Retribution (17 page)

Kat was too busy shouting
at her father to hear anything Ryan said. “You can shoot me for all
I care,” she spat at him.

Peter did hear Ryan but Kat
was the focus of his wrath at the moment. “You’ll listen young
lady—”

“Go to hell!” She stood up,
shoved by Peter’s man, and briskly walked away with him following
close behind her. He tried to touch her arm but she turned and
slapped him, hard, across the face, and swore at him.

Ryan started to get up to
follow her, and Peter stopped him. “I’m not done Mr. Casey. Sit
down.” He gestured with his fork again.

Ryan resisted watching
Katya leave and did as he was told. He couldn’t let them see his
concern. It took every ounce of his self-control not to seize that
fork from the older man and stab him in the neck with
it.

“She will stay here. She
doesn’t have a choice.” He tossed the utensil on his plate with a
resounding clang. Then he picked his napkin off his lap and dabbed
at his mouth furiously before tossing it on the plate with the
fork. “Fucking women, nothing but fucking trouble. That cheating
whore should have given me sons.” He waved his arms in frustration.
His men mumbled their agreements. Then he turned his hot stare to
Ryan. “And as for you, you do not threaten my men.”

“My job is to protect your
daughter. No one touches her,” Ryan answered calmly. “She’s had too
many men abusing her lately. Having someone touch her forcefully
will not only set her therapy back, but have her out of this house
and your life. I don’t think you want another daughter to go
missing. Then the feds would really have a good look at you.” If
Ryan knew Peter like he thought he did, it wouldn’t look good if a
powerful man such as himself couldn’t even control his own family.
Maybe there was a slight worry there about Katya actually talking
to the feds too. Good. He was going to use that.

Peter actually looked a
little surprised. “Do you think she’d run?”

“Yes.”

“Has she said
anything?”

“No, but she’s scared and
despises everything here. You are giving her an excuse to
leave.”

Peter cursed in Russian,
then nodded. “All right, all right. I’ll leave her be. You make
sure she stays.”

“I will.”

“Back to
business.”

“I’ve given you my answer
on that.”

Peter waved a hand
dismissing that subject. “Did you get a lead on the
sedan?”

“No.” Ryan said stiffly. It
went undetected. He just couldn’t get past the abrupt change of
subjects. Katya was his blood, his daughter, yet he was more
concerned with his business. It was a good thing she was related to
Peter, though, especially after speaking to him like that. He was
certain that any other wouldn’t still be breathing.

“Really? I have a feeling
that you have resources that I don’t have. Can you get any
information from them?”

“I’ve already tapped into
them. There’s nothing Mr. Nickolov. There are over six hundred BMWs
of that year, that model, in the system, cruising around Miami as
we speak. The plates, well, they were stolen.”

He swore again. He was
irate. He was hemorrhaging money and he had to stop it. Two of his
cocaine shipments were hit last week and the damage was
catastrophic. He lost six good men. He knew Ryan was good and he
could send him in to supervise the shipments, but he didn’t want to
put his most elite employee in the middle of a war when he could
use his intelligence elsewhere. “No forensic evidence, no leads.
That leads me to believe that someone is leaking inside information
on my business.”

“It would seem that way,”
Ryan agreed. In fact, it was possibly the only answer.

Peter eyed Ryan carefully.
It wasn’t him. He knew nothing of Peter’s business outside of
protecting his daughter because he purposely kept him in the dark.
It certainly wasn’t Ivan. He was too loyal. He turned and looked
around the table. These were his most trusted men. “Those we hired
in the last month. How many?”

“Three, sir.” Ivan
answered. “But they all checked out.”

“Maybe you missed
something, Ivan. Of the three, find out who’s talking. If one turns
out to be a fucking cop again, put a bullet in his
brain.”

No one noticed Ryan’s
expression. It was deadly.

“Yes sir.” Ivan waved at
the other men to follow him as he got up and left.

“Well, it looks as though I
don’t need you after all. My daughter will be
satisfied.”

Ryan felt his entire body
burn. At the moment he was turning the knife from his place setting
over and over between his fingers under the table. He was
struggling internally whether to kill this man now or later. He
knew the logical choice would be later. He wanted to take the
empire down around Peter first, but now he knew, he was right about
the organization involved in his brother’s death. He just needed to
know who pulled the trigger. Although he had a suspicion of who it
was, he still needed to be sure. “Excuse me then.” He wrapped the
knife in his napkin and placed it on the table and left.

This hasn’t been going as
he planned. Despite what had happened to Katya Nickolov, he
expected to babysit a spoiled princess, but instead ended up with
one of the most incredible women he’d ever met. She acted the part
well in society though. He knew because he’d seen footage of her at
social events and did his research, but the side of her that she
let him see was different. She was treated no better than Peter
treated his wife and other women in his life. Yet, she was proud
and intelligent. She was also not a door mat and was brave enough
to stand up to her tyrant father. The only thing that saved her
from not ending up in a shallow grave, was the fact she was related
to him. He had no use for women, except to use them. He also didn’t
discriminate on gender when it came to murder. Secondly, he was no
closer to who killed his brother. He needed to know. He needed to
kill the man responsible for pulling the trigger.

“Get lost,” he told the man
stationed outside her bedroom door. He went in and found her
pacing, vibrating with anger. She turned and saw him and looked
relieved, rushed over and threw her arms around him. “I hate that
man so much.”

Obviously she’d forgiven
him. Well, between her father and his comfort, she obviously
preferred his despite his rejection of her affections the night
before. He held her tight. “I know.”

“Is he taking you away from
me?”

“I think he’s decided on a
different direction.”

“Have you?”

“Have I what?”

She tilted her head up to
look at him. “Decided on a direction with us?”

“I can’t do this. You’re
fooled by the way I protect you. It’s natural for a woman to
confuse emotion with safety when she’s been through a
trauma.”

“First off, despite the
way I’ve been, I’m not an emotional parasite. I don’t
need
anyone because I’ve
always been on my own. I’ve dealt with trauma, and I don’t need you
telling me it’s because of that. I think you’re looking for an
excuse to discourage me and I
know
you’re lying.”

He suppressed a smile. “Do
you?”

“I’m not stupid. I may be
naïve, but I’m going to trust my instincts since it seems to be the
only thing I can trust now.”

“You can trust
me.”

“You care about
me.”

He didn’t deny
it.

“We have a lot in
common.”

“Yes, we do.”

“Be honest please. Are you
in a relationship with someone?”

“I’ve answered
that.”

Her hand splayed across his
chest, moving over the muscular contours. He had an exceptional
body. “No, you really didn’t.”

His hand gripped her wrist
and he gave her a warning look.

She smiled this time.
“Chicken.”

“I can’t. Honestly, I don’t
do well in relationships Kat. I never have.”

“Maybe you just haven’t
found the right girl.” She lifted up on her toes and pressed her
lips to his cheek. She heard his breath hitch.

“Katya, stop.” Christ, he
didn’t sound convincing at all and she knew it because she didn’t
stop. In fact he was sure he heard a small triumphant chuckle leave
her lips. That little sexy sound conquered his
resistance.

She moved her arms around
his neck and pulled his head down, closer to her. He didn’t resist.
Her mouth moved across his jaw and kissed the corner of his lips.
The faint scent of his cologne was in her nostrils and fueled her
desire.

His eyes closed and he took
a steady breath.

“I want you Ryan,” she
whispered softly against his stubbly chin. “Don’t you dare turn me
away again.”

Those four words broke his
legendary self-control. “I won’t,” he groaned, shoved his fingers
through her hair at the back of her head, turned his own and kissed
her hard. His tongue invaded her mouth and she released a whimper
of surrender.

He gripped her tightly
lifting her up to him, and without separating their mouths, moved
her backwards, across the room and down on his bed. Only then did
he release her.

“No.”

His lips slanted in
amusement and desire. “Shh,” he put a finger to his mouth, turned
and walked over to the door and locked it. Then he walked through
the adjoining door and did the same to hers before he returned. She
never even thought about that. God, her father would kill them
both.

He approached from the foot
of the bed and stood there just looking at her.

She was wondering if he was
having second thoughts, but instead his eyes went down the length
of her. She felt herself smile and then, so did he. It was
seductive and it made her skin heat up. God, he was just so
incredibly handsome. Then it disappeared and his eyes turned
carnal. He bent down and crawled up it like a predatory wildcat
until he was directly above her. She felt his hands move up her
thighs, unsnap her shorts grip the waistband and pulled them down
her legs before tossing them over his shoulder. He did the same
with her panties, but this time he raised the lacey material to his
nose and inhaled. “Nice.”

Was that supposed to turn
her on? It sure as hell did.

Then he moved forward
between her knees, reached for her arms and made her sit upright.
“Up.” He kissed her again while lifting her top over her head. Then
he unsnapped her bra and flung it aside. Now she was naked. “Lay
down.”

Again she obeyed.
It was broad daylight and wow, she didn’t care.
He sat back on his heels and took his time looking at her and she
wasn’t embarrassed. In fact, she felt beautiful. Really beautiful.
When he met her eyes, there was definite appreciation in
them.

Her mouth parted as he
moved his hands up her legs and separated them. “You still have
clothes on.” Her voice was soft and breathy.

His answer was a roguish
smile. He backed off the bed and stripped of his clothing. She
propped herself up on her elbows to watch. Then he stood there
confidently so she could gaze at him. She took her time because
she’d never seen anyone like him. He was just so perfect—big,
brawny and well put together.

Again he came up from the
end of the bed on all fours making her lay down while he hovered
over her. Without a word his body came down on hers as he captured
her mouth again smothering her gasp. He was aggressive and
honestly, it should have been expected, but she was
inexperienced.

He moved down her body
trailing kisses down her neck to her breasts.

“These are perfect,” he
murmured huskily against her skin before he took one in his
mouth.

She bit her lip to stifle a
squeal and arched off the bed, and he moved his arms under her
lifting her to him as he sat back on his heels. He adjusted her on
his lap, took her mouth, moved his arm under her rear, lifted her,
and thrust into her.

She was so hot with desire,
that the barrier of her virginity broke almost unnoticed. He was so
muscular and easily manipulated a rhythm that virtually blew her
mind. She knew she was making noises, but she didn’t care. She
could feel every inch of him stroking inside her, setting her on
fire. “Oh-my-God!”

His mouth captured hers
again.

Their bodies became slick
with sweat, moving frictionless. He shifted, without pulling out of
her, laid her on her back. There was barely a change in rhythm
between them. God he was so strong! He thrust harder and soon a
pounding tempo ensued. Then she felt it. That unexplored spiral of
pleasure. More, she wanted more! She must’ve said it out loud,
because he gave it to her. She tilted her head back gasped and
pinched her eyes shut as her body exploded into a mind blowing
orgasm. He followed with a sharp thrust and a deep groan as he
spilled into her.

His mouth was on hers
again, hot, hard and aggressive.

She kissed him back
whimpering in the aftermath.

He lifted his head and
stared down at her. His finger traced down her cheek. Her eyes
fluttered open.