He walks over and sits down next to me on the bed, rubbing the back of his neck. Getting on my knees behind him, I start to rub his shoulders, working the muscles that are tense from too much damn stress. He groans, and I slowly feel his body start to relax under my kneading fingers.
“People are nosing around my bank accounts now. Andrei thinks Stephens is behind it. He’s trying to find dirt on me, but the joke’s on him. Andrei is the best, and everything is perfect on paper. It’s creating a lot of hassle, though, which I’m guessing was his plan all along. He can’t hurt me, but he can annoy the fuck out of me.”
“Mikhail, please let me help you with this.” I press my thumbs into the base of his neck, slowly rubbing his sore muscles as I work my way down his neck. “I promise I’ll be safe.”
“How can you know that?” he asks, and his voice is so soft that I have to strain to hear it. “How do you know he won’t have Rossi men there ready to take out anyone who goes snooping where they shouldn’t?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that I can sneak in and out. Let me do this for you.” I wrap my arms around his neck and bring the side of my face to his. “You’re about to be my husband, Mikhail, and that means this Bratva is mine, too, in a way. Let me help you. Getting his computer will help strengthen your ties here, right?”
“Yes.” He brings his hands to my arms, giving them a squeeze.
“Okay, so it needs to be done. We need to do this for us, for the Bratva, for our family. I can’t just sit back and do nothing when I can help. Besides,” I say with a laugh, “I kind of miss doing sneaky shit.”
He gives a soft laugh and turns his head to look at me. The worry in his dark eyes startles me. He’s always so confident and determined, but he looks terrified now.
“What if something happens to you and I can’t get there in time?”
“Nothing is going to happen, and you can be in a car right outside his house.”
“Oh, you can bet your ass I’ll be out there.”
I smile because it sounds like he just agreed to the plan. He quickly corrects me.
“I’ll get the tickets and we can work on a plan, but I reserve the right to call it quits at any fucking time, Charlie, and that includes the ten seconds before you walk up to his house.”
“Agreed,” I say, knowing it’s the best deal I’m going to get.
“And you’re going with Yuri, and you’re not to leave his damn side. He’s the only one I trust with you. The mayor knows my face and Artyom’s, and my other men are good, but they’re not as experienced, and I’m not taking any chances with you.”
“I’m sorry the tickets are so damn expensive. It’s ridiculous.”
“I don’t give a shit about the money.”
“I don’t really have anything to wear. I guess I can wear the dress you bought me,” I say, thinking out loud.
He grips my arms tighter, looking at me like he’s deeply offended. “Don’t you dare. That dress is for me and only me. We’ll get you something else to wear, something that covers you from neck to toes.”
“I’ll see what I can find that’s modest while also not making me pass out from heatstroke.”
Turning even more, he grabs onto me and pulls me around so I’m sitting in his lap with me legs wrapped around him. He rests his forehead against mine.
“You’re also going to get a few lessons in up-close combat, and I want you armed and wearing an ear piece so I can talk to you the whole time.”
When I start to make a joke that I’ll probably end up stabbing myself accidentally or answering him out loud and looking like a nut, he presses his finger against my lips.
“It’s non-negotiable.”
“God, you’re bossy.”
My words are muffled because his finger is still pressing against my lips, but he knows what I’m saying.
“I’m not bossy. I’m just in love, sweetheart.”
I kiss his finger, knowing I can’t argue with something that damn sweet. Replacing his finger with his lips, he kisses me softly, like I’m the most precious thing in the world to him. I run my tongue over his and feel him grow hard beneath me. One of his hands fists my hair and the other cups my ass, moving me so I’m grinding against the hard length of him.
When he starts to lean back, I uncurl my legs from behind him and follow him down. He pulls my shirt off and makes quick work of my bra before bringing his hands to the shorts I’m wearing.
“Somebody’s impatient,” I tease, giving his bottom lip a soft bite.