Page 18 of Dark Embers

“But you only hired a private detective eight months ago to start looking for her.” Pushing my plate aside I lean my elbows on the table. “That's around the same time Gavriil and Irina were killed.”

“And you think there's a connection?” Sabrina gapes at me in disbelief but something flickers in her eyes that’s gone too quick for me to make out. “My sister was long gone the day your brother was killed and Tara had nothing to do with that.” Her eyes narrow suspiciously, anger sparking in their depths. “Is this why you really want to help find my sister? Not because you think she’s in danger but because you think she’s somehow involved in what happened to Gavriil?”

“I’m putting it out there as an option not to be overlooked,” I knock her words back at her.

Her brows shoot up as she tries to fight off a smile. “Well played,” she acknowledges with a small salute of her glass. She sighs. “Look, I’ve told you everything I know. I haven’t heard from or seen Tara since she disappeared from my life and left me a note.” Her eyes darken with emotion and now I know she’s telling me the truth or at least part of it. “My mother waited for eight months because…” She swallows. “We had a lot going on and I guess she was hoping that Tara would come back. Hiring a PI would mean my mother had to face the fact that Tara might not be coming back and we’d never see her again.”

I can see she’s upset and my heart squeezes for her but still my gut tells me she’s holding something back but I’m not going to push it now. I have learned a lot more than I knew before about Tara Craft so for now and enjoy the rest of the evening with her. My cock stirs at the thought of getting closer to the alluring Sabrina.

“Are you finished eating?”

“Yes, thank you,” Sabrina gives me a tight smile and I can see she’s starting to shift uncomfortably in her seat.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“No thank you,” Sabrina declines.

“More champagne?”

“I… it’s late.” Sabrina moves the napkin from her lap and places it on the table. “I really should go home.”

“But we haven’t discussed me helping you find your sister.” I can’t let her go—not yet. “And we still have one bottle of champagne that’s already open.” My smile spreads slowly and my eyes hold hers. “Why don’t we take this and move to the living room to… discuss how I can help you—and your mother find your sister?”

She stares at me as if entranced for a few seconds and that's when I see it—longing. Sabrina shifts slightly in her seat as a soft flush brushes her cheeks. I hide the knowing smile on my lips by patting them with my napkin. Standing I walk around the table and pull her chair out then offer her my hand.

“Come on, you don’t want me to waste this delectable champagne?” I raise an eyebrow. “You’re not working tomorrow so you can sleep in.” My brow furrows. “Unless this is about your sugar daddy…” the memory of the older man that showed up at her apartment hits me in the gut like a punch.

Sabrina looks up at me, confusion furrowing her brow. “Who?” Then her eyes widen as it dawns on her. “Oh you’re talking about Sam.”

“Yes, Sam.” I keep a small smile on my face to hide the smoldering embers of anger I feel thinking about that old man touching her, running his hands over her soft milky skin… My thoughts skid to a halt.What the fuck; get a grip.I shake the feeling off and clear the old fucker from my mind.

“Sam is out of town,” Sabrina says, putting her small hand in mine.

The moment my skin comes into contact with hers a bolt of electricity shoots up my arm and hits me in the cock. As I close my large hand around hers I know that I’m going to make her mine and she’s going to beg me to keep her—she just doesn’t know it—yet.

I gently pull her from the chair and deliberately yank her close to me. Our bodies touch as she stumbles against me, her other hand flattening against my chest. Her head tilts back and our eyes lock. I see her breath catch as her pupils once again dilate and my shaft stirs between us.

My look tells her I want her to know where this is ultimately going. The sharp rise and fall of her breast and how hard she swallows tells me she understands and the fact she hasn’t run for the door tells me all I want to know.

CHAPTER 9

Oleksi

I step back and let go of her hand, watching her steady herself when I pull away. Her lips part as I pick up the champagne and cut through the tension.

“Let’s move this to the living room.”

Taking a seat on the smaller sofa, I ensure she has no choice but to sit close, our bodies sharing the heat as it swells between us. I fill our glasses and turn my knee towards her so it rests against her thigh. Her reaction is immediate; I watch her chest quicken with shallow breaths and the subtle squeezing of her thighs.

I gently start my seduction, but keep her off guard as I circle back to Tara. “If you and your mother let me help you find your sister, I can get rid of that con man, Tom Williams, for you.”

Her eyes focus and I can see I have her full attention.

“There’s a reason Tom was kicked out of the Las Vegas Police Department,” I continue, leaning in just enough to set her off balance again. “He has a habit of taking bribes and leaking information to anyone who’ll pay him.”

I reach out slowly, brush a stray lock of her hair behind an ear. “Your hair is so soft,” I murmur, “and smells like honey and lilies.” My voice dips low.

“It's… it’s my shampoo.” Sabrina draws a breath before clearing her throat and moving back to the topic of Tom Williams. “Yes... I knew the moment we met him he was not a nice person,” she admits. “But he was cheap, and we don’t have millions to spend on an expensive PI.”

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