Chapter 12

EMERSON

Lying beneath him, she wondered how she could feel so close to a man she had known less than a week? A man who she had stormed in upon to accuse of being in collusion with a man like Toney—but then, the pictures did exist.

“Where are you, dushka?” he asked softly as he rolled from her body onto his back and pulled her with him.

“In a place I shouldn’t be.”

“Here with me?”

“Partly, but as I am here with you, I’m not in a headspace you’d want me to be.”

He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. “Talk to me. What concerns you concerns me.”

“I don’t need your protection, Viktor. I’m quite good at standing up for myself.”

“No doubt. Your parents founded Ravenel Reliance after the Ravenel family kicked your father out and disowned him. They did moderately well and were known for honesty and integrity regionally. But from the time they died and you took over, you have guided and driven the company to become recognized worldwide as an authority on art, antiquities, artifacts, and gems. Not only do you provide keenly accurate valuations for insurance companies, investors, museums, and the like, but you have been involved in the recovery of lost or stolen articles, and your ability to locate things for people has become a thing of myth and legend.”

She was impressed and concerned at the same time. How did he seem to know so much about her? He seemed to see right through her.

“You forget Carriage House is loosely associated with Cerberus. They handle our background checks for all potential members.”

“I’m not a member and I’m not sure how I feel about you running a background check on me.”

“I have yet to request Cerberus compile a report on you. Given your association with Fitzwallace and your friendship with JJ, I don’t know that they’d take the job.”

“Then…”

“As I am sure you have figured out by now, your sisters are both members. So I know a great deal about you by association. You should also know that your reputation here in the city and around the world is top notch.”

“Why didn’t they tell me?”

“Because they feared you wouldn’t understand.”

“Even if I didn’t understand, I never would have judged them.”

“Had they thought about it, I’m sure they knew that, but your approval means a lot to them, especially Tegan. They were not yet at a point in the lifestyle that they were willing to risk either you or the club. Why do you despise Toney?”

“I never said I despised him…”

“No, you just watch him like one watches a poisonous viper as it slithers across the floor and were quick to jump to an erroneous assumption about the nature of my business relationship.”

“He is a snake, and he makes my stomach turn.” Viktor said nothing, content to wait for her to continue in her own time. “Mind you, I have nothing to base this on except my gut, but I’ve always suspected my parents’ accident wasn’t an accident.”

“And you think Toney was involved?”

She nodded. “And I have even less evidence connecting him to their deaths.”

“Do your sisters know?”

“About my suspicions? No, and I would appreciate you not telling them.”

“What you say to me stays with me. If they don’t know what you believe about your parents’ death, then why do they think you despise him?”

“He’s made no secret of the fact that he wants me. He’s gone out of his way to try and manufacture a relationship with me. He’s given us business, put in a good word for us, et cetera, but it’s all to try and get to me. I’ve never given him any cause to think I had any interest in him whatsoever. Good god, Viktor, he’s old enough to be my father. In fact, I think he’s older than my father.” She shivered. “He makes my skin crawl.”

“Has he tried anything inappropriate or threatening?”

“On more than one occasion. He tries to get me alone, tries to rub up against me. I can handle him, but it’s really creepy.”

“He will not bother you again.”

She sat up and looked down at him. “I’m not sure how to take that. Are you threatening him? And why doesn’t that repulse me in the way it should?”

“I am not threatening him, yet.” He reached up to flick the R hanging from her collar. “Toney will recognize this for what it is. He might have been willing to harass and intimidate you, but he will think twice about offering me insult by trying to harm you or put you in an uncomfortable situation. He knows me and knows that I protect what is mine.”

“And you think I’m yours?” she asked vaguely as she laid back down beside him.

Again, he reached up to flick the R. “I know it for a fact, as do you.”

Not knowing how to respond, Emerson chose just to enjoy the solace he seemed to offer.

VIKTOR

Viktor didn’t like what he was hearing. He hoped she would take comfort in knowing that she and her sisters were beyond Toney’s grasp, that he would never be able to harm any of them again. Emerson wasn’t the only one who believed Toney had had a hand in their parents’ death, but like her, Viktor couldn’t prove it. As much as he wanted to tell her everything, and believed she had a right to know, telling her anything could topple the house of cards he had constructed at the behest of MI-6. They suspected Toney was involved in some pretty shady enterprises in the US, the UK, and the UAE.

As her breathing evened out and he felt her body relax, he wondered when she had become important to him. He’d never planned to do anything more than enjoy her company and her body. No one was more surprised than him that he’d placed the white and red diamond choker around her neck. But it was there now, and he planned to keep it there.

Next to him, in the drawer of the table next to the bed, he could hear a mobile phone vibrating. There were very few people who had that number, none of whom would call without a good reason. He answered the phone.

“Romanov,” said Fitzwallace on the other end. “We need to talk about you heading up a new Cerberus unit in Charleston.”

“I know you’d been talking to Damon about that…”

“Damon’s too busy being led around by his dick by that hellion he’s engaged to.”

“I very much doubt Miley leads him around by anything, much less his dick. And you should talk; you’re not much better about JJ.”

There was silence on the other end, and he wondered if he’d actually managed to insult the Scotsman.

“You’ll find, auld son, when you find the woman, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to let them think they’re actually in charge once in a while. But that’s not what I called about. Damn it, Romanov, I flew down here to talk to you personally.”

“You flew down here because JJ wanted to attend the gala.” That wasn’t the only reason, but Emerson—who was trying to look like she wasn’t listening in, but was—didn’t need to know that. “Meet me in my office in thirty minutes.”

“Good man.”

Viktor leaned down to press a kiss to Emerson’s lips. “I need to meet with Fitzwallace. I would prefer if you stayed the night with me.”

“Is that a request?” she asked, an impish grin on her face.

He nipped her shoulder. “You would do well to learn when to just say, yes Master.”

“Yes, Master,” she sighed as she leaned back in bed, not pulling the covers with her so that her beautiful breasts with their pert and stiff nipples were put on display.

He traced an outline of her areola, before tugging the tip at its center. “These really do need to be decorated. I just can’t decide if it should be temporary or permanent.”

She batted his hand away playfully. “Jerk.”

He tweaked her nipple. “Master.”

“Yes, Master,” she said with a smile.

Temporary would probably be best for now. But down the road he might have them pierced with something exquisite so that she was continually reminded of her submission to him. As he’d already collared her, there would be no collaring ceremony as part of their wedding. Wedding? When the hell had that become a part of his thinking, and why didn’t the thought of keeping her permanently concern him? He realized that what was more concerning was the thought of losing her, and that he would never allow.

Viktor pulled on a pair of undyed linen trousers and an olive-green silk knit sweater. He didn’t bother with underwear or socks, but slipped his feet into a pair of Ferragamo loafers and went downstairs to meet with Fitzwallace. As the elevator door closed, he realized how content he was knowing Emerson would be waiting for him. He chuckled to himself. She didn’t really have a choice—she had no idea how to access the elevator.

While waiting for Fitz, he poured himself a good amount of single-malt scotch and turned on the security cameras located in his apartment. He watched as Emerson got up, stretched, and reached for his discarded shirt. She made her way over to the arched, floor-to-ceiling windows and stood, framed by the sunlight, as she looked outside.

There was a knock on the door. “Come,” he called without turning around.

Fitz entered his office, saw what he was looking at and shook his head. “You really don’t trust anyone, do you?”

Viktor shrugged, keeping his back to Fitz as he watched Emerson. He trusted Emerson far more than he should, but there was no reason to tell Fitz that.

“Better safe than sorry in our line of work for the people on both sides of the slash.”

“I wondered about that, seeing as you’ve collared the lovely Ms. Ravenel. That was fast.”

Again, Viktor shrugged. “As I recall, it didn’t take you much longer to claim JJ.”

“Not true. I didn’t collar JJ until just before we got married. I’m a proper gentleman Dom.”

“And what am I?”

“You? You’re a nobleman Dom with, as I recall, the blood of the tzars flowing through your veins.”

Viktor started to turn toward Fitz when something on the video caught his eye. Agata. Agata was his housekeeper who had been with him for years. He wasn’t particularly fond of her, but she took care of his home, saw to all of his needs, except the sexual ones, and kept her mouth shut. Besides she was part of the old Russian enclave in England. Her family had been serving the Romanovs for centuries and had fled the country when the Bolsheviks came.

There was what appeared to be a tense exchange between Agata and Emerson. Emerson disappeared back into the bedroom as Agata pulled out the vacuum. Emerson returned dressed in her own clothes. She headed to where the elevator was, but he could see she realized she didn’t know how to use it. Agata joined her, opened the elevator door and then pressed the button she knew would take her to the parking lot.

“Bloody hell,” Viktor muttered under his breath.

“I don’t think your housekeeper cares much for your lady.”

“Agata will either get over it or be gone.”

“I’m surprised your housekeeper doesn’t keep herself scarce when you have a sub up there.”

“I don’t take women to my apartment. It is my sanctuary. When I want or need a sub, I make use of the club.”

“So you admit Emerson Ravenel is not just some random, ordinary sub?”

“She’s wearing my collar.”

“That she is. All joking aside, Emerson Ravenel would be a woman well worth collaring and keeping. Keep in mind if you hurt her, her sisters have friends within the ranks of Cerberus who could kill you.”

Viktor turned to look at Fitzwallace. “If I’d thought you’d only come to gossip like an old woman, I wouldn’t have bothered leaving my bed. I had rather decadent plans for the evening which did not include you or my housekeeper.”

“Fair enough. I need an answer from you about Cerberus. And don’t give me that bullshit line of yours about your business interests. You and I both know they’re just a front. You are a highly skilled operative who works alone. Le Revenant is a legend within the intelligence community.”

“And you think I’m associated with him?” It didn’t really surprise him that Fitz knew.

“Not associated with, ye bastard, you are Le Revenant.”

“If you say so,” Viktor said noncommittally.

“If you haven’t already done so, you need to start thinking about how Emerson would fit into that world. You need to pull back into something more legitimate where you have a team covering your back. Running Cerberus here for me would give you that.”

Fitz was right. Not only about Le Revenant but about joining forces with Cerberus. It would give him a chance to walk away from the black ops he ran for MI-6—things so sensitive that the UK’s foreign service wanted to have deniability.

“If you’re through, I’d like to go fetch my sub back before she gets home.”

Fitzwallace laughed and clapped Viktor on the shoulder. “Deny it all you want, but you’re as pussy whipped as the rest of us. Don’t fight it too hard, Romanov, you’ll find that in the end they’re worth whatever it takes to hold onto them.”

Viktor looked into Fitzwallace’s eyes and saw the truth there. Fitz was unafraid to let the world know JJ was his queen, and he would do anything to keep her safe and happy. He wondered if he didn’t already feel the same way about Emerson. Only time would tell.