Page 33 of Gamble with Me
“You can't control who I fantasize about,” I snarled, refusing to give up on my mission when he was so close to me. But he had different plans and quickly immobilized me.
“We’ll see, mon cœur. Are you craving another round?” he asked huskily, holding my hands beside my head. I tried to fight him, yet nothing changed from my previous attempts. It was like pushing against a brick wall.
“Icraveto see your face!” I rumbled, kicking my legs.
“I already told you, Valeria. Maybe one day, you’ll see it,” he replied nonchalantly, pinning me down to the mattress so I couldn’t move.
“So I’m only a temporary distraction?” I snapped, giving him my hardest glare, and his hold on my wrists tensed. “Before you find another victim to stalk and take advantage of?”
“No!” he shouted, roughly grabbing my jaw, and I whimpered. “There won’t ever be another woman, Valeria! Only you.”
“You’re sick!” I spat, shaking with anger.
“And you love it,” he countered, gently biting my nose, which was in big contrast with his previous behavior. I groaned like a wounded animal, showing my disapproval when a throaty laugh left his mouth. He placed a kiss on my cheek and pulled away.
Instantly, when he let me go, I grasped the blanket and covered my naked body, shielding myself from him.
“Get out, or I’ll call the police!” I threatened, watching his massive figure standing before the window.
“Stop making empty threats, Valeria,” he uttered, walking to the door. “We both know you enjoyed every second of it.”
I took the first thing within my reach and threw it at him. Swiftly, he hid behind the door, and the book crashed with the wooden surface and fell on the floor with a thud.
“See you around, mon cœur!” he shouted from the hall.
I whined in frustration. There wasn’t any logical explanation for what I permitted him to do to me, and I dreaded looking at myself in the mirror. I dreamed about Zyon Zhumagulov. I was married to Chester Kellerman and allowed the psychopathic masked stalker to give me the best oral sex ever while I was tied to the bed.
I was in dire need of medication. That was for sure.
-17-
Zyon
“Our lawyer just called,” Dorian announced, plopping in the armchair opposite me with a bleak expression. “Ramzan's parole was denied.”
After last night, my body and mind were overwhelmed with satisfaction from a job well done, but my youngest brother's prolonged stay in a Russian prison had the power to ruin it.
"Do we know why?" I asked, placing my legs on my office desk and crossing them at the ankles.
"Not yet, but Mom decided to go there," Dorian answered, checking his phone. "She just boarded your plane. She'll keep us posted."
"Fine." I nodded, pushing thoughts about it aside. Mom would call if she needed help, and I could peacefully review the previous day's achievements in the meantime.
At the first opportunity, Valeria left her husband, not even visiting him in the hospital. I never played poker against Chester, but I sure as hell almost sent him to the city morgue.
Malin and his observant eyes noticed the envelope in Chester’s hand, and it was the excuse I needed to smash his idiotic face. He took money from his wife—the money she earned and needed. I wouldn’t tolerate something like that happening under my nose, not to the woman I cared about.
“What about Kellerman? Any news?” I inquired, remembering how close to death Chester truly was the other day. A picture of Valeria dressed in all black, standing over the coffin of her mutilated husband, appeared before my eyes, and I smiled dreamily. She would be the most gorgeous widow on this fucking planet, but it just wasn't the right time. I had to be patient, yet it didn't mean I wouldn't help her.
If I had known earlier she only needed a few thousand dollars and a chance to escape, I would’ve provided it weeks ago. She felt imprisoned by Chester to the point of jeopardizing her life by blackmailing me. If I didn’t like her, she would’ve ended up at the bottom of the ocean like every person who ever tried to make threats.
“No, but I’m still surprised you prevented me from finishing him off,” Malin said, his voice drenched with boredom. He was prepared to erase Chester’s existence, but I stopped him seconds from executing it.
“I can’t kill the fucker without knowing how Valeria feels about him,” I reminded him harshly, playing with my glass filled with whiskey.
“She left him,” Dorian pointed out, frowning. “I thought this was a celebration.”
“If I murder the father of her child, I can strip myself of the opportunity to have her willingly,” I explained, moving the booze to my lips. The smell of alcohol tantalized my nose. “Call me prudent, but I won’t risk anything regarding her.”
