Page 73 of Innocent Intentions

But even as I throw the door open, as I stomp away, as I try to collect myself, a single thought lingers.

Did I push his buttons on purpose?

And if I did…

Why?

Chapter 27

Matthias

“What?” It comes out far harsher than Roman deserves.

“Dude, what crawled up your ass and died?”

I ignore him. “What do you need?”

“I wanted to give you a heads-up. There’s been more movement by the ports. The Russians are becoming a bigger problem than we anticipated. They have too much money floating around. They’re growing in numbers. More men from the motherland are popping up. Bash is having a hard time keeping track of everything. Dom’s getting restless. We may need your help. I don’t know what the hell you’ve been up to at your house, but you need to get your act together. Something’s not right.” Roman’s voice is calm, but I hear the levity in it. This is serious.

But my mind isn’t on the ports.

It’s onher.

My constant distraction.

“I’ll be on the lookout. Keep me posted.”

“Good. Talk to you later.” Roman hangs up before I can tell himnotto talk to me later.

I have a spitfire to punish.

***

After hours of work, I finally power off my desktop and sit back, replaying this morning in my head.

How did a day that started so good turn to shit so quickly?

I love waking up my sweet girl with coffee almost as much as waking up on top of her. She always stirs when she smells it. She’s adorable when she groggily reaches for it, too sleepy to guard her reactions. Too sleepy to stop herself from checking me out.

Then, seeing her light up when I gave her phone back…

For a second, I almost felt like an asshole for taking it in the first place.

Almost.

I did what I had to do.

But the highlight of my day was our hug.

Sheinitiated contact.

Shewrapped her arms aroundme.

She wanted me.

And she didn’t even realize what she’d done. Her body acted on instinct. And her instinct was to go to me.

Holding her felt like holding the sun. I never wanted to let go.

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