Page 24 of Ruthless Rustanovs

EVA shrieked and shot up in bed, scrambling to the other side to put distance between herself and the man she’d just found out was a cold-blooded killer.

But then she slowly realized….it had been a dream.

She hadn’t just found out Alexei was the soon-to-be head of a Russian crime family. No, that had happened eight years ago.

She put her hand over her racing heart, willing it to calm down.

Wow, she hadn’t had that dream in a while.

It had paid her a weekly visit for the first few months after she left Alexei, and then it had kicked in daily after she gave birth to Aaron.

For a while, she constantly looked over her shoulder wondering if every unmarked car was following her, refused to drink tea for fear Sergei Rustanov would figure out a way to poison her despite acquiescing to his demands.

Just because she existed, just because she dared to get involved with his nephew and hadn’t opted for an abortion when she discovered she was pregnant.

It was almost a relief when her father called two years after Aaron’s birth to say her mother was ready to retire and Eva could have her job if she wanted it.

No, her parents hadn’t completely forgiven her, but at least she knew most of the folks in Drummond.

It would be easier for Sergei Rustanov to track her there if he wanted to, but it would take an awful lot of work to kill or have her killed without anyone noticing.

In a high-density city like Dallas, it would be easy to pick her off and make it look like an accident.

But in a small town like Drummond, you couldn’t leave a glob of spit on the sidewalk without everyone knowing it was you who’d done it.

And all strangers were duly noted making it hard for even a Russian mafia boss to get rid of her without raising suspicions.

But Sergei never found her. From what she could tell, after having his people clean her things out of Alexei’s apartment and drop it off at Layla’s, he hadn’t bothered to keep tabs on her.

Alexei eventually returned to Russia to become the head of the Rustanov empire, just as his uncle wanted.

Years passed, and she started to think maybe everything would be okay.

Then a few more years passed and she was sure everything was okay.

And it had been, until she ran into Alexei at Layla’s wedding. Who knew he’d still be so angry at her for leaving him the way she had? Who knew he’d still have the exact same effect on her as if eight years and one son had never happened?

Now, he stood on the opposite side of the bed dressed in a linen suit with an unreadable expression on his face. “You are scared of me now,” he said. It was a statement not a question.

“No, I just…” She scrambled to shore up her nerves and become the person she needed to be for the next two weeks in order to get Drummond, Aaron, and herself out of this mess. “I’m just not used to being shaken awake. I was surprised.”

“You were saying, ‘no, no,’ and you were crying. That is why I shook you.”

“Was I?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light. “I must have been having a nightmare.”

“But you do not remember it?”

She didn’t have to remember it, she’d lived it. “Not exactly,” she said.

“Did it have anything to do with last night?”

She finally got where this line of conversation was leading. “Oh, you think, because we—” she broke off not knowing how to describe what they had done last night. “No, I told you. That was closure.”

She peeped up at him, hating that she actually cared about the answer to her next question. “Did it help? Do you feel better?”

He gave her a short nod. “How did you know to use that tactic with me?”

“You make it sound like we’re two business opponents. It wasn’t a tactic. Closure is what I do for a living.”

She settled back on her knees. “One of my first big cases after I moved back to Drummond was writing up a Red Cross report for this guy whose deli had mysteriously burned down one night. He was a nightmare, up in my office every day, demanding I have the electrician double-check all the outlets to make sure they weren’t faulty.

Then the next day he wanted me to interview Mr. Peterson—he owns the small grocery store down the street from the deli—to see if it was foul play, like I was one of those TV detectives or something.

Then he was back in my office again talking about how the landlord’s wife looked at him funny in Bible Study and now he thinks they might have done it to get the insurance payout.

I interviewed everyone and checked and rechecked.

Finally, we got the report back. I called him into my office to tell him it was definitely faulty wiring.

I thought he’d be upset it wasn’t something bigger but instead, he starts crying.

This guy hunts with my daddy and there he was, sitting in my office and blubbering like a baby.

Then he thanked me like I’d saved his life or something!

Believe it or not, I’m still on his Christmas card list. You see, I thought he wanted someone to blame for the fire, but all he wanted was an explanation.

That’s all he needed to let it go. And that’s the main point of my job: I help give people closure, even when they don’t think they need it. ”

Alexei stared at her so long she began to grow uncomfortable.

“What?” she asked.

He rounded the bed and came to sit on her side of it. “I was wrong about who you were as a girlfriend, but I was right about your career prospects. You are very good at what you do.”

Her face grew warm and she turned to sit next to him on the bed.

“Thank you. My daddy is technically my supervisor so I’m not used to getting compliments about my community work.

Usually he’s grousing about how I didn’t do that and why can’t I make it easier for him to do this and why can’t I do everything I do faster, cheaper, and better. ”

“You do not like your job?” he asked.

“No, I like it fine. I just wish I could do it somewhere else, with someone else who didn’t think I’m such a disgrace no matter how much I do for Drummond.”

She realized her mistake before the last words were out of her mouth.

“Why does he think you are a disgrace?” he asked, his eyes narrowing in the way they used to whenever he was ready to spring to her defense.

She waved it off and shrugged. “Small-town dads aren’t like the ones in big cities. I didn’t get married and start popping out babies by a certain age so now he considers me a disgrace. I could find a cure for cancer and Daddy would still think I’m less than because I’m not married with children.”

“Aaron refuses to marry you?”

Eva’s mouth twisted. Of course, Alexei would be more concerned with the “competition” in the story. “I told you we’re not talking about him.”

“Did he ask you to marry him and you refused? Or has he not asked you to marry him at all? Perhaps you have not been dating long enough?”

“You promised.”

“I promised not to search for him or tell him about us. Questions about him were not part of the deal. What would you say if he asked you to marry him?”

“Fine. I’ll change the subject. I’m hungry. Can we order breakfast? Or better yet, go out and eat? As nice as this place is, I wouldn’t mind seeing the rest of the hotel.”

“No, we will stay here and continue our conversation,” he said. “I am finding I like denying your requests.”

Despite her plan to rise above Alexei’s petulance, irritation flared inside her and unleashed her tongue.

“So that’s how it’s going to be? We’re going to continue to carp at each other for the next two weeks?

Wonderful. While we’re at it, can we also make each other miserable with petty questions and denials of reasonable requests, because I think that would really take this vacation to the next level for both of us. ”

He lifted his eyebrows. “I understand reverse psychology now, Eva. Also, sarcasm.”

“Oh, goody,” she answered, her voice dripping with it.

“As for the next level…” He took her left hand and placed it on his cock which was thick and hard beneath his linen pants, “Do not pretend you do not know what you do to me.”

She shook her head even as her heart sped up in her chest, and she suddenly became very aware that while he was fully dressed, she was stark naked.

“That’s not me,” she informed him. “That’s your thirst for revenge.

I’m just a warm body, a representation of your past, something else you need to conquer like the American business market.

Don’t pretend it’s me whose got you all revved up. ”

He gave her a strange look. “Is this really what you think?”

“That woman you were with at the party looked like a supermodel and she’s into threesomes.”

He kept his hand covering hers on top of his dick. “This is the third time you have brought her up. For someone who does not want to talk about her love life, you seem very interested in mine.”

“I’m not,” she assured him because she totally was.

He leaned over and ran his lips along her neckline, causing her uncovered breasts to swell with desire. “What would you like to know, Eva? Tell me.”

“I don’t want to know anything,” she answered, trying to ignore the skittering spikes of pleasure his kisses were sending through her nervous system. “I don’t care. I’m only here because of your revenge fantasy.”

“But you nodded when I asked if you wanted to be with me sexually.”

“Yes, I did nod. But only because I didn’t believe you would be okay with us hanging out for two weeks without sex. It was a concession to end this stupid argument.”

“Do not lie to me, Eva. I forbid it.”

It was a total lie so she stayed quiet and held herself as stiff as a woman possibly could with a very sexy man kissing and licking her neck. Eventually, he stopped with an annoyed growl. “Fine,” he said. “Get showered and dressed. We will go out to lunch.”