Page 21 of Immaculate Corruption (Romanoff Bratva)

I turn my eyes to the casino doors. “Where are you, Arya?” I whisper.

The same carousel of images from earlier plays in my head.Arya’s blood dripping from her lips. Arya’s mouth telling Giorgio that I’m coming for him. Arya’s tongue, lapping up and down the length of someone else’s—

“No.” I squeeze my eyes shut, doing my best to quiet the annoying voice in my head.

This will be fine.

She’ll be fine.

A knock on the door interrupts my thoughts. I look up.

It’s her.

I sigh in relief and reach over to open the passenger door for her. “How did it go?” I ask as she sinks into the seat.

Her eye makeup is slightly smudged and her curls are flatter than they were when she went in, but she still looks radiant.

She’s breathing heavily, her chest heaving. I feel my dick stir and have to readjust in my seat just as Arya turns to me, a smile on her face.

“I won.”

“Won what?”

She looks at me like I’m crazy and holds up an envelope of cash. “Money, obviously. Turns out I’m good at poker.”

“You won,” I repeat flatly. “You won?”

“Two grand,” she says, grinning with pride. “And I was still able to do everything you asked.”

Arya starts gushing about everything she went in to observe. She explains the floor plan, promising to draw pictures later, and tells me where guards are stationed, where security checkpoints are located, where the visible cameras look.

It’s some of the best reconnaissance work I’ve ever seen, right up there with my most reliable men in the Bratva.

Arya knows what she is doing.

I frown when she’s done. “Did anyone notice you?”

It’s dark in the car, but I can still see her cheeks flush. “I mean, a few guys noticed me, but I don’t think they worked at the casino.”

The jealous beast inside of me flares up. “Not what I meant.”

“Sorry,” she murmurs. Then she waves the money at me. “Are you hungry? I’m buying.”

“I’m not sure if you remember, but I’m the one who gave you the money you started with.”

Arya considers that for a moment and then hands me half the stack. “We’ll split it. Finder’s fee.”

I can’t help laughing. After a moment, she joins in.

It reminds me of the moment we first laughed together like this. After we’d fled the hospital with Lukas and ended up at a diner in the middle of fucking nowhere. We’d been at each other’s throats—until it all became too much and the only thing to do was laugh until your sides hurt.

This isn’t quite that intense. But the effect is similar. As I pull out, I feel a tiny fraction of weight lift off my shoulders.

I focus on driving, grateful to be moving, and steer us towards the highway.

“Is this the part where you rave about my work tonight?” Arya teases.

“Mm.”

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