Seduced by the Syndicate Lord

5

Goddamn it, I want to throw her on the bed and f**k that attitude out of her. Perhaps, later.

“It has a lock too,” I tell her. “Not that you’ll need it.”

“Won’t I?”

“Well, nobody lives here, except me. And Sophia of course, but she lives downstairs.”

She arches an eyebrow at me and how much I would love to f**k that look off her face.

“It would take more than a lock to keep me out if I wanted in here, kitten.”

She hugs her arms to her chest, shivering as she rubs her bare arms as though she’s cold despite the warm room. Is that from fear or something else? “What exactly do you want with me? You planning on just keeping me here forever, or am I only supposed to stay here until I pay off this debt?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what? You’re keeping me here forever or until I work off Leo’s debt?”

How about both? “You’ll work off your brother’s substantial debt and then you can leave,” I say instead.

“And just how do I do that? And how long will it take? What about my actual job? My house?” she fires off the questions, arms still crossed over her chest.

“Your employer will be informed of your new circumstances. Your house will be maintained until you’re ready to return to it. And as for how long that will take, that all depends on how good you are,” I say, crossing the room until I’m standing so close to her I can smell her scent. It’s not a perfume. It’s sweet like chocolate. The cocoa butter lotion she uses on her skin. I saw her throwing it into the bag earlier.

“Good at what?” she whispers, and her lip trembles slightly.

I don’t know what makes me harder — feisty Katerina or trembling-with-fear Katerina. I’m going to have plenty of fun with both of them. But not today. Not yet.

I could pin her down on this bed and f**k her senseless and there wouldn’t be a single thing she could do about it. No matter how hard she fought me or how loud she screamed, nobody would come to her aid.

“Whatever it is I tell you to do.”

She rolls her eyes at me and I step closer until I’m invading every inch of her personal space. Her breath hitches, making those goddamn t**s strain against the snappers on her uniform even more. One flick of my wrist and that damn tunic would be open and her chest would be completely exposed. I ram my hands into my pockets to stop myself from touching her. I can tell that she wants to step back and give herself a little space, but she’s too stubborn to back down.

“I am not having s*x with you,” she snarls.

“I don’t force women into having s*x with me. I certainly don’t have to pay them for the privilege.”

Relief shines in her eyes momentarily. “My men, on the other hand… well, they are a different matter.”

“I-I’m not having s*x with anyone,” she stammers, and tears well in her eyes as she steps away from me, pressing her back against the window. “I’d rather you kill me than keep me here like some paid w***e to entertain your men.”

There is a terror in her eyes that wasn’t there a moment ago. She’s hiding a secret and it’s shimmering just beneath the surface now. I can almost feel it, but she keeps it well hidden. And I find myself doing something completely out of character. “You were a nurse, right? So I’m sure you have other talents that will come in useful instead, Katerina,” I assure her.

I walk out of the room before I give her any further indication that I am anything but the monster she believes I am.

“My name is Kat. I hate Katerina,” she calls after me.

Is this what déjà vu feels like? Because I’ve heard those words before. I turn around. And suddenly it’s six years ago and I’m looking at someone else’s face as we stand in this room. We stood here just like this and she said almost those exact same words. Except Nicole preferred Nicci, and she was never my prisoner. She was here through choice. Until she wasn’t.

My chest tightens as six years of anger and the weight of all the secrecy and lies surges up from my gut, threatening to spill out until I push it all back down where it belongs.

“Are you okay?” Kat’s voice snaps me from the past reminding me that that time in my life has long gone. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“Maybe,” I mumble, and she blinks at me in confusion. “Anyway, make yourself at home until I figure out what to do with you.”

Something unreadable flickers in Kat’s expression.

“Except for my study, you’re free to explore the house. But you try and escape and I will hand you over to my men to do with as they please. You understand me?”

“Yes.”

“Sophia makes dinner around eight. You can eat wherever you like, but my father is coming this evening, so I’d prefer you eat in your room.”

“I’d rather eat in here anyway,” she snipes.

“Of course you would. Not much of a people person, are you?”

“Well, you tell me since you seem to know a hell of a lot about me, Mr. Moretti,” she snaps.

Whatever glimpse of vulnerability she allowed me to see a moment ago has vanished, and her armor is firmly back in place. Which is a good thing because she’ll need that while she’s living here. “I make it my business to know everything there is to know about my enemies, Ms. Evanson.”

I walk out of the door and close it behind me. I need to do something to take my mind off the fiery wildcat because walking around here with a semi-permanent hard-on isn’t my idea of a good time.

Maybe I should just f**k her and get it over with. Get her out of my head so I can focus. Except that I don’t want to simply take Kat; I want to own every single part of her. And the worst of it is, I have absolutely no idea why.