Page 28 of Waiting for Him (Trident Security #3)

Shifting slightly, he adjusted himself again.

He was harder than granite but would have to wait until later to take care of it.

This had been all about Kat . About pleasing her and showing her she belonged to him.

“ What’s the first thing you want to do when this is all over?

I can get some time off, and we can travel a bit.

Maybe go down to the Caribbean for a few days.

Find ourselves a deserted island where we can walk around naked and fuck like rabbits. ”

“ Is sex all you think about?” she teased.

“ When it comes to you, yup. I have a very long list of wicked things I want to do to you, and all of them end with my cock deep inside your body. But I’m sure we can find time to do other things, like eat and sleep.”

As she shook her head in amusement, her hand settled on his cotton-covered six-pack. He squelched the urge to push it lower, not wanting to start something they couldn’t finish. “ You know what I want to do the most?”

He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. “ Name it, and we’ll do it.”

“ I want to go bowling.”

“ Ha ! What ?” Boomer couldn’t stop the bubbly laughter that escaped him if he tried. “ Bowling ? Are you serious? I’m offering you a trip to the Caribbean , filled with incredible monkey sex, and you want to go bowling?”

A wide grin and playful eyes lit up her face. “ Yes . Bowling . And stop laughing at me.”

“ I can’t help it, Kitten . You say the funniest things. You’ve always been able to make me laugh.” She pinched his side, and he grabbed her wrist to stop her. “ Okay . Okay . I’m not laughing at you. But why bowling?”

Her head returned to rest on his muscular upper body. “ Because we always had the best times when we were bowling. You , me, and Alex . Especially on the Retro Disco Nights we used to go to.”

She lifted a shoulder and let it drop again.

“ I don’t know, it just seemed like that’s when we all let loose and didn’t care about anything but enjoying ourselves.

I remember our last Halloween when the two of you had everyone lined up in the alleys dancing ‘ The Hustle .’ You were dressed like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever , and Alex was the Grease version of Travolta .

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my entire life. ”

Boomer roared at the memory. “ Oh , my God ! I forgot all about that. My mom taught us the steps. It took Alex two weeks to get it right because he had no sense of direction. He’d go left while everyone else was going right. So we had him face everyone, like a dance instructor, and it worked out.”

“ It was the best night ever, and it’s why I want to go bowling.” Her laughter died, and she picked at an invisible piece of lint on his shirt. “ I haven’t bowled since . . . since my world fell apart.”

Tightening his hold, he lifted her chin with his other hand.

“ I can’t change the past, baby. But I will do everything I can to make sure you spend the rest of your life laughing and living it to the fullest.” His lips met hers.

It wasn’t a seductive kiss but one filled with promise. “ I love you, Kitten .”

Kat froze, then pulled back to see his entire face and stared at him in disbelief.

“ Do you want me to say it again?” She nodded slowly, and he grinned. “ I . Love . You . Katerina . Maier . I’ve loved you for a very long time. And I plan on spending the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me. You’re the only woman I will ever say those words to.”

Her eyes filled with tears at his declaration. His pounding heart tried to escape its confinement as Kat’s words came out in a whisper. “ I love you too. Always . And I’ll never say those words to another man.”

“ Good . Now that we’ve gotten the mushy stuff out of the way—kiss me.”

And she did.

* * *

“ They just arrived at compound. Girl , three men. Too many people. Vill have to vait until alone.”

Listening to his minion report in, Viktor paced back and forth in the bar’s office.

It had once belonged to Volkov , but Viktor had taken ownership within days of killing the greedy bastard.

The main difference between the two men was Volkov had been stupid and sloppy, whereas Viktor had common sense.

He knew to ensure anyone privy to his secrets was eliminated as soon as they outgrew their usefulness. Sometimes , even before then.

Growing up an orphan in the USSR , Viktor had come to rely on no one but himself.

Making his first kill at fourteen had been a blessing in disguise.

The perverted bastard had tried to molest him in an alleyway after catching the teen stealing food from a sidewalk vendor.

While struggling on the ground, Viktor had managed to grab hold of a broken bottle and shoved it into the creep’s neck, slicing the artery.

Instead of running, he stood there and watched the man’s life end in a puddle of blood.

What he hadn’t known was someone else had been hiding in the shadows as the entire incident unfolded.

A man known only as Dmitry Sishnik —the Scavenger .

The trained assassin had taken Viktor under his guidance and taught him everything he knew.

At first, the teenager thought Dmitry was another deviant, using his offer of food, shelter, protection, and education to extract sexual favors.

But he soon learned that wasn’t the case.

The older man had merely wanted a protégé to pass his craft on to.

He’d been trained by one of the best in the same manner, and it had been his way of paying it forward and passing on his legacy.

After learning everything he could from his mentor, Viktor’s final act before leaving his birth country was to kill him quickly and painlessly.

It was the least he could do for the man who had changed his life for the better and was dying of cancer.

As a frail Dmitry struggled to get out of bed one morning, Viktor could see the pain and humiliation in his eyes.

He couldn’t stand to see his suffering anymore, and without a word, he swiftly broke the man’s neck.

Viktor knew the Scavenger was grateful to his apprentice, for he never would’ve been able to bring himself to commit suicide, and a slow, agonizing death would have been worse.

Since coming to America , Viktor had been working for a Russian network of criminals as an enforcer/assassin.

But he was getting older and wanted to start enjoying the good life like his bosses were.

Now , there was only one thing standing in his way.

It pissed him off the Maier woman was being well protected, but he’d be damned if they couldn’t find a way around it.

He wanted the money, and she was the last known connection to it.

He’d figured out how to hide the funds from his bosses, funneling it into his recently acquired businesses.

It would also help him advance further in the association.

Knowing he couldn’t take the chance of his men screwing up, he made a decision.

“ I’ll be on next flight to Tampa . Find way to get girl, but do nothing until I get there. ”