Page 14 of The Bratva's Bounty

Straightening myself out, I shoved my burning desire for the bratva boss into the depths of my mind.

Swallowing my emotions, I turned around to face him with a saccharin smile. "Sorry, but I gotta run," I lied through my teeth.

Going over to the corner, I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Digging through it, I fished out a pocketknife and flicked it open as I approached him again. "I would say let's do this again sometime, butthere won't be another time for us," I spoke through my exaggerated smile while tapping the blade of the knife against his cheek.

Giving him one last, long kiss, I looked at him for a good moment with a cheeky smile.

Backing away, I threw the knife down by his feet, embedding it into the wooden floor.

"Bye,anh."

Chapter 8

Lev

There are many thingsI hate in this world, and being played made the top ten.

Well, either Nicole really was the wayward child who was in her rebel stage/streak, or the Le's played me; obviously, I went for the latter because the anger and fear in Nicole's eyes at the mention of her parents were too real. Nicole wasn't some retaliating runaway child. No, she ran because of something her parents did, and I intended to find out exactly what that was.

I kind of felt a little bad for not doing my full due diligence on her parents and the whole situation before pulling what I did, which was why I backed off her ass for the past few days. I still kept an eye on her, but I kept more of a distance and out of her sight after she got irritated the day after our little confrontation... And after she drugged me and fucking tattooed me while I was out!

Yeah, I still couldn't believe that happened because that was the last thing I expected from her. Well, scratch that, the last thing I expected was for her to ride me through our clothes until we both came. Actually, never mind, what shocked me the most that day was her getting more of a taste.

Fuck, how needy her lustful eyes got when she cleaned me off her fingers. Ugh! It wasn't fair for her to look so damn sexy! And it really wasn't fair how all that plagued my mind was the sight of her enjoying herself using my body every time I shut my eyes. Seriously, I had no idea how many times I've jacked off to fantasies of her the past week—it's fucking insane!

Stop. Don't get hot and bothered by your damn assignment!

Yeah, that constant reminder did nothing for me at this point besides make me gravitate toward her more. Every second without her in my sight filled me with worry. And beating up a person didn't curb the edge to my nerves.

Dumping her and canceling the assignment probably should have been the wise thing for me to do, but I couldn't.

The thought of leaving her be didn't quite settle with me. What if something bad happened to her? I wouldn't be there to help her. I tried, though, I really did, but I found myself turning corners around the city until I was within her vicinity, and she was in my sight. She knew I was there, though, not like I kept myself hidden, but I didn't make any notion of closing in on her to give her any reason to try and blow another possession of mine up.

Sighing, I placed a hand on my chest, right over the area where her touch still lingered from the other day. To be honest, I expected her to slap me that day when I saw her lift her hand, so I was shocked when I felt the burn of her soft touch on my chest.

What's wrong with me?

Seriously, getting worked up over a brief touch from Nicole like that. I needed to get over it, but I couldn't. It was a damn blow to me, but I had to cut a date short because I couldn't get it up. Yeah, I tried to hook up with someone to fuck Nicole out of my system, but that plan flopped so badly because all I could think about during my time with the woman—don't ask me who because I honestly don't fucking remember—was Nicole. Every time I touched the woman, all I could wonder about was how Nicole's body would feel. Whenever I closed my eyes, Nicole's cute yet feisty face flashed to the forefront of my mind.

Fuck I wanted to have a taste of her lips so badly. They weren't big pillow lips, but they were perfectly sized for her petite face; a little on the smallersize, but again, they fitted her divinely. Thinking about her lips made me feel like a little creep, though. From stalking her to thinking about having her. Which was stupid because she was just some average girl in terms of appearance, but fuck would she fit perfectly in my arms.

"Mr. Volkov, the Le's are here," the office assistant announced after knocking and peering her head around my office door.

Leaning back in my chair with a deep breath, I nodded at her. "Send them in." I have a lot of bones to pick with them.

Shockingly, I did not call for this meeting. So, this ought to be interesting.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Okay, that was a lie; no part of this would be a pleasure.

"It's about our request with Nicole…" Mark started after clearing his throat, his wary eyes struggling to remain on me.

"Funny enough, I was about to contact you in a bit regarding that." That wasn't a lie. I really did have every intention of calling them to cancel this contract. "But please, go on. I will say my bit after yours."

Company reputation be damned, not like losing the Le's would damage it much. This whole thing was ridiculous, and I just wanted it all to be done and over with. If I had no conscience, then this whole mess would've been over days ago, but forcing Nicole back to her parents after seeing the terror and hatred in her eyes would've eaten me up until I died. It sounded crazy, letting some assignment get to me like that, but nothing made sense when it came to Nicole and her situation.

Like some unreachable itch, Nicole's been etched into my life ever since I inserted myself into her life with my stalking. Don't ask me any questions because I sure as hell won't have any answers.

"I am afraid that we will have to withdraw from our contract with you. What we paid you before is yours to keep, but your services will no longer be required of us." Well, not gonna lie, that caught me a little off guard, and I couldn't help but let it show on my face a little.