps me understand him so much better, and that makes it far harder to deny my attraction to him. His violent tendencies might terrify me. His willingness to kill someone is completely outside my ability to comprehend, but none of those brutal urges seems to apply when it comes to me. He has gone out of his way to keep me alive and safe. He’s put in considerable effort to ensure my comfort. Even his punishment brought me more pleasure than pain, and his motives feel so much more understandable after what happened today. His fury on behalf of his niece is kind of moving, and the lengths he went to in order to protect me from Costanzo make me feel unreasonably safe. Today didn’t just validate Maks’s behavior these past few weeks. It made me like him so much more.

The intensity in his kiss now, after so many days without even so much as touching me, sets my body on fire. His hands trail down my waist, following my curves, and as he reaches my hips, he pulls me firmly against him, trapping his hard cock between us. Anticipation coils in my stomach, and I crave the brush of his skin, the heat of his body.

A soft moan rushes up my throat, and Maks devours the sound, then nips my lower lip as he pulls back to look at my face. His gaze is ravenous, the need in his eyes matching my own intense arousal. “What do you want, little rabbit?”

“Are you asking if I want you to stop?”

“I’m giving you the option,” he murmurs, his voice ragged.

Considering our last conversation on the matter—and the fact that I have so few options in my current situation—that means a lot. “What if I say I want you tonight?”

A low growl rumbles up from his chest, and his fingers press into my skin. “Feel how fucking hard I am for you,zaya?” he rasps, grinding his hips against me and holding himself there tightly. “Say the word, and I’ll have you screaming my name until sunrise.”

My breath catches, my lips parting as my core tightens. All the familiar reasons I shouldn’t let this happen flood my mind, but none of it seems to matter. I don’t care if he’s too old for me or capable of murder. I don’t care that he’s keeping me prisoner. I believe Maks when he says he can deliver that kind of pleasure, and as long as I’m throwing my convictions out the window, I want to know what a night like that is like.

Combing my fingers into his hair, I curl them and bring our mouths back together. “Take me to bed,” I breathe against them. Then I run the tip of my tongue along the seam of his lips. He tastes sharp and minty as our tongues brush together.

---