Page 53 of The Bratva's Christmas Bump

“Yes. Everyone in there is like me. You saw a party and I saw a meeting.”

“What about?”

Maxim smirks. “Looking for dirt on me?”

My hand remains on his elbow and I shake my head. “Not exactly. But given that I have to speak to someone about getting paid, I’d like to know just exactly how much risk I’ll be in.”

“Risk?” His brows knit together. “I would never put you at risk.”

“You didn’t know I was going to be here.”

“True, but as soon as Toto told me, I made sure there was no risk.”

“How?” My eyes narrow. “Did you kill them like that other poor man?”

Something akin to surprise flashes in his eyes. “Why would you think that?”

“That’s what you do, right? You kill the people who get in the way. Or marry them.” My thumb teases the back of my wedding ring. “Just like you’d kill my parents if they became a threat, right?”

“I’m not what you think I am, Hollie.”

I pout, slightly mocking. “Is this when you tell me that my kidnapper has a heart?”

There’s a note of humor in Maxim’s snort. “Maybe.”

Snow clings to the spikes of his dark hair and in the low light, he looks… softer. Shadows ease the sharp line of his jaw. They soften the bulk of his muscles and tease out the true, almost human softness in his face. When he smiles, his eyes crinkle and there’s something much softer about him.

My heart skips a beat and warmth flushes through me like a rampant fever. Here, in the snow and the dark, he’s like the man who attracted me back at the bar. Right now, I see Maxim, the man so sexy that my core aches thinking about what he has between his legs.

Not the killer who upended my life.

“Hollie… come with me tomorrow.”

“Where?”

“To work. Come to the clubs with me.”

My mouth twists. “Why?”

“I want to show you what I do.”

“Why?”

“Because what you think of me matters.”

I tilt my head and huddle closer into his suit jacket. “Why do you care what I think?”

Maxim leans in closer and my heart skips up to my throat, trembling in the hollow of my neck. I glance at his lips and a sudden yearning pulls through my chest like warm taffy. Do I… do I want him to kiss me?

“I care because?—”

“Miss Wolfe?” Lara’s voice cuts through the dark. Maxim and I jerk apart as if we’ve been caught doing something we shouldn’t, and my cheeks heat up as if I’ve been slapped. Maxim appears much more relaxed, rubbing his jaw and adjusting himself to be slightly in front of me as Lara approaches.

“Yes?” I say, fighting to keep my voice steady as the fuzzy desire for a kiss fades in my mind.

“Our host is eager to pay you so the party can end. Do you have a moment?” Lara asks.

“Uh…” I glance at Maxim, surprised to see disappointment in his eyes. “Yeah, I have time.”