Love Thy Enemy (Red Stone Security #13)(41)
“I still need to do a little work,” he said, moving to stand, sliding her off his lap as he did. “But I’ll make sure Lyosha gets you settled in a guest room.”
His words were like a slap of ice water against her face as what he said registered. He was sending her away to a guest room; basically rescinding the offer of taking her to his bed. Because what, he couldn’t handle her being a virgin? Embarrassment flooded her as he strode from the room, practically running away from her. She hadn’t thought he’d care. Not so much that he’d flee from her as if she had some disease.
Stupid tears pricked her eyes as she sat on one of the chairs. Part of her wanted to go after him, but she didn’t know what to say. It was clear he had no interest in her now. That hurt worse than she could have imagined.
Chapter 14
Viktor scanned another file of potential suspects, still trying to narrow down who the hell hated him enough to come after him so boldly. This had personal written all over it. Personal and…a little amateurish. The attack hadn’t been as well thought out as it could have been and the point of entry was stupid, considering all the other entrances for the hotel.
He clicked to another file but wasn’t truly seeing anything, not enough to digest any real information. All he could think about was Dominique and her words to him. It seemed impossible that she was a virgin. He hadn’t known what to say, how to respond. She might as well have sucker punched him.
“She’s settled in.” Lyosha’s voice made him look up from his computer. The other man leaned against the doorframe of Viktor’s office, his expression annoyed.
Viktor frowned. “What?”
“Why are you still here and not upstairs? Or why isn’t she in your f*cking bed?”
He gritted his teeth, ignoring the questions. Leaning back in his chair, exhaustion crept in on him. “I need to read over these files.”
“You already know what’s in them.”
It was true. “Why do you care what I’m doing?”
Lyosha lifted a shoulder. “Just wondering what you did to make your woman cry.”
Viktor was standing before he realized he’d moved. Guilt punched through him. “She was crying?”
“No. But it’s good to know you care if she does. And for the record, she looked like she wanted to. What the f*ck are you doing down here?”
There weren’t many people who talked to him so freely but Lyosha had been his friend for many years. Didn’t mean Viktor wanted to have this conversation. Not with him, not anyone. “You didn’t even trust her a few hours ago,” he muttered, sitting back down. He should just go to bed, but he didn’t want to go alone—because he knew he wouldn’t sleep. He’d be too busy fantasizing about Dominique. And as soon as he had a thought, just as quickly he’d feel like a f*cking perv. She didn’t deserve someone like him for her first time, someone whose hands were stained with blood. Still…the thought of being her first, introducing her to sex… Damn it. He scrubbed a hand over his face. He was too damn conflicted.
“Don’t tell her, but I like her. It’s clear she cares about you.” Lyosha’s mouth curved up in his version of a smile. “I had fun messing with her earlier about her role as ‘your woman.’ For a moment I thought she might hit me.”
Viktor could imagine what his friend had said. “You’re an *.”
“I know. Now what’s the problem?”
Yeah, not having that conversation. “Shut the door.”
Lyosha immediately went into work mode, stepping inside and shutting it quickly behind him. “What’s up?”
“I looked over your report and agree with the top three suspects, but…I think they might be getting information from someone who works for me and Abram.” He couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t like how Dominique had been mugged while out with him. Then that bold attack with her there at the hotel. Not many people had known about his plans last night—and even fewer the night of the mugging. The three people he suspected he’d done business with before and things had gone south when Viktor had bought them out—legally. He hadn’t actually screwed any of them. They’d been paid fairly, but some people couldn’t take what they perceived as losing.
The other man nodded. “I’ve already started running security checks on anyone who has direct access to you or Abram. Digging into financials and phone records to start. If I learn nothing from either of those, I’ll move on to another step but I think I’ll have something by tomorrow morning.” He glanced at his watch. “Later this morning.”
“What about the fingerprints or facial IDs?” One way or another they were going to figure out who’d come after him. Getting that information from the dead, would-be hit men was a good place to start. If the dead men had been paid already he’d just follow the money trail back to the payer.
“Still working on it. Those programs take time to run all possible matches. I’ve got an alert set up on my phone and yours. You’ll get a notice when something pops up.”
“Good. Go get some sleep.” Normally he didn’t have so much security at his house, just a basic two-man team. But for now he was keeping everything locked down tight. Even Abram was here and had brought Lucy just in case she was targeted.