Prologue
Mila stared at her cell phone, internally debating whether she should make the call.
Everyone at the animal shelter was either on break or at lunch. And the sexy man who had just come in to have his new kitten looked at had left behind some paperwork.
“What is wrong with you?” she muttered to herself. It was a stupid phone call. She just needed to let him know that he’d left behind some stuff. She made calls like this all the time. But when he’d come in earlier, her reaction to him had been instantaneous. And ridiculous.
She’d met sexy men before. She lived in Miami, after all. But everything about him had an edge, and the fact that he’d been carrying a half-starved little kitten cradled in his giant tattooed hands? Apparently that was her kryptonite.
She punched in the number and actually held her breath as it rang.
“Yes?” The word was clipped and to the point.
Her core tightened at the sound of his sexy voice, nonetheless. One word and heat spiraled through her, sending little zings to all her nerve endings. “Mr. Vasiliev? This is Mila.” She cleared her suddenly dry throat. “Ah, from the pet shelter. You left some of your paperwork here.”
“Mila,” he practically purred. Or more likely, that was her imagination. Yes, it definitely had to be.
Still, more core tightening followed. Even his voice was over-the-top sexy. There was the tiniest hint of an accent that did things to her.
“You can call me Lyosha,” he continued while she mentally berated herself for this weird reaction. “And I’ll just stop by tomorrow and pick it up.”
She wouldn’t be here tomorrow, which was probably just as well. “No problem. I’ll put it all in an envelope with a note on it and Nancy will be able to give it to you. I’ll leave it by the front desk.”
“Not you?”
She blinked. Did he sound disappointed? No, that had to be her imagination. “Oh no. I only volunteer here on Saturdays.” She cleared her throat. “I can drop the paperwork off to you today though, if that’s more convenient,” she blurted.
This was definitely not protocol. But apparently she’d lost her damn mind. He definitely had plans. Of course he did. The man was walking, talking sex. He looked like one of those hot Instagram models, but way, waaaay sexier. Tattoos up and down his forearms—she was sure they went even higher, but she’d only seen a few of them with his sleeves shoved up to his elbows. His hair was dark, cropped close to his head, showing off such stunning cheekbones, it was like he’d been cut from marble. But it was his emerald green eyes that had held her captivated.
“It would be no trouble?” There he went with that rumbly voice again.
“Of course not. I get off in two hours.” They weren’t open all day on Saturdays so she could head straight out to see him. And she was way, way too excited about that prospect.
“There is a little coffee shop two blocks from you. How about there?” He rattled off the name of a place she’d been to many times.
“Perfect.” As they disconnected, those butterflies were swooping and diving all throughout her belly. And she realized her cheeks were flushed as well.
Good Lord, what was wrong with her? She was acting like a ridiculous teenager who’d never spoken to a boy before. Not that Lyosha was a boy. No, he was definitely all man.
And in that fitted black shirt, she’d been able to see the outline of all of his taut lines and muscles. Groaning to herself, she laid her forehead on the countertop for a moment. She really needed to get out more, apparently.
This reaction was ridiculous, but she was glad she was getting to see him again.
Not that it mattered. She dated—sometimes—but not men who looked like that. Hell, she didn’t know anyone who actually dated men who looked like Instagram models—but way, way edgier.
Yep, he was light years out of her league.
Chapter 1
Six months later
Lyosha stepped out into the bright sunlight with his boss Viktor, the Miami sun beating down on them. Thankfully there was a chill in the air this January morning.
“How’s that thing you looked into?” Viktor asked, slipping sunglasses on as they waited for the driver.
Long ago Lyosha had been Viktor’s driver. Now he was head of security and part-time hacker. “Good. Well, not good for them, but good for you,” he murmured. Viktor was looking into investing into a company because of the projected profits—but Lyosha had discovered that they were deep in debt because of poor management. Poor being an understatement. And they had the talent working for them. Unfortunately, the owner was a trust fund dumbass who was driving away all his best employees. “You’ll be able to buy them out instead of investing, and turn a profit once they get back on track.”
“Why don’t you invest with me this time?” Viktor asked quietly, scanning the busy street.
“Maybe.”
“No maybe. You have the capital.”
He lifted a shoulder. He did have it, and knew he should invest. His money was growing every day, but he found it difficult to take monetary risks sometimes. After the way he’d grown up, fighting for scraps, he didn’t mind slow growth. Viktor, however, had grown up the same way, but had no problem taking risks. “How’s Dominique feeling these days?” Lyosha asked, knowing the change in subject would put an end to this talk.
“Her morning sickness has passed, thankfully.” Viktor’s frown deepened. Which was common enough whenever he was worried about his wife.
“Is she planning to continue working at Red Stone?”
He grunted, annoyance flickering across his expression. “She said she’d work through the end of her pregnancy—as long as possible. Then go back after maternity leave.”
Lyosha bit back a smile at that. It had been a source of frustration for Viktor that she’d worked throughout her first pregnancy as well. But she wanted her independence and loved her job, something Lyosha appreciated. If Viktor could, however, he’d keep Dominique and their daughter in a bubble 24/7. But the world didn’t work like that.
He’d started to respond when a car slowed down in front of them. It wasn’t Viktor’s driver, but a stranger. On instinct Lyosha shot out a hand, pushing Viktor back.
His boss could definitely handle himself, but this was Lyosha’s damn job and he didn’t take it lightly.
The window rolled down and he realized it was just a tourist asking for directions. He quickly gave them as Viktor’s car zoomed up behind the tourists.
“Jumpy today?” Viktor asked once they were both in the back seat.
“Just staying on top of things.”
“We haven’t had a threat in a long time.” Viktor let out a sigh, laid his head back against the plush leather seat.
That was true enough. Years had passed since they’d had a real, all-out assault type of threat. All of Viktor’s businesses were legit now. Everything aboveboard. It was the way Viktor had always wanted it, and once his corrupt father had died, Viktor had broken away from all criminal entities linked to the man.
Half an hour later, they arrived at Viktor’s place, the gate opening upon their arrival.