Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Then, as one, they all turned and looked at me. Wait, what? What’s going on?
Radimir leaned forward. “We called this meeting to discuss something with you.”
I gaped, utterly thrown. I’d thought it was just a standard family meeting. I glanced at Gennadiy, and he gave me a reassuring nod. “O…kay,” I managed.
Radimir took a deep breath. “When we first met, I didn’t hide what I thought about an FBI agent so close to our family. But I have come to trust you. Without you, I doubt we’d all be sitting here today.”
I nodded hesitantly. I had no idea where this was going.
Radimir put his elbows on the table and clasped his fist in his other hand. “Grushin was operating right under our noses. He was blackmailing Yakov; he had control of the head of the gaming board, the DA, senior people at the banks…and we had no idea. It took you to uncover all that.”
“What we’re saying,” said Gennadiy, “is that maybe…” he looked around at his family, “maybe the bad guys need cops too.”
“There are always people, within our organization and outside it, trying to steal from us,” said Mikhail. “Or run their own schemes without our knowledge. Or even plan a coup. We would like you…to stop them.”
I looked around at them, dumbfounded.
“You are already part of our family,” said Radimir. “This is different. We are offering you a job.”
“I’ve needed someone to share the load with for years,” said Gennadiy. “I’ve never found anyone I can fully trust…until now.”
I turned it over in my mind. A year ago, everything had seemed so simple. There were good guys, like Calahan and me, and bad guys, like the Aristovs. But now I’d seen a guy who was meant to be a cop corrupt the whole system, right up to the DA. And I’d seen that there were far worse people in the world than the Aristovs. If Chicago had to have crime, better that they were running things than people like Grushin. I’d get to do what I loved: detective work, figuring things out, catching bad guys. Just in a different way.
It was a big step. Am I really going to do this?
I looked at Gennadiy. A chance for the two of us to work side by side. To solve mysteries, catch bad guys…okay, worse guys. To maybe even do some good.
I took a deep breath…and nodded.
When the meeting broke up, Gennadiy whispered, “Come with me. I have a surprise for you,” and nodded to the hallway. As soon as we were out of sight of the others, he pushed me up against the wall. His hand was under my dress and roving up my thigh even as his lips came down on mine. I moaned as his hand brushed over the bare spot on my hip where the waistband of my panties would have been. Then his fingers were gliding sideways, over my naked skin, between my thighs… His tongue slipped into my mouth at the same instant his fingertip pushed inside me, and I groaned, my knees buckling.
“Your surprise can wait,” he muttered.
I opened my eyes. “Wait, this isn’t the surprise? There’s an actual surprise?”
He looked down at me, eyes glazed with need. “Mmm. But now I’m distracted.”
He kissed me again, and I moaned and pressed myself against him. Then I broke the kiss again. “What’s the surprise?”
He mock-scowled at me…then sighed and smiled. “Fine.” He wagged his finger at me. “But the second we’re done with the surprise…”
I saluted.
He spanked my ass. “Come on.”
He led me into the entrance hall and then outside. And there, gleaming in the moonlight…
“You found my bike?!” I shrieked, delighted. I hadn’t seen it since the night I ran from the FBI.
Gennadiy rubbed at his stubble. “Local thieves had taken it, and sold it, but Finn knows a guy and he and I went and retrieved it last night.” He actually smiled when he said Finn’s name, now.
I ran over to my bike. Then I saw the white one sitting next to it. “Who’s is that?”
In answer, Gennadiy swung his leg over it.
“You can ride?” I asked.
“Only a dirt bike, and that was when I was a teenager, stealing purses in Moscow,” said Gennadiy. “I was hoping you could teach me.”
I stared at him, imagining. The two of us, racing around the streets of Chicago, the wind rushing over our bodies as we pushed the limits…and then coming home and fucking, drunk on adrenaline. “Yes,” I said seriously. “Very much yes.”
He nodded to my bike. “Let’s start now. There’s something else I want to show you.”
I held up my finger. “Give me one minute. I need to change.” I turned towards the mansion.
“What’s wrong with what you’re wearing?”
“You want me to ride a motorcycle in a dress and no panties? In your mind, how does that end?”