Page 50 of Vengeful Embers

I shake it off putting it down to feeling quite horny lately—I’ve read it’s hormones. So, I’m horny? I shake the silliness from my head as I follow Konstantin down to his SUV. I’m still reeling from the surprise of seeing him, and when we pull into a private airstrip just outside of Vegas, I’m bowled over.

“You’re flying me?”

“Only the best for the future astrophysics professor at UCLA.” He grins. “I hope you don’t mind company for the trip?”

I feel my eyes mist as I shake my head, and my voice is a little wobbly as I say, “Not at all. You’re a welcome surprise.”

Onboard the sleek, luxurious jet, I gape at the interior before dropping into buttery-soft leather. Konstantin pops a bottle from a cooler.

“I hope that’s not champagne,” I tease. “You know I can’t drink alcohol right now.”

He holds up the label. “One hundred percent fizzy apple juice. No alcohol.”

I laugh. “Do you remember everything I say?”

“When a woman talks about fizzy apple juice more than three times, it’s worth remembering.”

The plane lifts as I sip my drink and study him. I’ve heard the stories—about what he does for Irina’s brother, the rumors of violence, the time in jail. But sitting here now, watching how he subtly monitors everything—how his body is always slightly turned toward the exits, how his hand occasionally brushes near his inner jacket where I’m guessing he keeps a weapon—he doesn’t scare me. If anything, I feel safer with him than I have in weeks and with anyone else.

“Are my horns showing?” he asks with a teasing smile.

“You’re not hiding them very well.”

We both laugh. As the flight gets underway, I glance around the aircraft. “Is this your boss's jet?”

“You mean Ruslan?” Konstantin looks at me, and I nod. “No. It belongs to the Romanov Corporation. My father’s younger brother.” His eyes darken. “He passed away several years ago, and now my sister and I are the sole heirs as my uncle never married or had children.”

“So you're independently wealthy from Ruslan?”

“We were, before we inherited my uncle's fortune,” Konstantin tells me.

“Then why do you do what you do?” I ask before I can stop myself.

“I suffered a loss and then found myself being blamed for a crime I didn’t commit,” Konstantin’s eyes darken and I suck in my breath as I see it. The anger. The danger that lurks inside him, but even seeing that, I’m at ease with him. Maybe I’m just projecting or needing someone to cling to and he is funny, dark, dangerous and fucking sexy as hell. He’s exciting. Something I have lacked in my life.

“Oh no.” My heart squeezes for him.

“Ruslan was the only one who believed in me,” Konstantin says, his voice dropping. “He fought to get me acquitted, something my own father, also an attorney, did not do.” He exhales slowly. “By the time I got out of jail my reputation was fucked. The career I had started carving out for myself was gone.” He gives me a tight, bitter smile. “You can’t become a weapons engineer with a criminal record.”

“You were going to be a weapons engineer?”

Konstantin nods. “Yeah, I was already studying and in the Marines.”

“I’m sorry.” I can’t imagine working so hard toward something and then having it all ripped away like that.

“Ruslan gave me a job. Something to focus on,” Konstantin continues. “He’s not just my best friend. He’s my brother.”

“I understand,” I tell him. “Well, technically, Leigh is my sister's best friend. They’ve known each other since they were three. But she’s like another sister to me.”

“You’re a lot like Irina,” Konstantin surprises me by saying. “You have acquaintances but a handful of people in your inner circle.”

“Yeah.” I sigh. “I don’t have a lot of friends.”

“You have real friends.” Konstantin's eyes hold mine. “Those are more valuable and worth a million false ones.”

It’s not long until the plane begins its descent. I feel my stomach drop, and my nerves start to tense.

But then Konstantin shifts and distracts me as he reaches into his jacket pocket and sits beside me.

---