Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(68)

Even the idea of it seemed to anger him, making her swallow as his face changed with emotion. “You know exactly what I would do.”

And she did. She really did.

But that didn’t change their current situation.

She gestured for him to move out of her way, but even though she tried, she knew there was no moving him unless he wanted to move.

Alex readied to make her request vocal, until his hand cupped her face, his thumb stroking her cheek, always gentle though she knew what those hands were capable of. How could he expect her to move on from him, to even entertain someone else when, with just a simple touch, he ensnared her?

“Luka…” His name came out as no more than a whisper, but he didn’t seem to mind this.

“I want you. I want you, Alex.”

Licking her lips, for once she didn’t back down. “Prove it.”

The demand was selfish. She knew that, but for once, she didn’t care. When it came to him, she wanted to be selfish. She wanted to have every little bit of him because she would happily give him every last shred of her heart if that was what he wanted.

“I’ll see at your place.”





28

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Kiss Me





By the time Alex got home for the night, tossing her purse and keys on the couch as she went, she was more than a little mentally exhausted after the night she’d had. She kicked off her heels, lobbing them in the general direction of her bedroom, and shedding her coat. She had never treated her things so carelessly, but it didn’t really matter to her then. Before, on a night like this, she would have more than happily drowned her problems with Luka away with high-priced vodka, and just thinking about that was depressing. Having to depend on alcohol to get through her day at only nineteen was definitely not the highlight of her life.

Despite how she felt, and the fact that it was nearing three in the morning, and that she’d been at the party most of the day, she didn’t think she would find sleep anytime soon.

In her bedroom, she tied up her hair, deciding on a shower before she crawled into her bed for the night. She stayed in there far longer than she might have otherwise, letting the heated water wash away the stress. By the time she got out, changing into the kimono she normally wore around her apartment, she felt better. Luka’s words played like a broken record in her head, and even as she tried not to think about it, she couldn’t help but remember the way his lips felt against hers. But just as thoughts of him crossed her mind, so did Mishca.

His warning still confused her, even if it was one that wasn’t all that surprising. No one would ever be good enough in her brother’s eyes, and while she was little annoyed at that, she didn’t fault him for it. She didn’t doubt that if she had found someone who was nice and not in the life, he would have been a little more accepting, but of course, the one guy who made her heart race was also so deeply involved within the Bratva that there was no way he could ever leave it.

There was once a time when she had entertained leaving this all behind, too ashamed of the legacy she was born to. She’d thought about finding a guy who was normal in all ways, with a friendly smile and who worked a nine-to-five like the majority of the world…but then Luka came near her and she forgot all about that.

And worse, once she had fixated on him, there was no one else she wanted, not like she did him. Snow was…Snow was just someone who she went to when she was low. She wished she understood Luka because trying to figure him out was more than a little exhausting, and not for the first time, she wished they led different lives where all the complications that stood in their way vanished.

Putting it out of her mind for the time being, she grabbed the remote, turning on the television and flipping through the channels until she found a movie that wouldn’t irritate her in twenty minutes. She tossed the remote back on the bed and headed for the kitchen, thinking about the tea she was going to make when she caught sight of Luka casually lounging on her couch, his dirty, booted feet kicked up on her coffee table.

Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as she stopped abruptly, his name slipping past her lips as she stared over at him. She shouldn’t have been surprised really. Without ever having talked about it, she knew he was highly skilled at his job, but to appease her own curiosity, she had to know.

“How did you get in here? I thought I took your key.”

She remembered the day clearly, the morning after he’d spent the night at her place, the same night they’d kissed outside the pool hall.

Luka smirked, the corner of his mouth kicking up, revealing one of the dimples in his cheeks. Reclining further, he tilted his head back to see her better. “Picked the lock.”

His eyes swept over her, lingering on her bare legs. She quickly became aware that she had on nothing more than a thin layer of silk. Trying to maintain some semblance of composure, she held both sides of the kimono as she continued toward the kitchen. She could practically feel his gaze on her back as she went.

“What time are you leaving?” she called back to him. “Isn’t Loki alone?”

He got to his feet, going over to a switch on the wall and flipped it up, her fireplace igniting. Once, she had been happy to have that, but now it just felt too intimate.

“Loki’s fine. I took care of him before coming over here, no worries. And who says I’m leaving?”