Something like a growl slipped between my teeth. My shoulders were too tight, and I felt the security guard’s narrowed eyes on us like an itch beneath my skin.
Her pale green gaze flashed once as she shot a nervous glance at the guard. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, and she pulled against my hold again. I didn’t release her. Having Allie’s hand in mine calmed me in a way that should’ve alarmed me if I could think straight. But all I could think about was how good it felt to have her with me again. To have someone look at my face and see me, not a twisted monster.
She stopped struggling and turned to face me. Her spine straightened, and her chin lifted with determination. Those gemstone eyes flashed with warning as her steady gaze clashed with mine.
“We’re in public, Max.” Her voice came out low and steady, as though she was speaking to a cornered animal. “You can’t be here.”
The words were a knife to my chest, and I recoiled from her as though she’d delivered a physical blow. The pain of her rejection lanced me with reason, the sharp reality of our situation coming into full focus.
No, I couldn’t be here. Not with the mayor’s beloved daughter.
I knew that, but I hadn’t been able to release her. Now, the last of my madness rolled off my shoulders, ebbing away in the wake of her steady, warning stare.
I couldn’t be anywhere near Alexandra Fitzgerald. Because if I was near enough to touch her, I clearly couldn’t resist the pull between us. I was powerless when it came to Allie, and I’d been a fool to follow her here today. My possessive rage at witnessing her kiss with Nikolai had driven me to this insanity.
Just the fleeting thought of his hands on her made my muscles coil tight, and I clenched my hands to fists to prevent myself from reaching for her once again. The impulse to imprint myself on her skin, to erase the taint of his touch, was almost overwhelming.
The guard cleared his throat again. I shot the man my nastiest glower, giving him a good look at my twisted face. He paled and swallowed hard, his resolve wavering.
I bit out a frustrated curse and tore myself from Allie’s warmth, stalking away from her before I could lose control again.
My obsession with the mayor’s daughter was dangerous for us both. I would have to overcome this weakness, for her sake as well as mine. I would do anything to protect Allie, but I had to face the cold reality that stalking her wasn’t ensuring her protection; I was endangering us both by making our connection public knowledge. If her father found out, I’d end up in jail or dead. And if my family found out, Allie would suffer the consequences of my selfish desire.
Tonight, I’d go back to stalking my Bratva enemies and seeking new leads about her father’s involvement with the Russians. The best way for me to keep Allie safe was to stay far away from her.
ALLIE
I’d had to go back to the library after I fled from Max. His fierce kiss was even more all-consuming than I’d remembered. As though my body was incapable of recalling the full, devastating impact of our chemistry until it overwhelmed me once again.
I resisted the urge to rub my eyes, mindful not to smear my mascara at work. They were itchy from lack of sleep, and a constant burn prickled at the corners of my vision. I’d spent hours fighting off tears over the last several days. It’d been bad enough before he claimed that intense kiss yesterday morning.
The tightness in my chest had mercifully eased for those mad, fiery minutes of passion when he’d held me captive in his strong arms. But as soon as sanity returned, the ache had throbbed back with double the pain.
My fingers flexed to fists, crumpling the file in my hands. Why did he do this to me? He’d pushed me away in the cruelest way imaginable. He had no right to follow me, to corner me and claim my mouth as though my body belonged to him.
Niko had kissed me only hours before that. Max’s lips had burned away all lingering desire for the gorgeous billionaire.
I straightened my shoulders at the thought of Niko, summoning my resolve. It was more than Max’s kiss that’d cooled my desire for the charming Russian. When I’d returned to the library to gather the books I needed, the niggling doubts that’d plagued me sharpened to needles, pricking holes in the foundations of everything I’d ever believed about my father.
Because I’d discovered something awful about Niko’s family. Nothing named them specifically, but what he’d said about his grandfather had been the key to unravelling the mystery of the Ivanovs’ wealth.
Niko had told me that his family earned their fortune in the aluminum industry in the wake of the collapse of the U.S.S.R. In my research on modern Russian history and the formation of the current-day Bratva, I’d read that the industry had been a hotbed for vicious criminals, with bloody wars fought over precious resources that gave rise to some of the most prominent mobsters of the nineties.
All that money that Mikhail Ivanov had donated to my dad’s campaign efforts…
A shudder raced through me, revulsion at the very idea that Daddy had accepted funds from brutal criminals.
But maybe he didn’t know. Maybe I was wrong, and Max had put these crazy ideas in my head that made me second-guess everything I knew about my father.
It would be so much easier if I could dismiss the suspicion that Daddy knew about the origins of the Ivanovs’ wealth—if they even were involved in organized crime. But Mike had told me that a Russian informant had been the key to building the case that brought down the Italian Mafia in New York. And now, my dad had deep ties to the Ivanovs.
It was the barest hint of a connection. But it was giving me nightmares. It was making me question everything I knew about my upbringing.
I had to talk to Mike again. He’d told me that the modern-day Bratva operated differently from the way the Mafia had been structured ten years ago. He might be able to offer some insight that would exonerate the Ivanovs. There was still a very big chance that this was all in my head—and all in Max’s head, too.
I set the file I’d fetched for a senior colleague down on her desk, accepting her thanks with an absent nod. I barely registered Gavin’s distant glower as I made my way past him to walk to Mike’s office. I was too preoccupied to even think about my bully, much less fear him.
“Allie.” Mike beamed at me in greeting and waved his hand to indicate that I was welcome to join him. “It’s good to see you. Come in, come in.”
He stood and crossed the worn gray carpet to shut the door behind me before ushering me to the leather chair at his desk. He settled down in his own chair across from me and leaned forward on his elbows, steepling his fingers beneath his chin. Lines of age deepened around his eyes and mouth as he offered me an encouraging smile.
“What can I do for you? Are you still trying to take on the Bratva all by yourself?” He shot me a conspiratorial wink, but I stiffened at the lighthearted comment.
He immediately registered my discomfiture, and his lips thinned beneath his salt and pepper moustache. “Is everything okay, Allie?” His voice was soft on my name, gentle with concern.
I must look more frazzled than I realized. I smoothed a slightly shaky hand over my hair, as though that would be enough to banish the signs of my sleepless nights.
“I, um…” I swallowed against the lump in my throat. The surest way to set off my tears was for someone to ask if I was okay. I was definitely not okay. I couldn’t bring myself to force the lie from my constricted chest, so I settled for edging around the truth. “Actually, I have been looking more into the Bratva. It’s pretty disturbing stuff.”