Page 69 of Lies He Told Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 1)

He’s too close now. His hand on my shoulder is probably meant to be comforting. But that scent of his, clogging my brain cells, goes straight between my legs and …

“I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”

I turn away. “That’s not what I’m afraid of.” This conversation seems too intimate, too fast. We’re in the dining room, for Christ’s sake. It doesn’t seem like the appropriate venue for either the things he’s saying or the things he’s threatening to say.

“What, then?” he asks.

I don’t look at him. It’s obvious. There’s no way to explain it to him now, when I couldn’t have explained it to myself literally a day ago.

What happened in the shower burrowed deep inside me. The implications. How terrifying it is to lose control like that, and, even worse, tolikeit. To not know how far you’ll let yourself go. To have attraction make your thoughts fuzzy and mad with hot need. Even now, my whole body is tingling with the memory.

“Are we eating or chit-chatting?” I ask instead. Horny or not, scared or not, I’m still definitely hungry.

“Everything’s all ready.” Gavril nods further down the table. There, some black glass plates, gleaming cutlery, and a pizza box are set out.

I have to laugh. “Throwback to our romantic pizza meeting?”

“Yes.” He’s not laughing.

“Only one box?”Don’t look at him—don’t look at him—don’t look at him.

“The other one is warming in the oven.” He smirks, already heading there. “Didn’t realize you had such an appetite on you.”

I don’t. I’m just babbling now, anything to distract myself. “What, is that not allowed?”

“No, it’s not. Politician’s wives have two slices every time, nothing more.” His sardonic gaze slings towards me.

“What are the other rules?” I follow him to the other seat, glaring coolly at him. “I should probably know these straight out.”

“You really want to prove I’m some controlling megalomaniac, don’t you?” Gavril opens the pizza box, putting a slice on a plate he slides to me, then another for himself. “I am not what you seem to think I am. The only rule is that you never tell anyone about our arrangement. Ever.”

I resist the urge to snort. The guy who’s hiring someone to be his fake fiancée to win an election is claiming he doesn’t have control issues?Riiight.

Instead, I say the one thing I can sense will hit him where it hurts. “So, I’m allowed to date other men?”

His gaze snaps to me. His voice is taut, edged with razors. “Don’t do that.”

“You said—”

“You know what I meant.” There is something terrifying about his face, the curve of his jawline, the avidness of his eyes, the grit of his teeth, that makes me shut up. Gavril picks up a pizza slice and tears off a bite.

“You can either spend this entire meal testing me or you can eat. Your choice.”

I force a smile as my heart smacks against my chest like it wants to escape. Not that I blame it. Am I pushing for the dumbest fake-wife award or what? If he wanted to, Gavril could get rid of me. Easily. I need to not forget that.

Sure, Mario might rave about howbellissimaI am.

Even Ludmil might grudgingly admit that“I’ll do.”

But if I stop being useful to Gavril, then it’s game over.

I heard what that woman said at the pizza event.“A bad, dangerous man.”And I saw Mario’s face.Mr. Vaknin is… particular.

But I also saw Gavril’s eyes in the shower, right before he left, when he thought I was too out of it to notice.

The tenderness …

No.

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