Theo
One minute I was walking across the second floor of Project X, about to go into a meeting with the general manager who had worked there for ten years under Adas Petrov’s rule. And the next, I spotted Tavia sitting on a couch in a back corner, some douchebag practically on her lap, looking at her hungrily.
For the past two weeks, I’d been handling the changeover from Adas as the head of the Petrov businesses to putting everything in order for Tavia. Finding her in the same club she was now the sole owner of, thanks to Pops and me securing her inheritance, was not the kind of surprise I welcomed.
She should have been home in bed, resting and doing the homework she needed to catch up on. Taking it easy. Waiting for me to come home and climb into bed beside her for our nightly cuddles and binge-fest.
It was the best part of my day, getting to wrap my arms around her, inhale the sweet scent of her shampoo, feel her warmth seep into me, and know she was safe. And mine.
Very, very much mine.
Something the douchebag beside her apparently didn’t know, or he wouldn’t have been within ten feet of my Tavia.
Jealousy and rage had me around the couch and jerking the fucker up by his shirt collar. He let out a startled yelp. “Hey, man. What’s your problem?” he snarled, trying to push me back.
I pulled him closer, getting in his face. “Who said you could sit beside my woman?” I demanded. “Who gave you permission to touch what is mine?”
“Hey, hey, hold up. She’s not your property.” When he couldn’t push me away, he covered my fists balled around the material of his shirt with his hands. “Dude, let me go. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Theo.” Tavia was on her feet, trying to push her way between me us. “Theo, calm down. We were just talking. Nothing was happening.”
“Don’t give a fuck.” Releasing one of my hands from the hold on his shirt, I swept her behind me, out of the line of fire, shielding her with my body while still easily holding on to the guy in front of me. “You ever come near what is mine again, and you’ll be eating teeth. You fucking get me, dude?”
“Dude, I’m serious. I’m about to kick your goddamn ass if you don’t let me go.”
I lifted my brows at him in challenge, daring him to even try.
He muttered something under his breath and swung at me. But I was faster. Releasing him, I blocked his punch then landed one of my own straight to his sternum. He bent in half with a groan, and I pushed him back onto the couch he’d just been sharing with Tavia. “Stay the fuck away from her,” I repeated.
Turning, I cupped her shocked face in both my hands and lowered my head to brush my lips over her gaping mouth. The taste of her on my tongue, the feel of her under my fingertips, calmed me a little, so when I pulled back, my voice wasn’t nearly as harsh when I spoke. “You should be in bed.”
“I—We were bored. Really, Theo, you can’t expect me to stay locked up forever. I’m fine now.”
“Maybe you are physically, but emotionally, you aren’t even close to being fine.” I tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear and skimmed my thumb down her neck. “Once you’ve learned to cope with the grief of losing the baby, then we can discuss you going out. But only if I’m available to go with you, krasotka.”
Tears instantly filled her eyes. “That…That’s the first time you’ve even mentioned the baby since you told me about the miscarriage,” she murmured, and I realized she was right.
Fuck. How could I expect her to just recover from the loss when I wasn’t even trying to help her deal with it?
Swallowing hard, I kissed her again. “Let’s go home, yeah?”
Blinking back her tears, she gave a small nod, and I kissed her one more time before turning and grabbing my sister. She was half straddling some guy’s lap, completely clueless as to what was going on around her. When I picked her up and set her on her feet beside me, she cursed me. But I didn’t even give her time to throw a tantrum as I linked my fingers through Tavia’s and then wrapped my free hand around Sofia’s upper arm.
The trip home was anything but pleasant with Sofia drunkenly calling me every name she could think of in three different languages. She got more creative with her Italian than her Russian, but it was what she called me in English that had Tavia turning pink and keeping her face hidden behind her hair as I ignored my sister’s tirade of inventive curse words from the back seat.
Our parents were out for the evening, which was probably for the best. I slung Sofia over my shoulder and carried her up to her room after texting Yury and telling him I needed him to stand guard at my sister’s bedroom door to make sure she didn’t try to sneak out again that night.
When she was settled, I went to Tavia’s room, where she’d said she was going once we walked through the front door. She had already changed into pajama pants and a baggy T-shirt, her hair up in a messy knot on top of her head and her face washed clean of makeup.
She’d looked good earlier in her club clothes and makeup, but fuck, I loved her all-natural more. Her face was so much more beautiful without all that shit.
Almost shyly, she looked up at me through her lashes. “Everything okay?” she asked softly as she shifted to the middle of the bed to make room for me, the remote already in one hand.
“She’s drunk and feisty, so a typical Friday night for Sofia. Only, it’s Thursday.” Kicking off my shoes, I tossed my suit jacket on the chair near the window and then climbed in beside Tavia.
But when I took the remote she offered, I placed it on the nightstand and reached for her instead. I wrapped my hand around her neck, my thumb tilting up her chin so I could kiss her at the perfect angle. A soft sigh escaped her, and she opened her mouth, letting me inside without a fight.
At the first taste of her on my tongue, my cock began to throb, but I kept the kiss slow, not deepening it at all even when she squirmed against me, silently asking for more. My hands didn’t explore her amazing body like I wanted to. It was just me and Tavia and this kiss.
When I finally released her mouth, she was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she’d just run five miles. Her lips were swollen and damp, and I fucking ached to have them wrapped around my cock.
“You don’t go anywhere without me,” I told her in a voice thick with all the hunger gnawing at my insides. “I ever see another guy that close to you, and I’ll put a bullet in his head. Understand?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she snapped, that dazed and dreamy look in her eyes darkening to anger. “You act like I was cheating on you or something. Even if I was all over that guy, there’s not a damn thing you can say about it. We aren’t together, Theo.”
“No?” I asked in a deceptively low voice, my own anger rising.
“No, we are not. I’m not your woman, or anything else that possessive, overly aggressive, alpha inner beast of yours seems to think. You don’t own me. If anything, we’re just friends. You’d made that clear as day until you pulled that shit at the club, growling at AJ like some Neanderthal.” She made a grunting noise in the back of her throat that was sexy as fuck. “Mm. My woman. Mm. No touch.”
Despite how pissed I was, I couldn’t help tossing back my head and laughing at her imitation. Fuck, but she was adorable.
A ghost of a grin teased at her lips before she pouted out her kiss-swollen bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m being serious, Theo. You had no right to hit AJ.”
“Stop fucking saying his name.” I moved so fast, she squealed in surprise when I grabbed her legs and dragged her down the bed. I then straddled her legs, locking her in place without putting my full weight on her. “Deny it if it makes you feel better, Tavia. Punish me all you want by insisting you don’t belong to me, but we both know the truth. You are mine. You have been from the first day I set eyes on you downstairs in the library. From that day on, I saw no one, wanted no one else but you. For three fucking years, I sat back and waited for you to finish growing up so I could claim what is rightfully mine.”
“Wh-what?” she breathed, her eyes widening in wonder. “Y-you did?”
“From the day I saw you, krasotka. You claimed me—and my heart. I know I haven’t shown you that, and I’m so damn sorry. I got so used to holding myself back over the years in order to protect you that I didn’t know how to stop.” Cupping the side of her face, I stroked my thumb over her baby-soft skin. “I love you, baby. I love you so goddamn much, but it has never scared me. The only thing I fear in this world is losing you.”
Tears filled her eyes and quickly spilled over. Seeing them was like acid poured directly onto my heart, and I kissed them away. “Don’t cry. Please, krasotka. I will do anything to stop your tears. Don’t cry, because I love you. I can’t stand it.”
“I…I’m sorry,” she whispered emotionally. “I’m just… It’s hard to stop the tears when I never thought I would ever be this happy.”
Relief that maybe I was finally doing something right where she was concerned washed over me. “Really?”
“I think I fell for you that first day, too,” she confessed, her tears falling even faster now. “You walked into the room, and I couldn’t make myself look away. I tried—hard. But no matter how many times I told myself I was acting like a stupid little girl with a crush, I couldn’t not look at you. Because when I did, I felt this weird peace fill me, and I hadn’t ever experienced that before.”
A few strands of hair had fallen from her topknot, and I pushed them back from her face as I looked down at her. “Tell me you love me.”
“I-I love you, Theo. I always have. Even when I hated you, I loved you.” Her chin trembled. “Please… Please don’t break my heart, though. I-I really don’t think I could survive that again.”
“Ah, baby. I’m sorry. So fucking sorry. I won’t ever hurt you again.” Pressing my forehead to hers, I breathed in deeply. “I swear I didn’t mean to make your heart hurt. When we made love that first night, I was a weak man. I knew better than to touch you before I could give you everything you deserved, but I couldn’t resist. I left you the next morning because I didn’t want Petrov to find out about us and use you against me. All I wanted was to protect you from the darkness for a little while longer.”
“So you really didn’t know I was his daughter?”
Lifting my head, I met her gaze. “You were his best-kept secret.”
“But…why did you hate him so much?” she murmured, a frown pinching her brows together.
Grimacing, I moved so I was lying on my side and pulled her head onto my shoulder. “You know I’m adopted?” She nodded. “Pops is my uncle, but his name is actually on my birth certificate. My real dad, his brother, died while Pops was in prison. Petrov gave the order to take him out. As soon as I knew who was behind his death, I started plotting my revenge.”
“I’m so sorry,” she told me in a shaky voice. “I don’t know how you don’t hate me, too. I mean, I’m his daughter. I—”
I hushed her with a kiss, stopping the ugly words from touching either of our hearts. When I felt the tension ease from her shoulders, I lifted my head. “Nothing, ever, could make me hate you, Tavia. You are all that is good in this world. I don’t know how you came from a man who was so evil, but by some miracle, you did. And for that, I’ll always be thankful to the man.”
“Does it make me a bad person that I’m glad you killed him and Yerik?” she asked hesitantly.
“No, baby. Not even a little,” I assured her. “If anything, I would think it bad if you weren’t at least a little glad Yerik is dead.”
“He always made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe I should have just told your mom I didn’t want him to drive me. But she was only being nice, and I didn’t want to be rude.” Her chin started trembling again. “If you hadn’t shot him, he would have raped me. I know he would have.”
Renewed rage at the motherfucker had my muscles twisting into knots. “No, he wouldn’t have. Because I would have broken his fucking neck before I let him touch you again.”
“I believe you.”