Page 28 of Deceptive Vows

“No,” I reply, and he smiles.

“I have business to attend to, but I came to give you the good news.”

“What good news?” I’m not sure what shape that would take for me in regard to him.

“The doctor says you’re clean, and it seems like your contraceptive injection meets my criteria, so you won’t require any further medication.”

What an asshole.

His smile irritates me so much I can’t hold my tongue.

“Did you have to do that to me?” I ask.

“Do what? I like to fuck bareback and without the worry of impregnating my enemy’s daughter. I see no harm in making the necessary checks I need to establish certain truths.”

“I told you I was a virgin, so you should have known I was clean.”

“I know no such thing, and you would be surprised what shit people get up to so they can still pass for avirgin. I like to be careful. I’m curious, though. Weren’t you planning on having children with Felipe?”

I try to control the bile rising in my stomach and force myself to look like I’m grieving.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

He leans close again and looms before me with a mocking smirk. “Everything is my business,Malyshka.”

He says Malyshka with emphasis this time, and I realize for the first time—and with annoyance because of the meaning—that it’s easier if he calls me that or princess than Adriana.

It’s easy because it’s new, and he’s new to me.

“In any event,” he adds, “you’re clear for me to take you at anytime and anywhere I want.”

“What about you? How do I know you’re clean?”

He chuckles, and the sound ripples through me. He lifts a lock of my hair and twirls it around his tattooed forefinger. I risk glancing down to see if I can make out what the tattoo means, but I think it’s in Russian. I also think the tattoos on his hands are prison tattoos. José taught me a few things like that I needed to be aware of.

He just never went into depth. José cautioned me and said if I ever saw a Russian Mafioso man with the type of tattoos Mikhail was sporting, I should avoid them at all costs.Run if I have to. He actually said those words.

Now look at me. I’m waiting for the said Russian Mafioso man to confirm he’s clean enough to fuck me bareback.

Christ.

What hell dimension did I fall into?

And why the hell did I think it was a good idea to ask him that?

The corner of his lips turn up into a sinfully wicked smile that tightens my insides, and a spark of arousal coils from my belly right into my pussy.

“Baby girl, I’m clean because I say I am.”

Baby girl.It’s clear he didn’t call me Malyshka just now to make a point.

“Anything else you want to know about my dick?” he asks, crude and crass.

“No, thank you. There is nothing.” I bite down hard on my back teeth and will myself to concentrate. Now that he’s here, I can ask the burning question on my mind and try to steer clear of any talk of sex. “Where is José?”

“José Diaz is no longer any of your concern.”

Panic turns my knees to water. “What does that mean?”