He had the urge to kiss that haughty look right off her face. Instead, he gave her raw truth. Ugly truth. “I was born and raised in Russia. When I was a boy, my mom wanted nice things. Really nice things. She didn’t have a way to get those things unless she sold herself—or sold me.”
Azelie choked. She hadn’t expected him to share intimate details of his life. The genuine distress in her eyes made him feel as if she saw into him. She did that to him. Made him feel as if he mattered. As if he was someone other than the monster they’d shaped him into.
“I’ll tell you the entire story someday, but not tonight. Tonight, I’m just going to say I was eventually taken to a school run by criminals and pedophiles. They were instructed to turn the students into assets for the country by shaping us into assassins. We were forced, at a very young age, to learn how to kill and to do it in many ways. I was a very good student, Zelie. Excellent, in fact, as were the other survivors of that school. Out of two hundred eighty-seven of us, only eighteen survived. Well, nineteen, although we weren’t aware he had survived until recently. The point I’m making is that Billows may be a first-class criminal and a depraved lunatic, but he doesn’t have the skills or experience that I have when it comes to killing human beings.”
He took his eyes off the road long enough to see the shock and horror on her face. He waited for her reaction, a part of him certain she would condemn him. Liquid turned the blue of her eyes to a deep-sea blue. Tears sparkled like diamonds on the ends of her long lashes and then spilled over, tracking down her face.
“Pull over, Andrii,” she whispered. “Criminals? Pedophiles? Two hundred sixty-eight deaths? Only nineteen survivors? That’s insanity. Your life has been insanity. Pull over. I need to…” She broke off abruptly and put her hand on his thigh.
She was crying for him. Tears. Real tears, not crocodile tears. She was as genuine as it got. How the hell had he, of all people, managed to find a woman like Azelie? It made no sense. She made him humble.
“Baby, don’t cry for me. That happened a very long time ago.”
The tears continued to spill over and run down her face. He had a fierce desire to pull over and sip at those tears. He couldn’t remember a single person ever crying for him. Still, they had somewhere important to be.
“You’ll ruin that makeup it took you all of three minutes to apply,” he teased her, hoping to avert more tears. He wanted to get her to their destination.
She lifted her chin at him. “I don’t think where we’re going is nearly as important as what you just told me.”
“It’s important to me, Solnyshkuh.” He kept his voice soft but firm. This was a very significant moment whether she knew it or not. He knew it was.
She wanted him to talk to her about his past. He wanted to take her somewhere special. He’d planned the date out carefully, and it was important to him. Mostly, what was critical was if she recognized that going on the date meant something to him and she put his desires before her own.
He continued to drive, very aware of her palm burning a hole through the material of his jeans to brand his thigh. He was aware of time passing and how quiet she’d gotten. The entrance to the mini-mall was directly ahead. He turned into the large parking area that ran around the outside of the stores.
Trees, shrubs and flowers were in brick planters all along the center of the lot. Around the sidewalks were more plants, neatly kept, some in wine barrels. Tables and benches provided eating and resting places in various alcoves between stores, cafés and restaurants.
“If that’s what you want to do, Andrii, and it’s important to you, then we’re doing it. I’m not going to insist you talk about something that is clearly distressing.”
Relief washed over him. Triumph. He hadn’t been wrong in his assessment of her. His desires mattered to her. He parked the car and turned to face her. Just looking at her took his breath away. The fact that her soft skin was still wet with tears and the hint of liquid kept the blue ultrabright in her eyes sent heat coiling through his veins.
“Thank you, Zelie. I know it’s important to you that we talk, and we will. It’s important to me as well, but I have a surprise for you, and we can’t be late, or they won’t let us in.”
She studied him for a moment and then looked around her. “Where are we?”
“Concord. We’re going to Celine James’ master class on suspense.”
Maestro was grateful he was looking directly at her. Azelie didn’t have a poker face. Shock. Disbelief. Excitement. Tears. There it was. All his. He may have found the perfect gift for her, but in receiving it, she filled him up, gave him what he’d never had before. He had thought he was empty and devoid of all feeling, even the capacity to feel, and yet that look on her face, being with her, changed everything.
He cupped her face between his palms, his thumb sliding through the wet trails on her face. “We’ve got to hurry, Solnyshkuh. They’re locking the doors right at seven.”
“Kiss me.” She whispered the invitation, her voice soft with promise.
He pulled back immediately. “Can’t give you that, baby. I start kissing you, we won’t get in. I want you to have this experience. I’ll give you a different one when I take you home.”
A little shiver went through her body, and the blue of her eyes darkened with desire. He liked that a fuck of a lot. She wanted him. She was shy about it, but the chemistry between them was raw and visceral. He felt electricity sparking over his skin, keeping every nerve ending alive.
“Let’s get going, baby.” He dropped his hands and deliberately exited the car to get away from temptation. He wasn’t going to be able to resist her for long. He was a man who had spent his entire life with discipline and control, yet with Azelie that control left him very quickly. He felt a little wild around her. Very predatory and dominant. Possessive and yet loving.
Loving. He hadn’t known what that felt like. He hadn’t told her the entire story of his mother and aunt and how they had betrayed a little boy. What they’d sold him into. What his life as a child and teenager had been. He hadn’t known how to feel love until he’d found her, and it had happened so fast that he fell right off a cliff. Now he wanted her to leap off and trust him to catch her.
Maestro carried her pack to the door of the Barnes & Noble in Concord, where the master class was taking place. It was a new event, and the ticket price had been high, but aside from having the bestselling author there, the store had catered food and drink. They had limited room, and the author had insisted on each person having a comfortable space. All of that, including employees staying after hours to help, cost money. He would have paid any price to see that look on Azelie’s face.
He spent the next two hours watching her. Savoring every look. Every word she exchanged with the author when the woman opened her talk up for questions. Azelie was intelligent, and the questions she asked were pertinent to what they were learning, not about the future of the Celine James books. Many of those in attendance wasted their time with the author asking about characters in her books and where she was taking her series rather than learning from her. Azelie was very focused on pursuing her knowledge, and her questions were direct.
Maestro found himself fascinated by her. He could watch her all day and never get bored. She might have an affinity for numbers, a way to see patterns in them, but it was apparent, not only to him but to Celine James, that she was also very gifted with her creative side.
During the break, when they were getting food from the two long tables, Celine went right up to Azelie and began a private conversation with her. Maestro immediately took her plate and indicated she go with the author to a small table, and he’d bring her food as well as something to drink. One of the employees was already getting Celine food.
Once he placed the plate and glass in front of her, he removed himself to give them privacy, but he took a seat facing Azelie so he could read her lips and expression. He wanted to ensure Zelie was having a perfect experience. That was what was most important to him: that he gave her things she’d never had. Everything, including clothes and jewelry, but mostly experiences.
He had no doubt that once he took her to bed, she would want more, but he didn’t want their relationship to be all about sex. He’d been with countless women. None had meant anything to him. He’d been taught to use sex to get close to a target. Azelie may have started out as a target, but she certainly wasn’t one now.
He loved watching her face light up. His sun. He called her Solnyshkuh. His little sun. She was. He had never felt sunlight on him or in him. Azelie had changed that for him. He’d never noticed how good a woman could smell. Or how her curves were so completely feminine, and his body was utterly masculine. She was a shining light. Her smile lit up the room. Celine James was drawn to her not only because she was intelligent and talented, but also because she was a bright star.
The moment the author got up to make her rounds in the room, several other participants hurried over to crowd around his woman. Maestro wasn’t certain he liked that. Two of the five were male. One had a very hungry look on his face. Maestro unfolded himself from the fairly comfortable chair. The moment he did, he drew attention. Physically, he was a big man. Lots of muscle. Tattoos drifting up his neck. A few scars. He knew women found him attractive and most men avoided him.
The moment he stood, Azelie’s gaze was on him. She’d checked with him several times during her visit with Celine James, her eyes on him and a lift of her eyebrow asking if he was okay. He had deliberately put off the vibes for others to stay away. When he did that, he might as well have been surrounded by a wall. He didn’t want anyone to take his attention from Azelie.
It was important to him that she enjoy herself. If Celine had made her uncomfortable, he would have known, and he would have immediately shut down the conversation. Right now, it was important to him that the men move away from her, particularly Hungry Eyes. He didn’t want to be the jealous idiot, but he had little trust in him.
She stood up in the middle of the small crowd that had gathered around her. Blue eyes fixed on him, she broke out into a welcoming, excited smile and practically flung herself into his arms. She gave a little leap at the end of her run and wrapped her arms around his neck, winding one leg around his thigh at the same time. Zero hesitation about showing the others in the room who she was with.
“Thank you, Andrii. This has been the best time ever. I can’t believe you did this for me.”
She lifted her face up to his and he brushed her lips lightly. The touch was featherlight, but he felt the jolt all the way to his soul. His cock reacted the way it seemed to whenever she was near. He fought for control, willing the threatening erection to stand down.
“We could go home,” she suggested. “I could show you my appreciation.”
