Page 105 of Hunt Me

As another orgasm swept through her, building to the point of an amazing frenzy, she opened her mouth and screamed.

“Yes. Yes…” she moaned, her long eyelashes skimming across the smooth porcelain of her skin. I was locked in the moment, mesmerized by her reactions.

“No one will ever hurt you, Bristol. If they dare try, they will die by my hands.” I don’t know why I made the proclamation. Perhaps it was what I thought she needed to hear.

Or perhaps I needed to believe it myself, to prove that I wasn’t the monster I’d embraced. Had I really changed, or was I still the son of a bitch eager and willing to kill anyone who stood in my way? The answer wasn’t easy, but in a few days’ time, the luscious woman who’d been driven into my path by fate had made me question everything.

Perhaps we’d always been on a collision course. Perhaps karma was fucking with us.

Nothing was real any longer.

Not the moment.

Not the fear I’d seen in her eyes.

Not the anticipation of what was to come, or of what I might need to do in the future.

Only this incredible, breathtaking moment mattered.

Soon, I’d need to decide her fate. But not yet. Not until I’d had my fill of her.

Until then, I’d meant what I’d promised her.

She belonged to me.

CHAPTER 26

Mikhail

Rage.

As I swept my arm across the desk, I took no comfort in the sound of breaking glass or the hard thudding my laptop made when it smashed against the hardwood floor. I threw my arms behind my head, intertwining my fingers as I paced the floor, trying to wrangle in my emotions.

A funeral.

I slammed my hands on the desk and hung my head.

Now I had to plan a funeral.

Sergio had no family other than what he’d shared with the Dmitriyevs. It was my responsibility to see that he had a proper burial. At least there were already plans in motion. The family attorney had already been put on notice. With the burial plot already purchased and ready, the funeral home notified the day before, I could expedite the burial.

There would be no celebration of life. Only an honorable send-off to a man who hadn’t deserved to die. I wondered who would decide to attend. Funerals were often an excellent method of dragging those responsible out in the open. It was something to consider.

My thoughts drifted to Bristol. If I was truly following my Pakhan requirements as set forth generations before, I’d shut down every emotion regarding her. Hell, if this were a decade before, at minimum she’d be banished. Fuck. If my father had anything to do with making the decision, he’d tell me to marry her. That way she couldn’t create any issues for my family or for the business.

But that was old school and something I wasn’t interested in.

Or was I?

The bottom line was that times had changed since the old days, something my father had refused to accept for far too long. Even now, he wasn’t happy we were mostly on the straight and narrow. His initial refusal to accept both legitimate and more futuristic endeavors had stymied our growth and hindered our legitimate businesses. Now there was no turning back.

Yet a war was needed.

The fact the Dmitriyev family was being placed under a microscope continued to infuriate me. The O’Shaughnessys were playing games because they knew I’d refuse to incite violence.

Maybe that’s where I’d gone wrong.

Maybe a taste of the old ways was needed.