Page 107 of Devious Corruption

I’ve been too complacent. Let him have his way too often, the man is going to turn into a bulldozer if I let this keep up.

Dmitri lifts a shoulder. “You’ll have to ask him.”

“I’m going to,” I assure him as the elevator dings our arrival.

But then the doors slide open, and Lev stands there waiting for me. His hair is damp, like he’s just gotten out of the shower, and he’s wearing a dark gray T-shirt and a pair of jeans that hang loose around his waist. He’s not even wearing a belt, which is slightly—and weirdly— disappointing.

I need to find a thick patch of grass so I can touch it. Reality isn’t what it used to be.

“She wants to talk to you about something,” Dmitri says as he walks past Lev.

Lev arches his brow, taking me in with that steady gaze of his.

Good god, the man’s not even wearing socks. He’s standing there barefoot looking all degrees of sexy, and then there’s the lazy grin.

“What did you want to talk about?” He questions.

“Uh.” There was something very important I wanted to bring to his attention. Wasn’t there?

“How about you come out of the elevator. It helps to have a conversation when you’re inside the house.” He offers his hand to me, and I stare at it.

“Shopping!” I finally announce as I step out of the elevator.

“You wanted to talk about shopping?” He grins. “You have only bag?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know what you did.”

“What did I do?” He takes the single shopping bag from my hand and slides his fingers into mine.

“You bought things I didn’t ask for,” I start to argue.

He puts the bag down on the round table in the foyer and reaches for my coat. “I did. Yes.”

“You shouldn’t have.” I let him take my coat off and put it in the closet.

“Did you eat?” He questions, grabbing the bag from the table and picking up my hand again as he leads us toward the stairs.

“We had a late lunch. I’m not hungry, if that’s what you’re asking.” I let him pull me up the stairs to his set of rooms.

If I’d been told a month ago that I’d be coming home from a day of shopping at elite boutiques to a man like him, I would have laughed until I passed out. But here I am, being taken into this man’s suite of rooms.

By the look he gives me over his shoulder as he opensthe door, I have no question as to what he has in mind for the evening.

“What did you buy?” he asks, dropping the shopping bag on the small couch and picking up the clothing inside to inspect.

Marion mewls when she notices me and runs from the special pillow Lev had brought in. She has her own personal space here in the sitting room and another in the bedroom. Though each night, she climbs into bed with us and curls up on the pillows between us. More than once, I’ve woken up to find her snuggled into his side, with his hand resting on her.

I’m still not sure how he managed to win her over. But it’s obvious he performed the same magic act on me, as well.

“A pair of jeans and a black sweater.” I pick up Marion and settle into an armchair, rubbing her behind her ears.

“That’s it?” He quirks a brow and drops the clothing back into the bag. “That explains why there were so many deliveries.”

He turns his back on me and pads from the room to the bedroom. Bringing Marion with me, I follow him.

A tower of boxes stands as tall as me near the closet. Beside it is a full rack of clothes hanging, still wrapped in the garment bags.

“No.” I shake my head. “Absolutely not. I don’t need all this.” I thumb through the rack, recognizing the names of the shops.