Page 35 of Corruption

I can’t help but smile at her easy acceptance of my words. At her easy acceptance of what I’ve done to others before. But I suppose that’s to be expected of a mafia princess no matter how long she’s been in the lifestyle. She would have learned very early on about the rumors of her father’s and step-mother’s exploits. And their enforcer, Viper. I wonder if she’s privy to the knowledge of the man’s identity.

“And why,” I begin to ask, pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear, “is that?”

She turns her gaze back to the television. But not to look at it. Only to avoid looking at me as she blushes and clutches her pillow tighter.

I scoot over and put my lips to her ear.

“Do you have a crush on me, Pretty Girl?” I whisper.

She doesn’t say anything for a while and I start to lean back, thinking it might be too much for her after what happened with Alik today. But finally she says, “Is the fact that I wouldn’t mind if you kissed me right now having a crush?”

Gone is the bashfulness and the skittishness. It’s replaced with someone more confident. It’s not the first time she’s done this, but it takes me by surprise all the same. When she’s not sure about something and then after reassurance that it’s fine, she unearths a hidden confidence. Not just confidence, though. A certain easy acceptance. A certain easy adaptability.

She takes everything I give her the way the ocean takes whatever you give it. Good or bad, she consumes it, adjusts to what I give her, and keeps moving along… or she spits it right back out at me but without ever asking me to tone or calm it down. Never tells me that I’m too much. A lot, maybe. But never too much because of the easy way I tend to immediately emotionally latch on to people. Like I latched onto two Russian mafia princes when I met them at just five-years-old, and they latched on right back. Accepted me for exactly who I was and not who people thought I should be… until years later when one of them showed me his true colors and let go.

Of course, it’s possible Kiya doesn’t feel comfortable voicing if I am too much for her. However, she’s been comfortable speaking her mind before. Even arguing with Alik despite how much he intimidates her.

“Yes,” I concede. I pull away from her. “But I’m not going to kiss you.”

She turns to look at me. “But you just said—”

“I know what I said. But call me a romantic, I don’t want our first kiss to be when you’re expecting it. It’s going to be in the heat of the moment. Just like the one you had with Alik today. So instead, I’m going to take you on a date. No Alik.”

“A date?”

“You had a date with Alik. It’s only fair.”

“That wasn’t a date, Nadia.”

I have to stop myself from letting out a moan because I really love the way my name rolls off that soft, breathy voice of hers. The way she drags out the sound of the first vowel and lessens the emphasis on the second vowel. There’s something so angelic about it.

“You kissed him. That makes it a date.”

“But we can’t… Vaughn.”

I really don’t give a shit about what Vaughn wants. I want to kill him. For reasons that have nothing and everything to do with Kiya. Because he’s going to throw her away when he has no use for her. Just like he did Isaak’s mother. Just like he eventually did me.

Instead of telling Kiya that, though, I say, “What Vaughn doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“You just got through telling me about the rules of a relationship.”

“Just because you’re engaged doesn’t mean you’re in a relationship. Dinner should be heated up. Come down and eat with us.”

“That’s typically what it means, Nadia,” Kiya says as she gets off the bed.

“So you consider you and Vaughn to have a relationship?”

“I didn’t get a chance to before he threw me out.”

I give Kiya a pointed look as I start out the room. “Exactly. So you and me? Tomorrow night? A date?”

“Depends on what you have in mind…”

“Ever been clubbing before?”

“No.”

I smirk. “You’re going to love it, Pretty Girl.”

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