Page 24 of Ace of Hearts

Rose

June

Las Vegas, USA

Levi stiffens at my touch, his eyes opening a little wider. For an instant, I congratulate myself on having overcome his defenses, if only for a second.

I know he’s going to push me away, so I hurry to find what I’m searching for in his bag.

His lips are soft against mine, to my surprise.

Warm too. I’d have liked it to go on longer, but don’t want to be rejected yet again, so I let go of him, ignoring the desire growing inside me.

But just as I try to move away, his hand seizes the back of my neck.

I barely have time to look into his eyes, darkened by passion, before he pulls me toward him and begins to kiss me wildly.

I moan with a mixture of surprise and pain but don’t draw back. Goose bumps cover my arms as he holds me firmly against him, one hand buried in my hair, the other low on my back.

My body reacts automatically, catching fire as his hands pass over it.

I feel his tongue imploring me, and open my mouth to it, wrapping my arms around his neck.

Our tongues meet and intertwine. His kiss may be wild, but his hands on my body are gentle and attentive, gliding indecently along my spine.

Oh shit. Levi is actually kissing me .

Finally.

The silence in the suite is broken only by the sounds of our kiss and our shuddering breathing. I arch myself against him, my breasts pressing against his powerful torso as he devours me. I feel as though I’m drowning, suffocating, gasping for air.

A familiar ache throbs between my legs. I want him so badly. Of course I want him. Levi is unbelievably sexy, and he kisses like a god.

And he’s not actually interested in me—what could be better?

I’m such a masochist.

My fingers stroke the shaved hair high on the back of his neck, then grasp the longer hair above it. I give it a little tug, forcing him to pull back from my mouth. His eyelids are heavy, and his panting only excites me more.

He looks at me, his mouth half-open, his tongue just touching his lower lip. I slide my other hand all the way down his stomach, stopping at the bulge in his trousers. He swallows but doesn’t say anything.

“Not your type, you say?”

Levi seizes the opportunity to come closer again, as close as I’ll let him. Having him under my control in this situation, even though I know he’s letting me do it, makes my legs tremble with excitement.

He inches his face closer to mine, his eyes fixed on my mouth, and soon he’s leaning down so far that I let him have what he wants, letting go of his hair. He kisses me again, even more sensually now, and I groan when he captures my lower lip in his teeth and bites into the forbidden fruit.

I begin to tremble, my cheeks burning. I forget all about the USB key I’m clutching, even though that was the reason why I kissed him so unexpectedly in the first place.

“Your room,” I implore him, feeling his excitement pressing against me.

He sighs against my mouth, his thumb caressing my chin and moving down over my throat. I ask in a whisper what’s wrong. His tongue teases my lips, tantalizingly slow, and I imagine it coaxing its way over my whole body, to even more sensitive places.

“I’m not going to sleep with you, Rose,” he murmurs hoarsely. “Sorry.”

It’s like a bucket of cold water has been dumped on me.

Suddenly I remember who I am, who he is, and what I’m meant to be doing.

“Seduce him” is the mission my father gave me.

This isn’t the first time I’ve felt angry following a rejection by Levi.

Before, it was for purely egotistical reasons, but now, at this precise moment, it’s disappointment that’s running through me.

Because as much as I hate to admit it, I really like this asshole.

“That’s not what a woman wants to hear from her fiancé.”

He looks at me without blinking, his expression cold and distant. His fingers brush a few strands of my bangs back into place as he replies, “You won’t be the first wife to be disappointed by her husband in the bedroom. I’m sure you’ll get over it.”

He gently takes hold of my arms, which are still around his neck, and disentangles us. I manage to keep the USB key hidden in the palm of my hand, anger still surging through me. I’m a ball of frustration.

After a kiss like that, how dare he reject me again, like a piece of rubbish? Who does he think he is? I’m not his toy. I don’t care what my father says—I won’t lower myself to the level of Levi’s little games again. I have my dignity.

“That’s the last time I’m going to make a fool of myself with you, Levi. I’m warning you.” I can hear the pain in my own voice, and that makes me even angrier.

He turns around, looking indifferent despite his dilated pupils. “OK. So?”

“So don’t come begging when it’s too late; that’s all.”

“May I remind you which one of us threw themselves at the other?”

“You didn’t seem to be hating it two minutes ago. And I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

He raises an eyebrow, intrigued. “And how do I look at you, Rose?”

“Like all men do.”

He takes his time answering, and I realize he’s wondering whether to answer honestly, probably fearing that he’ll hurt me.

“It’s true. I look at you because you’re beautiful. Perhaps beauty is all that counts in your world, but not in mine. Appreciating a woman’s beauty doesn’t mean I want to go to bed with her.”

Ouch . That was harder to take than I would have imagined. I ask him if that means he doesn’t want to go to bed with me. He doesn’t reply. I nod and then keep on nodding as a triumphant smile spreads over my face. It’s stupid, but I still have some hope. Because he didn’t answer my question.

“Oh, I can’t wait ...,” I laugh to myself. “I can’t wait for that moment, Levi Ivanovich.”

I move back toward him, and he asks me what I’m talking about.

I whisper my reply. “I’m talking about the moment when you beg me to go to bed with you.

Because that’s what’s going to happen. And the day it does .

.. you’ll regret that you rejected me so many times.

I’m going to have you crawl, grovel, and beg until you can’t beg any more.

And when I give in, you’ll thank me as though I were the Messiah. ”

He doesn’t even bat an eyelid. Just stares at me and shrugs. “If you say so. I’m going to go take a shower. Good night, Rose.”

My pride absorbs this additional hit, and I tighten my grip on the USB key and head straight for my room.

As soon as the door’s closed, I stop pretending and give in to the frustration that’s devouring me. I think back to his fingers in my hair, his hand on my back, his tongue against my lips ...

The bastard.

What’s his problem? He returns my kiss, then humiliates me? Is he playing hard to get, like Tito said? Or does he genuinely feel no attraction toward me? But ... he was excited; there’s no doubt about that.

I shake my head, trying to rid it of these pointless questions, and open my computer to investigate the USB key. My heart is pounding. Levi and Thomas are hiding something from me. They were spying on my father across the terrace; I’m sure of it.

And that spying had nothing to do with poker.

Two files come up on the screen, both with ridiculous names: “Mom’s recipes” and “Nephew’s birthday.

” Bizarrely, they’re password protected, confirming that the names are only a ruse.

Who would password protect his mother’s recipe for beef stroganoff?

And anyway, Levi’s an only child. It makes no sense.

I wonder what the password could be, but no ideas come.

Should I send this straight to Tito? He’ll know someone who can break into the file.

No. No chance. I want to know what it is first, then decide whether to share it with him. I look through my contacts and email a guy I know in Florence: Andrea, a computer science student. I ask if he can help me get around a password. The bastard says it’ll cost me fifty euros. I agree.

I copy the files onto my computer and delete them from the USB key. Whatever they are, it can’t be good for them to be in Levi Ivanovich’s hands.

I tiptoe out of my bedroom, wanting to replace the stolen goods unnoticed while he’s in the shower. I make my way stealthily past the closed bathroom door. The shower isn’t on. Has he already finished?

His bag is still on the kitchen counter. Quickly, I slip the USB key back inside and head back toward my room, but just as I’m passing the bathroom, the door opens.

I freeze, caught in the act. My heart performs a somersault. Levi stops short too, looking surprised. He is disheveled, with pink cheeks and a strange light in his eyes. Even more astonishingly, he seems ... embarrassed? Levi Ivanovich uncomfortable! Who’d have thought it?

“I was thirsty,” I blurt out.

I’m about to ask if he’s finished when I realize he’s still wearing the same clothes. He doesn’t say anything as he slips past me, just avoids my gaze, and heads down the corridor.

Very odd. He looked as guilty as I felt. I frown and go into the bathroom, expecting to find some illegal substance in there. There’s no sign of him having taken a shower. But the room is strangely warm, a muggy heat that’s got nothing to do with the Las Vegas climate.

What on earth could he have been ...

Oh.

Oh.

I feel myself blush as all sorts of images form in my mind. My beloved fiancé isn’t so indifferent after all ...

Now all I have to do is feign indifference until he gives in first. And if sex isn’t enough to trick him, make him trust me, I’ll just have to make him fall in love with me.

We spend the whole next day at the tournament. I’m pretending to be a journalist again. Levi acts as though nothing happened the day before, and that suits me fine. When the lunch break comes, he says he needs to rest and leaves me to eat alone.

I take the opportunity to head to the hotel restaurant and check my emails. Andrea replied to me early this morning, sending me the unlocked documents. I open them on my computer, but it takes me a few minutes to work out what they’re all about.

One of the files is full of charts and tables containing information about my father’s business. Numbers, turnover rates, lists of investors, and so on. My throat tightens with anxiety. How did he get his hands on all this? More importantly, why?

If I weren’t already worried enough, the second file makes my blood freeze. Dozens of documents appear before my eyes, all of them with the potential to incriminate my father. Most are evidence of bribery.

It appears Levi is taking his revenge very seriously. I underestimated him. “He ruined my life,” he once told me. This thing between them goes much deeper than a straightforward poker rivalry.

And yet I still don’t really understand. I don’t know all the details, of course—Tito has never talked to me about any of it. I just know that when I was a child, he was obsessed with Jacob Ivanovich. Then, after I thought all that was in the past, he became obsessed with Jacob’s son, Levi.

The whole thing is beyond me. I agreed to do this for one reason: money. But is it worth all the sacrifices? I might hate my father, but I don’t want him to lose his business. I don’t want him to end up in prison. I don’t want his problems to hurt my mother.

Oh Christ .

Sorry, Levi, I say to myself as I attach the files to an email to my father. I have to protect myself .