Love Thy Enemy (Red Stone Security #13)(19)

“Take the house, Dominique. It’s the best ‘f*ck you’ to my father you can make. Take it and do what you want with it.”

Forget the house. She wanted to reach out and comfort him somehow.

As if he sensed her thoughts he abruptly stood and headed for the door.

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night?” she blurted. When he turned to look at her with raised eyebrows she continued. “To talk about the contract.” Which, okay, was a complete lie. She wanted to spend more time with him. That knowledge disturbed her but she couldn’t fight the pull toward him. The house was something she didn’t even want to think about right now.

He nodded, his eyes flaring with heat, and she wondered if he felt that same pull. She knew he wanted her, had seen moments of awareness from him, but it could be nothing more than just lust. “I can meet you somewhere.”

“Or you can just pick me up. I’m guessing you know where I live by now?” It should annoy her, but he was trying to fix what his father had done. Considering that he’d sent her that contract, it wasn’t hard to figure out that when he’d done research on her, he would have found out more about her. Her address and phone number were probably at the top of the list.

His face flushed, the action…almost adorable. The man really was ridiculously sexy. “I’d have to look it up, but it’s in the file I had put together on you.”

“I feel like I should be mad about that.”

His mouth curved up ever so slightly. “You should be. Though…you found me at my hotel so you’ve done some research too.” There was a hint of a question at the end. As if he’d been wondering how she’d done that.

Her face heated at his words. She wasn’t going to admit that she’d asked a friend to locate him.

“Is seven o’clock good?” he continued when she didn’t respond.

“It is.” The tingle of excitement in her belly was ridiculous, she told herself. But that didn’t matter. She was already thinking about what she’d wear tomorrow night.

Because she wanted to get to know sexy and dangerous Viktor way more than she should.





Chapter 7





Abram wasn’t sure what he’d done to piss Lucy off, but in the last hour she’d been giving him the cold shoulder—and he had no idea why. Last night he’d been annoyed with his brother for taking Lucy with him and she’d no doubt sensed the tension between him and Viktor. But things had been normal between Lucy and him today. They’d even had lunch together. Sure, Viktor had been with them, but things had seemed like they always did.

And now he felt like a f*cking fifteen-year-old girl, obsessing over her. He scrubbed a hand over his face as she stepped into his office, her expression perfectly neutral. It annoyed the hell out of him.

“I’m about to head out. Do you need anything else, Mr. Ivanov?”

He gritted his teeth at the formal title. There was no doubt she was pissed at him now. “What did I say about using my first name?’

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll take that as a no. Have a good night.”

He was out of his chair and around his desk before she’d taken one step back to the doorway. “What’s going on with you? What did I do to piss you off?” Because he was racking his brain and he couldn’t think of anything that made any kind of sense.

“Nothing, sir. I’m just—”

“Cut the shit, Lucy.”

Anger flared in her dark eyes but she seemed to rein it in. “I’m sorry if I have an inappropriate attitude. I’ll make sure to—”

“No, you’re not sorry. What the f*ck is going on?” he demanded, practically shouting. He was close to kissing her senseless. Anything to get a reaction out of her.

She didn’t flinch at his show of temper, something he adored about her. Just put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “Am I going to get fired for being honest with you?”

“No. And when are you not honest?” One of the reasons why she was such a good fit for Viktor and him was that while she was almost always in a good mood, she also didn’t put up with their shit. And she wasn’t afraid of them. They’d had assistants in the past who jumped anytime they gave an order. It was ridiculous.

“You are such a dick sometimes! I get why you act that way in business, because you and Viktor have built something amazing. But I overheard your conversation with Viktor an hour ago.” She was fuming and he didn’t understand why.

“So?” He hadn’t shut the door to Viktor’s office when he’d gone in there. The conversation hadn’t been confidential. Viktor was going out with Dominique tonight and Abram was worried about him getting hurt. That woman might have an ulterior motive, for all he knew. It didn’t matter that Viktor was his older brother—Abram wouldn’t let anyone hurt him. Viktor had gone through enough over the years.

“Oh my God, I want to smack you. ‘Do not go out with her, Viktor,’ ‘She is not the type of woman for you,’ ‘She just wants to hurt you.’” She repeated some of the things he’d said to his brother, her impression of him mocking.

He blinked. “Is that supposed to be me?”

“It’s what you sound like. Why don’t you want your brother to be happy? I’ve heard you say the same kinds of things to him before!” She stomped a heel, as if she was going to advance on him. Which he found insanely hot. “What kind of woman do you think is right for him? Because I did a little research and before you get on your high horse, just don’t. I know you have files on tons of people,” she continued before he could respond, and there was nothing to say anyway because it was true. “I knew she looked familiar so I made a call to a friend at Red Stone.”