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“What the fuck were you thinking?” I snapped at my brother.

I was so disconcerted to see another American at all, and to have Olivia and Ivan chatting blithely with her, saying who knew what, I lost my cool a bit.

“Who just shows up in a tiny mountain town like this?” I continued.

“There was that other American when we first got here,” Olivia piped up.

It was so clear she wanted a friend. Was I overreacting? I really didn’t think so, not when I hadn’t heard anything from Benedikt in days. That man could not be trusted in the best circumstances.

“Hikers pass through this way all the time,” Ivan said. “That’s how we found the place.”

“All the time is a vast overstatement.”

Of course, he’d be on the new arrival’s side. She was a very pretty blonde woman, just his type, and a way to pass the time while he was down here tormenting me.

“We’re all just going to leave this new woman alone until I can run a thorough search on her,” I said, laying down the law. I caught Olivia’s eye in the rearview mirror. “Until I hear something definitive from your father, we can’t be too careful.”

“Have you heard anything from the Kuzmins?” Ivan asked.

“How the hell do you know so much about this, anyway?” I retorted, ready to shove him out of the moving car.

“I know about the debt from Aleks,” he told me. “Neither one of us knew how he managed to pay them off.”

Olivia snickered, and I sighed. “If he paid them off,” I said.

Why couldn’t they take this seriously? Olivia hadn’t lived some sheltered life; she had to realize just how dangerous a man who was backed into a corner could be. And the Kuzmins… it was probably better if she didn’t understand the full scope of their capabilities.

We drove the rest of the way home in silence, and once we got there, Olivia scurried off somewhere, probably sick of our arguing. I led Ivan to the back, where he promptly resumed annoying me.

“So, have you heard from the Kuzmins?” he asked again.

“No,” I admitted.

“Then chill out. I’ve never seen you get so worked up about anything before.”

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He was right; I was wound up and about to unravel.

“I’m in deep,” I admitted, looking toward the house and wondering what Olivia was doing. “Now that she’s starting to relax and warm up to me, I can’t let my guard down. I can’t let anything hurt her.”

My younger brother gave me a long look, seeming almost wise for a brief moment. “If you really want your wife to fall in love with you, you shouldn’t be using your honeymoon time running background checks.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I said without too much heat.

“Or berating me,” he continued. “And you should stop acting like such a jailer.”

That was a step too far. “What do you know about it?” I demanded.

“Enough that you’d never catch me in a situation like this. Not married at all and certainly not to someone I had to keep under lock and key.”

“Okay, enough,” I said, standing up and dragging him through the house. “Visit’s over. You can find somewhere else to sleep.”

Ivan left laughing, probably already planning to find out where the American woman was staying and ply her with margaritas and his ridiculous charm all night. When I turned around after slamming the door on him, Olivia stood in the hall, staring at me with reproach.

“Did you really just kick him out?” she asked, looking like she was about to run after him.

“Don’t bother being soft-hearted,” I said. “He’ll be fine.”

“But he’s your brother.”

“And he’s still my brother at the motel in town. Listen, I was thinking we could spend the evening swimming under the stars. Do you really want him relentlessly cannonballing us every five seconds and starting splash wars?”

Ivan might have been thirty-seven, but he acted seventeen most of the time.

She gave up easily enough after that, and stretched her arms over her head. “How about we don’t wait until the stars come out? I’m dying to float for a while.”

“Hmm,” I said, raising a brow at her. “You’re not trying to get me off track, are you?”

“Off track about what?”

Her innocent act was cute, but not cutting it. “Why did you tell him every last detail of our marriage?”

“You wanted me to lie?” she asked. “Are you mad I told him?”

“It’s not so much I’m mad that you told him, but that you seemed determined for him to think it wasn’t real.” I leaned closer and tipped up her chin so our eyes met. “It’s very real, Olivia.”

She had to know that; had to understand how much she meant to me. That she was mine, and I’d never give her up. I tried to keep up a stony exterior, but the hurt I felt must have been plain to see. She softened, sliding her palm up to rest against my cheek.

“I didn’t—it’s all so new to me.”

Ducking my head, I kissed her upturned lips, then pulled away before I got lost in the taste of her. “I’ll meet you in the pool just as soon as I get that background check on your new friend started.”

She stiffened and let her hand fall to her side, but her words surprised me. “Good. I was hoping you wouldn’t forget. You’re right that we can’t be too careful.”

She started to skip off toward the pool, peeling off her shirt as she passed through the arches. Oh good God, was she planning on not wearing a bathing suit? I was pleased she was coming around to exercising caution, but what was the harm of waiting another hour or two to run the check?

I caught up with her just as she stood poised at the edge of the pool, all her creamy flesh and lush curves on full display in the blazing late afternoon sun. Her tan lines from her bikini drew my eyes to her perfect, rounded ass cheeks just as she flung herself into the turquoise water.

In a moment, she emerged like a mermaid, shaking her dark curls behind her shoulders.

“What are you waiting for?” she called, slicing her hand to create a wave in front of her.

In a second, my clothes were torn off and discarded. Another second later, I was in the pool, bobbing up behind her. With a laugh, she ducked under water, swimming away as fast as a dolphin, and all I could do was stare at her, mesmerized by her grace and beauty.

When I didn’t chase after her, she returned, and that’s when I struck, splashing her ruthlessly until she lunged through the waves at me to toss her arms around my neck. Like the world’s sexiest drowned rat, she held on until I stopped splashing.

“And you kicked your brother out for being childish,” she gasped, water dripping down her face.

Before she could push away and retaliate, I held her tight and just looked down into her chocolate-brown eyes. Her soft body melted against me beneath the cool water, and my hands moved lower.

My mouth was on hers as soon as she tipped her head back. Her soft moan was almost lost in the sound of the water lapping around our bodies, but I eased my hands lower and made her do it again. She loosened her grip around my neck to run her fingers through my hair, pulling my head down to deepen our kiss.

Our tongues met and she arched her back, grinding against my cock, rock hard from the moment I watched her dive in.

“You are a goddess,” I said, sliding my lips down the smooth column of her throat.

“Dima,” she said, almost desperately, almost like a question.

“Tell me whatever you want,” I urged, my hands roaming up to cup her heavy tits. My eyes nearly rolled back at the feel of her nipples tightening as I ran my thumbs across them.

Instead of speaking, she pulled my head down to kiss her again, her fingers digging into my shoulders before running down my arms. The warmth of her skin, in contrast to the cool water in the pool, only enhanced the electricity her slightest touch seemed to cause between us.

The hot sun, my gorgeous wife’s lips on mine, her body pressed close, and her soft moans ringing in my ears. What more could I want? What more could I ever ask for?

“Dima,” she said again, suddenly pushing away, but keeping her hands firm on my shoulders.

She looked up at me with her eyes sparkling with tears, causing a stabbing sensation in my chest.

“What is it?” I asked, moving her toward the shallow end. “What’s wrong, Liv?”

“I don’t…” her voice was strangled, and she trailed off, looking like she was being tortured.

What was going on behind those eyes of hers? Was she about to tell me she didn’t accept that we were real after all?