18. Mikhail

18

MIKHAIL

Never once have I rolled over to find a woman sleeping soundly beside me after spending the night together. The truth is that I like being alone, and I never thought I was missing out on anything.

Until Lucia.

As I start to stir, Lucia tightens her arms around my waist and snuggles against my chest as she throws a leg over mine.

I freeze as she lets out a breathy sigh.

The sound has my cock hardening in my boxers, and I reach down to adjust the waistband, biting back a groan as I accidentally rub against the sensitive head.

It doesn't help that her breasts are pressed up against my side and as she breathes, I can feel her nipples rub against me through the thin silk of her top.

My body is so ready for her, but as I glance down at her peaceful face, warmth rushes in my chest as I watch her sleep. I don't want to wake her, so my cock will just have to wait.

I tighten my arms around Lucia and listen to the soft sounds of her breathing as the sun starts to stream in through the window.

Lucia Conti might be the biggest pain in my ass, but I can't deny how right it feels to wake up with her in my arms.

I don't know how long I lie there, admiring her as she sleeps. Normally I'm up and out of bed the moment my alarm rings at five A.M., but not today.

Today, the world can wait for a little bit longer.

Eventually, she starts to stir in my arms, and I gently stroke her cheek as her eyes flutter open.

"Morning," she mumbles.

"How did you sleep?"

"So good." She runs her hand over my chest.

It swells with pride as I stroke my fingers up and down her arm and watch as the flesh pimples.

She shifts so that she's on her stomach, propping herself up on her elbow with one arm still draped over my chest. Her dark hair is tousled, and her eyes are still glazed from sleep as she gazes up at me.

I reach out to run my thumb over her bottom lip, my cock so hard and throbbing that it's taking everything in me not to pull her on top of me and finish what we started last night.

"What's your plan today?" I ask, trying to turn my attention away from my aching length.

"First on the agenda is probably to make Leo cry because the kid hates me." She sticks out her bottom lip.

"Leo does not hate you." I dip my hand beneath the silk cami to stroke her back.

"He literally can't look at me without throwing a complete fit," she groans, rolling her eyes. "I swear, the child hates me."

"Don't take it personally, he has mood swings and phases where he hates everyone for at least a little while. He hated Dimitri for about two months, and he is the kid's godfather. So, as you can see, we all take turns being at the top of his hit list."

Lucia laughs. "Sounds like he might take after you."

"I don't have a hit list."

Lucia only raises her eyebrows at me.

I shrug. "I don't tend to let people live long enough for there to be much of a list."

Lucia gives me an exasperated look.

"Bianca should start dressing Leo in little black shirts and pants and give him a plastic gun so he can be like his uncle Mikhail. Oh, and we could get him some fake tattoos too!"

"Somehow, I don't think Alexei would be happy about that."

"Maybe I'll add that to my to-do list for today…" Lucia muses, tapping her fingers on my stomach. "After I've conducted my fake drowning in the pool."

"I'm sorry, what?" I splutter, my entire body tensing.

"I feel bad for the guards just standing around watching me lie there. They must be bored out of their minds, so fuck it, might as well give them something to do." She shrugs and grins.

"Trust me, kisa , I don't think they're bored." I smirk, eyeing her breasts that are practically spilling out of her top.

She narrows her eyes at me.

"And you're okay with them ogling me all day, then?" Her eyes light up with challenge.

I sink my fingers into her hair and gently tug on the strands.

"They can look all they want. As long as I'm the only one whose name you're screaming, then that's all that matters."

"Possessive asshole." Though the blush that's creeping up her neck tells me she's anything but annoyed.

"I don't share what's mine."

I meet with Alexei in his office later that day to discuss the situation with Alfonzo. My brother is sitting on the couch nursing a glass of vodka and scrolling through emails on his phone.

"Good night?" he asks as I head straight for the bar cart to pour myself a drink.

"Uh, I guess." I frown.

Alexei chuckles, which has me pausing, the vodka bottle hovering over my empty glass.

"Something funny?" I ask over my shoulder.

"I'm glad that you and Lucia are… getting along . But next time, I'd appreciate it if you kept your affections out of the pool that my child swims in."

Fuck .

I turn my double vodka into a triple and down in it one before turning to face my brother.

"You caught that, huh?"

Alexei's shoulders are shaking with silent laughter as he looks at me, his eyes twinkling.

" Everyone did. I think I'm going to have to triple my staff's bonuses this year just to compensate for the mental scarring you caused them."

"Fuck off." I turn to pour myself another drink, but my lips twitch at the thought of everyone knowing how much Lucia was enjoying herself as she rode my cock .

"You weren't exactly being discreet, Mikhail."

"I guess we sort of got caught up in the moment." I avoid my brother's gaze as I cross the room and sink into the armchair opposite him.

"Want to tell me what's going on with you two?"

"Nothing's going on." I swirl my drink around in my glass.

"Last night tells me otherwise."

"That was just sex." I shrug and take a sip of my drink.

Last night might have just been about sex, but waking up to Lucia in my arms this morning meant something so much more. It was more intimate than anything we've shared together, and I already crave more.

"I heard about your little bucket list." Alexei grins.

"I swear I'm going to murder Anton."

"It seems like Lucia's having a positive influence on you. I worry sometimes that you're too serious."

"I have to be." I cross an ankle over a knee. "What we do, the responsibility on our shoulders, I can't afford to mess around, brat ."

"I appreciate your commitment to this family, but you also have to live your life, Mikhail. Otherwise, what's the point?" Alexei takes a sip of his drink.

I shrug, unable to find an answer to his question.

"I am happy to hear that your relationship with Lucia is evolving into something that's more than just a business deal."

"She's not the woman I thought she was. There are so many layers to her that I never expected her to have. Perhaps I was a little too quick to judge…"

"In what way?"

I blow out a breath as I think back to that very first dinner with Lucia.

To me, she was nothing more than a spoiled brat who went looking for trouble. And now?

She's the woman who wakes up in my bed, who makes me laugh in a way that no one has in a very long time.

She might drive me crazy, but she's trying her hardest to work with me rather than against me, and I can't ask for much more than that.

"She understands what it's like to grow up in this world. She knows the risks and yet, she doesn't let fear control her. She still goes out and lives her life because she won't allow anyone else to dictate her happiness."

The realization makes me pause.

I swirl my drink around in my glass as I compare Lucia's attitude to my own. We're like two magnets facing different directions and yet, we can't stop ourselves from coming together.

"Growing up in our world comes with a lot of sacrifices," Alexei says, interrupting my thoughts. "It's something I constantly worry about with Leo. You can't wrap them in bubble wrap for their whole lives. At some point, you have to let them out into the real world and they're going to make mistakes."

"I don't think Massimo shares the same view."

"No? Well, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest." Alexei huffs. "I'm honestly surprised he's letting us take care of Lucia despite all the threats with Alfonzo."

"Trying to contain Lucia is a full time job. The guy probably just wanted a break."

Alexei laughs, shaking his head. "Well, I think it was a good decision on his part. It gave you both an opportunity to get to know one another before you get married. That was something Bianca and I didn't have."

"It worked out well for you, though. "

"It did." He nods.

"I don't understand how you were so calm about the prospect of marrying a complete stranger. I mean, I've known Lucia for almost a month, and I'm still freaking out about the idea of marriage."

"I will say, when you actually care about one another, it makes the whole arranged marriage thing a lot easier to come to terms with. I mean, look at me and Bianca. I never could have dreamed that making that deal with Emilio would bring me here," Alexei says, a look of utter wonder on his face as he glances over at the picture of Bianca and Leo on the mantelpiece. "I thought I had everything I needed, but it turned out I couldn't have been more wrong. You just have to trust the fact that not everything is in your control, particularly when it comes to love."

Alexei must see the panic on my face as he holds up a finger to silence me.

"I'm not saying you and Lucia love one another, but it's clear that feelings have developed between you. I know you, brat , probably better than anyone, and I will say this. Don't fight them. For once, give in to the fact that you can't control this and just see what happens."

"I appreciate the advice, brat ."

Alexei dips his chin.

I've always looked up to Alexei since we were kids, but even more so since our parents were killed, and he took over as the head of the family. He's the closest thing I have to a father figure, so I can't help but crave his advice and guidance.

"Now, enough with the relationship stuff." Alexei sets his empty glass down onto the table.

"Good. I want to know what we're going to do about Alfonzo. He's come after Lucia twice in a matter of weeks. "

"I know, and he will be taken care of." Alexei's eyes narrow. "But we need to make sure we do it in a way that isn't going to spark an all-out war. We have enough of our own enemies without worrying about Massimo's too."

"That seems redundant seeing as we're about to legally bind our family to Massimo."

Alexei shrugs, rubbing his hand over his jaw.

"Does this make the marriage between Lucia and me less desirable?" I frown.

"No, this won't change the deal I made with Massimo. He's proved himself to be useful, plus he's going to help us bring Igor down. Trust me, brat , this marriage is still in the best interest of our family."

I'm surprised by the sense of relief that showers me.

Fuck. I want to marry Lucia, but not because of the role it offers me within the bratva.

I want to marry Lucia because I'm starting to fall in love with her.