Page 69 of Fortress of the Heart

“Again, you’re poking your nose where it’s not wanted. I’m not going to be subjected to answering these questions.”

I will cut his throat if he’s touched you.

“It’s a simple question.”

“And it’s private.”

“If you dislike him so much, why would you care about remaining a virgin and upsetting him?”

I don’t like this murky feeling I get in my stomach.

“I’d like to go back to my room now. Goodnight, Marco.”

She attempts to leave, and I stand from my position behind the desk, blocking her exit.

“You don’t get to call the shots here, princess, just because we had dinner and a semi-pleasant evening.”

“Pleasant until you heard something you didn’t like?”

“On the contrary, the only thing I heard that I didn’t like was all about this fuckface who sounds like he deserves to have his throat slit, and why your father doesn’t know you left the country.”

“Marco, I’m not discussing this with you. Move out of my way!”

I want to push her against the wall, kiss her until she can’t breathe, then take her over my desk so she can feel me, all of me.

“You’re in my house, you don’t get to storm out!”

“Oh, don’t I?” she puts her hands on her hips and pokes me in the chest. “You might be a big Mafia Kingpin, Marco, but you don’t scare me, not when I’ve had to grow up surrounded by wolves, as you so eloquently put it. I know how to play the game. I’ve been playing it my whole life. I’m Bratva, remember?”

I stare at her beautiful, angry face. “Why are you allowing your family to control your life?”

“You know nothing about it!”

“I know enough to work out that your father has some plan for you, and Vlad has some kind of control over you…”

“He has no control over me!” she cries, and points her finger in my face. “He willnever,notever,have control over what I do and who I do it with. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” I say, swatting her hand away. “I know he won’t because I’ll cut his fucking head off if he even comes near you.”

She frowns, staring at me. “You don’t even know him.”

“I don’t need to in order to see he upsets you.”

She closes her eyes, trying to reign in her temper. “You simply can’t understand, and I don’t want you to. Please, just let me go!”

I move to the side so she can make her exit, and she turns to look at me.

“Go,” I say, waving my arm to the door. “But I’ve only known you for twenty-four hours, and I am certainly very curious to know why your Father doesn’t know you supposedly left the country.” I won’t let it drop.

“Fuck you.”

“Spoken like a true Petrov.”

She storms off, then turns and marches back toward me. I lean back against the desk and raise an eyebrow.

I don’t know if she’s going to slap me or yell at me some more, though I hope it’s neither. I feel her pain and her confusion, and it goes all the way down to my toes.

She does neither. Instead, she cups the back of my neck, pulling her body close to mine and invades my mouth with hers, as she grinds herself into me and I’m momentarily caught off guard.

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