Please, please Lady Luck, let him forgive me.

The look in his eyes . . . maybe it would be enough. “Yes, Vika.” His voice was hoarse. “I would like that very much.”

CHAPTER 35

“I don’t want to let you out of my sight,” Dmitri said, his hands covering my shoulders.

I smoothed my palms over his crisp button-down. “I’ll be fine for an hour, big guy.” I still couldn’t believe I was staying in the Caly penthouse for a week. When we’d arrived a short while ago, other employees had bugged at the sight of me wearing a couture slipdress and diamonds, on the arm of a man like Dmitri, with Starsky and Hutch hovering around to “buffer irritations.”

“I would skip work”—Dmitri had already set up his computer and things in the study—“but I have a couple of business calls I need to make.”

He hadn’t gotten in his hour this morning before we’d been due to leave, which was my fault. I’d caught him vacillating over which ties to pack and said, “You never give this much thought to your clothes.”

With his brows drawn, he’d held up his options. “Making a good impression on your family is very important to me, love.”

Yep, I’d jumped him, ties flying.

Now I said, “I need to call in our catering order for later anyway.” I planned to bring my pack to visit in shifts, starting things slow. All of them together would be overwhelming for anyone, but especially for Dmitri. I’d invited just Karin and Benji over tonight, for wine and dinner on the terrace.

I couldn’t wait to see my family, had missed them so much. And I needed to talk to my sister face to face and ask for her advice. . . .

Dmitri pressed a kiss to my head, then drew back to gaze down at me. “I’m looking forward to meeting everyone.”

“I kinda figured.” Ever since I’d broached his meeting them, he’d been keyed up. “Just like I’m looking forward to seeing your family soon.”

“They are on my list to call now.” His answer didn’t sound that promising.

I adjusted the strap of my royal-blue dress. “Am I the source of the rift between you and Maksim?”

He curled his finger under my chin. “Every single person in my family believes you are wonderful for me—and that you are the only one for me. If anything, they’re worried I will bungle things with you.”

Then why wouldn’t he tell me what the fight had been about? “They don’t see me as a gold-digger?”

“Not at all. They know I insisted on that postnup. You can walk away at any time with half of our fortune, and yet”—he grinned—“you keep wearing my ring and waking me up with blow jobs.”

I arched a brow. “Fine, husband. Go forth.” I pushed at his chest. “Work. Provide. I’ll see you in an hour.”

At the study door, he hesitated. “Vika, everything will turn out well. I will make sure of it.”

I wished I could believe that.

Because even after Dmitri had bared his soul, my grift sense still needled me. Something was off, that thorn nagging my subconscious. Maybe Karin could help me figure it out.

Left to my own devices, I took a few minutes to check out the penthouse with new eyes. I strolled into the guest bathroom, memories making me blush. Dmitri had waited eight years for that night. I remembered every blistering second with you.

No, he’d waited his entire adult life: Because, beautiful girl, this is the most pleasurable thing I have ever done, and I’ll give anything for it to continue.

I wandered outside to the terrace and climbed up to the deck, with its wisteria-covered trellis and bubbling fountain. My beast’s lair. This is foreign territory for me, he’d said. But I like my new guide very much. It’d been new territory for both of us, for different reasons.

Though the sun beat down, such a change from that moonlit night, I twirled my ring on my finger and replayed our first kiss. I will play games with you. . . .

I’d had no idea how much my life was about to change. I’d had no idea I’d ever have to confess to him.

But first, introductions.

I headed back down, deciding to order all of Karin and Benji’s favorite dishes, even if none of them went together. Steak, risotto, sushi, pizza . . .

I’d just entered the living room when a text chime sounded from my purse on the coffee table. I hurried over and dug out my pink phone.

I blinked in disbelief at Karin’s message.

KV: Teotwawki outside.

What the . . . ? I read it again, as if the message would change.

When I’d texted her two days ago to invite her over, she’d replied: I will contact you when you reach the Caly.

The abrupt response was puzzling, but I’d shrugged it off, figuring she’d been upset about Walker. When Karin had sent him back all his child support and that note, he’d written:

Apparently you’ve gotten your claws into a new dupe. But if you think I’ll let another man raise my son, think again.

Now I feared something else had already been wrong. I glanced toward the study. I had an impulse to tell Dmitri, but what if the message was a false alarm? I could go downstairs and be back up before he even knew I was gone. I hurried to the penthouse’s main entry, my heels clicking down the foyer.

Starsky stood at the entrance.

“Just going to talk to a friend for a few minutes,” I told him. “I won’t leave the property.”

He hesitated, so I said, “Wasn’t asking permission, Starsky,” and breezed past him. Even when they were on my side, bodyguards were annoying as hell.