Page 83 of Thorns of Lust
She jumped to her feet and turned around. Our bodies stood close, chest-to-chest. Toe-to-toe. My black suit to her pink tank top and shorts. She was the light to my darkness.
She was my reason for everything. She was mine for the taking. Mine to own. Mine to possess.
And nothing less would do.
“Illias,” she started, biting her lower lip nervously. It was unlike her to show her emotions but she was worried.
“What is it?” I asked, cupping her cheeks.
“Whatever you see on those hard drives, stays here.” The plea in her eyes was impossible for me to deny her, but I couldn’t make that promise. Not until I saw what was on them. “There’s stuff about my brothers and…” Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip and she averted her gaze. She was concerned I’d use it against her brothers. “They don’t know what’s on there, and I’d prefer it that way. We can delete it, permanently, so it can never come back to my family.”
Those blue eyes, lighter than the clearest sky, met mine, searing themselves even deeper into my chest. Fuck, she might have become part of my DNA for all I knew.
“I promise,” I vowed. “Anything concerning your family will remain between us.”
She nodded satisfied, then headed through her house. “You live alone?”
“Yes and no,” she remarked, going deeper down the hallway. Then stopped and faced the wall. Her hand roamed the wall until she found it. A trigger that opened the wall. “Usually there are guards around here.”
“Why did you leave the penthouse?” I questioned her. Truthfully, it was easier to watch over her on this property, despite several blind spots. The penthouse was a security nightmare with other tenants that were unpredictable and brought in all types of guests. But she resisted moving for so many months, it seemed abrupt.
She shrugged as she punched in the code. The door slid open and a safe room came into view. Empty but for a single box.
“That was Adrian’s place,” she retorted. “This is mine. It was time to move.”
I agreed. It was long overdue.
She entered the safe room and I followed.
“This is the box with laptops and hard drives,” she explained, pointing to it. She sat down on the floor, then crisscrossed her legs. Her eyes crinkled amused as she tilted her head up where I still stood. “Sit down wherever you wish. The floor is yours.”
I shook my head, then sat down on the ground and crisscrossed my legs too. “If I knew we’d be sitting on the floor, I would have dressed accordingly,” I remarked dryly.
“Don’t be a party pooper,” she teased. “It’s like being back in college. Don’t you miss those days?”
I scoffed. “Not really. I had to run my business and attend classes.”
She cocked her eyebrow. “Well, you could have always ended yourbusiness.”
“Aiming for my job, Tatiana?”
“You couldn’t pay me enough money to do your job,” she remarked dryly, using air quotes when saying job.
Opening the box, she pulled out a laptop and hard drive out of the box then handed it to me.
“Are you good with technology?”
Dry amusement filled me. She really didn’t know much about me at all. But then that was the way we operated in the Thorns of Omertà. Sticking to the shadows was our motto.
“I’m okay,” I told her. “Not as good as my brother, but he’s unavailable for hacking anymore.”
“Your twin brother, Maxim.” I nodded the confirmation. “I hear he’s quite grouchy. Are you usually grouchy, too?”
“Mmmm.” As if I’d ever admit it.
“Are you close with your brother?” she questioned, studying me closely. “I mean you’re twins but somehow the two of you seem different.”
“We’re not as close as you and your brothers,” I responded dryly.
