Page 72 of Toxic Temptation (Krayev Bratva #1)

VESPER

The mansion squats before us in all its slapped together, nouveau riche glory.

It’s like Shana looked at a “Styles of Architecture” textbook and requested “one of each, please.” Even in the darkness, I can make out pretentious Greek columns flanking the entrance, bizarrely trimmed hedges, and a modern art fountain bubbling with what I can only assume is priceless champagne and the tears of orphans.

“This is her house?” I ask, disgusted.

Kovan’s green eyes find mine in the dim light. “Where else did you think we’d have this conversation? Some dank basement?”

“I mean… yes?” I say. “Isn’t that how these things usually work?”

“Only if you want to do unnecessary kidnapping first.” He says it like someone who knows. “Much simpler to make house calls.”

I stare at the imposing gate blocking our path. It’s got to be twelve feet high, topped with decorative spikes that look functional rather than purely aesthetic. “How exactly are we getting past that? I’m assuming she has security cameras everywhere, right?”

“She does.” Kovan sashays up to the gate’s keypad. “Or rather, she did. Unfortunately for Dr. Reed, her entire system is dark for the next two hours.”

He starts tapping. Ten digits later, the gate clicks open with a soft mechanical whir.

“Holy shit.” I hurry after him up the curved driveway. “How did you?—”

“Preparation, Doctor,” he says with a wink. “My men are thorough.”

“Are we armed?” I glance around the manicured grounds, suddenly aware of how exposed we are. “Please tell me you brought backup weapons.”

“No guns tonight.”

I stop walking. “Excuse me?”

He turns back, mouth curved in that dangerous half-smile. “Sometimes, less is more. Besides, I don’t trust you not to shoot her if she pisses you off.”

“I wouldn’t shoot her.” But the protest sounds weak even to me. “… Probably.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.” He produces another keypad code, and the front door yields as easily as the gate did. “She’s more useful to us alive.”

“Useful how?”

“You’ll see.”

The house’s interior matches its exterior—expensive, tasteless, and soulless.

We climb the marble staircase in near-darkness, guided only by moonlight streaming through oversized windows.

Every surface gleams with aggressive cleanliness.

I can practically hear the sobs of the terrorized cleaning staff.

“What about her family?” I whisper as we reach the second floor.

Kovan doesn’t bother lowering his voice. “Husband’s in Vegas for a bachelor party. Kids are with their grandparents. And the housekeeper sleeps like the dead until 6:00 A.M.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Because I do my homework.” He stops outside what’s obviously the master suite. “Know thy enemy; isn’t that what they say?”

My heart beats double-time as he tests the door handle. For one wild second, I consider backing out. This is insane. I’m a pediatric surgeon, not some mob enforcer breaking into houses in the middle of the night.

Then I remember that bank account balance. Shana is sitting on millions of dollars earned from harvesting organs from unsuspecting patients while, on the lower floors, children died from lack of equipment.

I clench my jaw and follow Kovan inside.

Shana’s bedroom is pitch black. I can just barely make out the fuzzy shapes of a bureau, two nightstands, a huge bed.

With the flick of a switch, Kovan floods the room with light.

Shana struggles up from underneath the covers and throws an arm over her face, groaning. “Michael? What the…? You’re not supposed to be back until?—”

“Michael’s still in Vegas.”

She bolts upright, clutching the sheet to her chest. The thin camisole she’s wearing leaves little to the imagination—nude-colored silk that complements her artificially bronzed skin. I find myself repulsed by her. The fakeness. The camouflage of makeup and gaudy things.

“I have s-security,” she stammers. “And dogs?—”

“No, you don’t.” Kovan’s voice carries that particular brand of calm that’s more terrifying than shouting. “You hate dogs, and your surveillance system is down. Your security company thinks everything’s fine. It’s just us here.”

She’s so focused on him that she hasn’t spotted me yet. Her hands shake as she tries to maintain her grip on the sheet.

I should feel sorry for her—a woman alone, cornered, vulnerable in her own bedroom. But every time sympathy threatens to surface, I think about why we’re here.

And the bloodlust rises up in me again.

“Do you know who I am, Shana?” Kovan steps into the light fully, letting her get a good look.

Recognition dawns in her eyes. “Kovan Krayev.” Her throat bobs with a nervous swallow. “Wh…what do you want?”

“Just a conversation. Maybe a small favor.”

“I c-can’t help you with anything.”

“Actually, I believe you can.” He moves closer, hands clasped behind his back in a deliberate way that frightens even me. “You’re a board member, yes? That comes with voting power. Influence.”

“You don’t understand what you’re asking?—”

“Oh, but we do.” I step out of the shadows, unable to stay quiet any longer. “We understand perfectly.”

Her head whips toward me. The sheet falls forgotten as her jaw drops. “Vesper?”

I move to Kovan’s side, drawing strength from his presence. “Good evening, Shana. Love what you’ve done with the place. Very… extensive.”

“How dare you break into my home!” She seems more outraged by my presence than by Kovan’s. “You little?—”

“I’d choose your next words very carefully,” Kovan interrupts. “I don’t appreciate anyone speaking disrespectfully to my woman.”

My woman. Those two little words sear through me like a shot of whiskey. I feel every inch of skin, every simmering nerve. I’m alive in a way I’ve never been before.

What is this man doing to me?

I shake my head to return my attention to the task at hand. Focus, Vesper. Focus.

“This is breaking and entering,” Shana continues, scrambling to cover herself again. “It’s illegal. You can’t just?—”

“Know what else is illegal?” I cut her off. “Embezzling hospital funds. Profiting from human misery. Letting children die while you line your pockets. That stuff is highly frowned upon, Shana. Judges and juries do not like that sort of thing.”

She straightens, some of her old arrogance returning. “Do you have proof?”

I can only blink. Having the guts to deny it, when we’re obviously very sure of what’s happening, is astounding. “What?”

“Proof,” she repeats. “Of these wild accusations you’re making.”

Kovan’s arm slides around my shoulders. “Funny you should ask.” His tone is conversational, almost friendly. “We do have proof. Lots of proof, for all kinds of things. DNA proof, for instance, confirming your youngest son isn’t actually your husband’s.”

I turn to stare at him. “Huh?”

He doesn’t break eye contact with Shana, who’s gone pale as parchment.

“We also have photographs. Lots of those, too. You and your… What's the appropriate term? Lover? Fuck buddy? It’s honestly impressive how you and Jeremy have managed the whole thing—I wasn’t sure I’d catch you alone tonight, given how busy your social calendar is when Michael’s out of town. ”

“You’re lying.” But her voice wavers.

“I don’t lie about business,” Kovan says mildly.

“Speaking of business, I also have a copy of your prenup. Excellently drafted, by the way. Very thorough. In case of adultery, the wronged spouse gets everything. The house, the cars, the kids, the beach place in Malibu you’re so fond of.

Tell me, Shana: Are you prepared to lose it all? ”

She climbs out of bed on unsteady legs, wrapping the sheet around herself. Standing upright, she looks older. Smaller.

Human.

“You want me to resign from the board?”

Kovan glances at me, eyebrows raised expectantly. After a moment, I realize he’s waiting for me to take the lead.

My mouth goes dry. This is it—the moment where I either step up or back down.

I close my eyes and picture row after row of hospital beds filling a white room that stretches to infinity. A heaven filled with children who did not deserve to end up there so soon. I see blood staining those pure white sheets—and I see filthy money passed from filthy hand to filthy hand.

When I open my eyes, I see Shana.

And I know what I have to do.

“No,” I tell her. “You’re going to stay on the board. You’re going to keep playing the loyal colleague to Jeremy. And you’re not going to breathe a word about tonight to anyone.”

Standing here in her ridiculously expensive bedroom, looking at this woman who used to intimidate me with nothing more than her cold stare and cutting remarks, I feel something shift inside me.

She was never the powerful figure I’d built her up to be. She’s just another person who chose greed over conscience, profit over people.

And now, she belongs to me.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I tell her. “From now on, when we say jump, you ask how high. You’ll vote the way we want you to vote. Say what we want you to say. Do what we want you to do.” I pause, letting the words sink in. “We own you now, Shana.”

New lines appear around her eyes. She looks like she’s aged a decade in the past ten minutes. “It’s not that simple?—”

“I don’t give a fuck about simple.” The words come from somewhere deep inside me, a place I didn’t know existed until tonight. “I care about fixing what you’ve broken. I care about saving the hospital you’ve helped destroy. I care about the patients whose lives you’ve put at risk for money.”

I take a step closer, and she actually flinches.

“And if that means ruining your comfortable little life to do it?” I shrug. “Well, I guess I’m learning that sometimes, you have to destroy one thing to save another.”

Shana is flabbergasted. Her mouth keeps opening and closing, but nothing comes out of it.

Kovan takes my hand, his fingers warm and reassuring against mine. “We should go. Let Dr. Reed get her beauty rest. It looks like she could use it.”

“Holy shit!” The words explode out of me the moment we’re back in the car. “That was… I can’t believe I just did that!”

Kovan glances over, his mouth quirked in amusement. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“That woman has made my life hell for months, and I just…” I laugh, giddy with adrenaline. “I just ruined her.”

The euphoria is intoxicating. I’ve never felt power like this—raw and immediate and completely addictive. Without thinking, I lean across the center console and press my lips to the side of his neck.

“Christ, Vesper.” The car swerves before he corrects course. “I’m driving.”

“Then pull over,” I demand. “I want you. Now.”

He shoots me a look that suggests he thinks I’m joking. To prove I’m not, I slide my hand over his lap. He’s already hard beneath his jeans.

“Fuck.” He yanks the wheel to the right, tires squealing as we skid to a stop on the shoulder.

By day, Baker Street is usually busy, but at 2:00 A.M., it’s deserted. Not that I care—the power and sheer exhilaration of what we just did has burned away every inhibition that might’ve ever stopped me.

By the time he puts the car in park, I’m already climbing over the console, straddling his lap in the driver’s seat. My skirt rides up as I settle against him, and the way he sucks in a breath tells me he approves.

“You were incredible in there.” I trail kisses along his jaw while my hands work at the buttons of his shirt. “So controlled. So dangerous.”

“This turns you on?” His growl is rough as I grind against his erection. “Intimidation? Blackmail?”

“ You turn me on.” I bite down gently on his earlobe. “The way you handled her. The way you let me take control.” I pull back to meet his eyes. “You make me feel powerful.”

His hands find my hips, guiding my movements. “You are powerful. You just needed to realize it.”

The validation sends heat spiraling through me. I’ve spent my entire career feeling helpless, watching corruption and incompetence destroy everything I care about.

But tonight, I took control.

Tonight, I won.

“I want to do this more,” I confess as his mouth finds my neck. “I want to help you fix things. Really fix them.”

“Dangerous territory, krasavitsa .” But his hands are already sliding under my shirt, and his warning lacks conviction.

“I don’t care about dangerous.” I fumble with his belt, desperate to feel more of him. “I care about this. About making them pay for what they’ve done.”

He captures my mouth in a kiss. When we break apart, both of us breathing hard, he studies my face.

“You’re sure about this? Because once we cross this line, there’s no going back to being just a doctor. You’ll be part of my world for real.”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.” I reach between us and free him from his jeans. “I want to be part of your world, Kovan. I want to be part of this.”

His answer is a wordless growl against my throat as I sink down onto him, taking all of him inside me in one smooth motion. The angle is perfect. The feeling is exquisite.

“You’re mine,” he murmurs as we move together in the cramped space. “My partner. My equal.”

“Yours,” I agree. “Always yours.”

We come apart and back together in the darkness, sealing our pact with sweat and whispered promises and the knowledge that everything has changed between us.

I’m not just Vesper Fairfax anymore—dedicated doctor, rule-follower, woman who plays it safe.

For better and for worse…

I’m Kovan Krayev’s woman now.