Page 73 of Born into Madness

God, this woman’s going to be the death of me.

I squeeze her thigh and then wait for her to get off before I do the same. Resting our helmets on the seat, I look down at her and brush her thick hair off her shoulder. The braid I made of her hair is still in my pocket because I like carrying it around and having it close, but I don’t need to reach in and run my finger over it because the real thing is standing right in front of me.

She smiles up at me and reaches for my hand. I’m about to take it when I look down and notice her shoe is untied. Without a second thought, I squat down and grab her laces.

“What are you doing?”

I raise my head and give her a wink. “I’m tying your shoe,krovinka.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she starts to argue, but I ignore her and finish securing the knot.

My eyes run over every inch of her body as I slowly stand, and then I cup her face and say, “I wanted to. I like taking care of you, and the last time you bent over to tie your shoe some asshole made a comment that I really didn’t care for. No one needs to be thinking about this ass but me, Cyn.”

The corner of her full mouth lifts up. “You’re thinking about my ass?”

I groan and kiss her. “Only every second of every day.”

“Hmm, so about as often as I’m thinking about yours then.”

I laugh before I can stop it, and when I turn my head, I see my cousin leaning against the corner of the restaurant, watching us with a mixture of surprise and a good dose ofWhat the fuck?

“My cousin’s here,” I tell Cyn, and then I lean down to kiss her once more before taking her hand in mine and leading her over to where he’s waiting.

“I don’t even know what to say right now,” he says in Russian as soon as we’re next to him.

I ignore him and say in English, “This is Cynthia.” Turning my eyes to Cyn, I say, “This is my cousin Nikita, but everyone calls him Niki.”

“Hi,” she says, giving him a big smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, Cynthia.”

She hurries up to say, “You can call me Cindy. Everyone does.” Her eyes dart to mine. “Well, almost everyone.”

I keep my arm around her shoulders, wanting her body close to mine, and Niki doesn’t miss a single detail.

In Russian he says, “I thought you wanted the feed so you could watch her and make sure she didn’t say anything about that night. I never in a million years thought it was because you’d fallen for her.” He gives a soft laugh. “No offense, but I thought you might be planning on killing her.”

I shrug and kiss the top of Cyn’s head, taking the time to inhale her coconut-scented shampoo while I do it before I say, “I’m just as surprised by it as you are.”

“So what’s the emergency?” He smiles over at me. “Or is this it?”

“She has a friend joining us and asked if I could invite someone.”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, he’s groaning and narrowing his eyes at me.

“So byemergencyyou meant you need me for a double date?” he asks. “Goddammit, Sasha, you know I’ve got work to do.”

“What’s going on?” Cyn asks, looking between the two of us. “I’m only in beginner’s Russian. I think I caught about five words out of that entire conversation.”

I grin and give her a wink. “See how much you’re learning already,krovinka?”

“Krovinka?” Niki asks, and still speaking Russian adds, “I feel like I’m losing my mind here, Sasha. Seriously, what the fuck is going on?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. I stick to Russian while I look down at Cyn and slide my fingers along her shoulder until I’m cupping the back of her neck in a possessive grip that feels completely natural and all kinds of right. “I just couldn’t walk away from her.”

“Does anyone else know about this?” Niki asks.

“Mia,” I tell him. “And I’d like to be the one to tell the others.”