Page 75 of Scarred (Russian Sinners 2)

There was sincere interest in his eyes and I smiled. “I sure did,” I muttered.

“And?”

“And you can’t see it yet,” I nibbled the corner of his mouth, the scarred one. “It’s-” I searched for the right words. “It’s a bit different from my old ones, but in a good way, I think. It’s evolved a bit from my previous style.”

“That’s to be expected. You have changed,” he countered in his perceptive way. “Are you happy with it?”

I smiled. “Yes. I might even keep it for myself. It’s rather… ummm, I guess intimate.”

He raised his eyebrow, a sexy smile on his lips. “I definitely want to see it. Promise you will show me?”

I nodded. Hopefully, he won’t mind it. It was only obvious to me who it was since I painted it with him in mind but I didn’t think others would spot it, except for the scar. “I promise. Is everything okay?”

“Work stuff,” he replied shortly. Whatever was bothering him, it was clear he did not want to talk about it.

“Is a casino an intensive business to run?” It must have been very lucrative since he had all these luxuries at his disposal. Or he made tons of money while being part of the mafia. I didn’t know much about organized crime, but I always thought it was only the top men in the organization that got rich.

I waited for his answer, silence stretching on when he finally replied, “I have several businesses. Casinos and shipping companies are just some of those.”

“And others?” The question left my lips before I thought better of it. I didn’t want it to sound like an interrogation but I really wanted to know more about him.

“Yes, and several other businesses too,” was all he replied, confirming my suspicion he didn’t want to reveal them. I observed him with a tilted head, wondering if I should be glad he wasn’t lying to me or if I should be concerned about what information he withheld. His muscles were tense although his face revealed none of his tension. I wondered whether it was his phone conversation that caused it or was it that he didn’t want to reveal something about himself.

“Are you sure everything is okay?” I tried again. Not sure why I pressed; it wasn’t like me except with the people I loved and cared about a lot. I stiffened slightly realizing I was falling for Nikolai. I was falling hard and fast.

“Yes.” Again a curt reply, although his hand was lightly rubbing my back.

He has been very upfront about everything,I tried to tell myself. It really didn’t matter to me what businesses he had, short of wanting to know a bit more about him.

The distrust hurt a bit, but then, we were just strangers after all. Although I trusted him with my life and my scars. I had not trusted anyone else with my scars so his rejection to share hurt.

Just as he opened his mouth, his phone rang again, and a few curses left his mouth. Something must have been going on. He answered the phone in Russian, and it didn’t take a genius to note he was pissed off. Whoever was on the end of that line was getting his or her ass reamed.

Gently pushing away from him, his eyes came to me. Those eyes of his and that handsome face of his would forever be etched in my mind. How was it possible to fall for a man so quickly?

“I’m going to take a quick shower,” I whispered. With a quick nod, he turned his attention to his phone call, and I ran into the house and up the stairs to my bedroom.

As soon as I got into the bathroom, I turned the knobs to get the water going and started shedding my clothes. I couldn’t help but wonder what got Nikolai so riled up.

I wanted him to tell me why he was so upset. It stung a bit that he’d refused. Okay, it was ridiculous but it stung a lot that he didn’t trust enough to share. I had not told a living soul what Malcome had done to me, but I showed it to Nikolai. I shared images of what had happened to me and he couldn’t even trust me enough to tell me what was going on to get him mad. I wanted to be his comfort, same as he was mine.

With a resigned sigh, I stepped into the shower and tilted my head to the showerhead, letting the lukewarm water fall down onto my face, and over my body washing it all away.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Nikolai

Iknew Olivia picked up on my tension, and she knew when I dodged her question. I saw hurt flash in those beautiful eyes of hers and instantly regretted not telling her. Just as I opened my mouth to explain, my damn phone rang again.

They had more men after Olivia. Answering the phone in front of her, I ensured I stuck to Russian. As soon as Olivia was out of earshot, I bellowed into the phone.

“I don’t give a fuck how you do it but I want that man found. He’s roaming this city, trying to get to Olivia. I won’t allow it. And when he is found, I want to be notified immediately.”

I intended to find out why there was such an interest in my woman. It was the second one in a matter of days. If necessary, I would torture him slow and long for days till I found out what and who was behind this hunt for Olivia. It made absolutely no sense that they all pointed to Vlad.

My gut was telling me it had something to do with Malcome, but more than a few things didn’t add up. Vlad and Malcome had no business together, no connection whatsoever.

“Nikolai, we are searching, and we’ll find him.” Ilya was his usual calm self. That used to be me, but with Olivia’s safety and well-being at stake, I was losing my cool. She was under my protection; she was my woman. I would not allow anything to hurt her anymore. “But he is not the only one asking about her. There were at least three other men identified asking around about Olivia. They placed a reward for anyone with information.”

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