Avrora
I can't hide my disappointment when I see there's nothing in here that does anything for me.
"Am I right?" he prods.
I look around once more, just to be sure, but nothing comes. "What else do you have stored?"
"Furniture."
"Do you know if they had any other homes or business places?"
"People like them would have had lots of places all over the world. I've only been to a handful and they all had giant crests like what you saw on the cliff and inside the house."
That definitely doesn't help me. "Can you tell me anything more about them? They must have meant a lot to you for you to keep their things."
"They did mean a lot to me, but all I can tell you is that Pavel and his wife were good people who took care of my mother and me. My mother knew them all her life so we were hardly different from family. We had a good life here. When we went to live in Russia, we lost contact with them."
Wow, he actually told me something about himself. And I'm surprised at my eagerness to know more. Although I guess most people would want to know a hell of a lot more than the little I do about the man I'm going to marry.
While he's sharing, I decide to ask more questions.
"You don't really sound Russian."
He smiles and allows it to linger. "I lived in Russia with my mother for a few years then I went to Denmark for fifteen, then back to Russia again."
That definitely explains the accent. "How come you never came here? And no one knew about you?" The last time I asked anything close to that I was issued with the threat on Dad's life and my own. Here's hoping I have better luck this time.
"It had to happen that way. Why? Wish you could have dated me?"
I raise my brows. "Remember you don't date."
"You're right. We wouldn't have dated." He gives me a seductive grin. "I prefer fucking."
My pulse jumps and I have to school my thoughts. It's typical of him to say something so lewd.
"I'm sure you would have gotten quite well acquainted with the female population."
"No. Just you, Valkyrie. Isn't that the point of the Promise?"
I'm thrown that such words could come out of a devil like him. And hurt that Mikhail never saw it that way until we were engaged.
The Promise in the Knights is sentimental. Parents signing the contract trust each other with their children's lives and hope that they'll find true love.
I hated hearing about Mikhail's conquests from Lorelai, then feeling like shit after. And worse because I never asked him about it.
"No one really follows that. It's old."
"I would. Did you?"
"Yes, but some people don't think it's okay to sleep around until you're engaged."
His smile widens. "Is that what Mikhail told you?"
"We're not talking about Mikhail. He was good to me." It's time to change the subject. "How old were you when you went to Russia?"
He smiles again at the subject change. "I was nine."
"Didn't your Mom like living here? The house is beautiful."
"Back then she had her reasons for leaving."
"Do I get to meet her?" That's my cleverly covert way of asking where she is.
The light in his eyes dims and I know the answer just from the way he looks. I have the same look when anyone who doesn't know my family asks me about my mother. I instantly regret the question, but it's too late to take it back.
"No. She was killed."
"Killed?" My insides squeeze and I feel even worse.
"Yes." He stands and walks over to the windows to close the blinds, the only modern thing in the room.
"I'm truly sorry," I mutter, my voice frail and soft. "That's awful."
He turns to face me and leans against the wall, folding his arms. "I appreciate that."
A moment of awkward silence passes between us and I can't think of anything else to talk about that's safe. More awkward seconds tick by, and I realize my time has run out.
So when he smiles and mischief dances in his eyes, I know to prepare myself.
"All talked out?" He looks me over with interest and makes his way back to me.
Nervously, I shift from one foot to the other and try to keep my composure. "I'm tired now. Can I just go to bed?"
"Really?" He stops way too close. As close as he was before we came into the office. Except now I can smell his masculine scent beneath the cologne. It's jarring me and infringing on my ability to think past his overbearing dangerous presence.
"I told you what I was doing."
"But you were still breaking into my office." One corner of his lips turns up into a sexy smile. "If I make a mistake and kill a man because I thought he was someone else, doesn't make him any less dead, does it?"
"No, but that's not the same thing."
"It's the same damn thing in my eyes."
"Well not everyone is as psychotic as you."
Another real smile spreads across his face. "How about we find out just how psychotic I am and I allow you to choose your punishment?"
"Me? Choose?" I almost feel relieved, but when I think properly, I realize he's not going to just allow me to choose something that won't entertain him in some way.
Anatoli inches even closer. "From two things."
"What two things?"
"Either you let me fuck you against the wall, or you suck my cock."