Page 75 of Sins He Taught Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 3)

I might’ve just made a terrible, terrible mistake.

He winds up his hand to slap me in return. I close my eyes and brace for it. It’s pathetic, it’s weak, but I never asked to get put in situations like this. I don’t know what else to do.

But the slap never comes.

I hear the garage door groaning open, and when I open my eyes, Rogers is fleeing through the open front door. He’s full on sprinting. Right as he disappears, Matvei strides down the hallway. He steps into the foyer. I’m on the verge of sobbing because of how overwhelming all this was.

But then I see that Matvei is soaked in blood.

The only reason I don’t immediately break down into a full-on blubbering mess is because it’s clear that most of the blood on his clothes isn’t from him. He looks fine, as far as I can tell.

I feel a moment of relief—if Matvei hadn’t come home right then, there’s no telling what that man was about to do to me.

But my relief is short-lived. When Matvei turns to me, his face doesn’t soften. If anything, he looks even angrier at me. “What the fuck was that about?” he shouts. “Who was here? Were you fucking someone? In my house?”

“What? I don’t even know that man! He tried to—”

“Oh, so you decided to be a whore and fuck a man you didn’t know?”

Un-freaking-believable. “Are you kidding me, Matvei? I was trying to save your ass and you’re worried about whether or not I was having sex with that freak?”

“Save my ass how?” He’s typing out a furious text—ordering some of his men to try hunting down that “Mr. Rogers,” I’d assume.

“He came over here because of this, you asshole!” I snatch Niko’s drawing from the counter and throw it at him.

“What is this?”

“That’s something your nephew drew and handed in. That sweet little boy upstairs is drawing all kinds of horrific things and you have no idea. And the man you just accused me of sleeping with? He was over here trying to blackmail into sleeping with him. I was trying to explain to him that he shouldn’t go to the cops because they’d come investigating.”

My words come out like venom, angry and violent. But I’m not even done yet.

“And even if I did want to fuck that guy—which I don’t—that wouldn’t be any of your business, because we’re nothing, remember? We’re not anything. I’m just the woman that looks after your nephew for you. Don’t accuse me of doing anything when God knows how many other women you’ve slept with this past week alone.”

Anger flares in his eyes. “I haven’t slept with anyone but you.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s the truth.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” I laugh bitterly. “I bet there are a million and one girls out there that you’ve fucked and tossed aside just like me. Is that how you work, Matvei? You sleep with her one time and then treat her like she’s nothing? Throw her away and move onto the next—”

He grabs me by my shoulders and pulls me close, pressing his lips to mine hungrily. I can barely blink before my hands are laced through his hair and I’m backing him up against the fridge. I don’t know what’s come over me, but I can’t stop it.

He breaks away only for a moment, tearing his shirt over his head. I expect to see wounds, but his body looks as perfect as it did the night we were together. I’m relieved, not only because it’s clear that he wasn’t the one injured in whatever situation he found himself in, but also for selfish reasons.

“You’re mine, Victoria,” he says to me in a hoarse whisper. “No one else gets to touch you.”

I start to reach a hand out to trace his abs, but he knocks my hand away and jerks me closer again, planting his lips on mine. There’s something about his dominance that makes me feel flustered, and with every brush of his tongue over mine, I grow wetter and wetter. He hoists me up onto the counter and I wrap my legs around his waist, keeping him from getting away from me.

For a moment, I worry that we might wake Nikolas, but he was far too tired after school. He’s going to be down for at least another hour.

Matvei pecks his way down my chin and the side of my neck, and a needy groan escapes my throat. I run my hands up and down his broad arms, feeling the muscles practically ripple beneath his tight body.

“Yes,” I whisper, grinding against him. The bulge in his pants grows harder, and I grind against him again, teasing.

When Matvei pulls away to kiss my lips again, his hands press on my shoulders. With a quick push, I’m flat on my back, the marble counter chilly against my skin. He tugs my shirt over my head, and I’m almost tempted to cover up. What if someone sees?

Then I remember who Matvei Morozov is. To him, it probably doesn’t matter who sees. He’s the man of the house. The one in charge of everyone and everything in this mansion. If he wants to fuck me on the counter in the kitchen during broad daylight, that’s his prerogative.

---