Page 15 of Sinner's Sacrifice

“You value me?” she asked. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that when you work for me,” he said, tired of dancing around the truth. Tired of hiding how he felt. Tired of her testing his boundaries over and over. If she kept at it, neither of them would like the result. “No one puts a hand on my people without losing that hand. I protect what is mine.”

She blinked. “Oh.” Surprise made her voice rise. “That’s actually pretty awesome.” She gave him a brilliant smile, and he had to force himself to stay seated and still. This was not the reaction he expected from her.

“Can I tell my street friends what you said?” she asked.

He didn’t care who she told, but he forced himself to give her a regal nod. “You may.”

She stood, but it was clear that her brain was running at a high gear. “You know, this might just work. Your Neanderthal attitude is something they will believe a lot more than a sudden case of altruism.” She looked at him. “Do you consider Manhattan your territory, like a gang might?”

“I guess you could put it that way, but I don’t have anything to do with—.”

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. “I know, I know, you’re a law-abiding citizen, blah, blah, blah.”

She glanced down. “Shit, you’re right. I better change.” She strode toward the elevator before he could stand or say anything.

He watched her walk away, hypnotized by the swing of her hips. About halfway to the elevator, she turned so she could walk backwards. “Nice place, by the way. I like all the plants.” She swung around, continued to the elevator, and stepped inside the car.

The last thing he saw as the doors closed was another smile on her face.

Chapter Three

Samantha Dubets waited for the elevator doors to close before relaxing. For a minute there, after she’d stomped on Yvgeny’s foot, she truly thought she was going to die. Yvgeny had scared her. Scared her more than dealing with drug dealers, beat-up prostitutes, or gangbangers looking for a fight.

She’d always known he was a scary bastard, but tonight, she’d found herself with his complete and total attention centered on her. That and an impressive erection. Holy shit, the man was hung. And for a teeny tiny instant she wanted to explore that ginormous cock, but sanity reasserted itself and she tried to drill a hole in his foot instead.

She’d watched pain flicker across his face, but it was gone too fast, replaced by something dark, dangerous, and domineering. She’d shivered and prepared for pain, but it hadn’t come. Instead, he took a step back, and then another, all that violence tucked back inside him like it had never existed.

She wasn’t fooled. Yvgeny Breznik was a threat to her in so many ways.

With a faint motion, the elevator opened on the ground floor. She exited and strode across the lobby toward the small, recessed door that accessed the employee accommodations.

It was only ten o’clock, plenty of time to track down at least one of the women who’d been harmed by the creep.

She entered her small, self-contained room in the employee housing section of the hotel. A quick face wash followed by changing into jeans, a t-shirt, tennis shoes, and she was nearly ready.

Sam grabbed her messenger bag and made sure it was full of the sort of medical supplies a sex worker might need. Condoms, topical antibiotic cream, topical anti-inflammatory pain cream, Band-Aids, and wipes. She could use giving out the freebies as an excuse to talk to the women. Pimps could be pissy if they thought their girls were just making conversation with someone who wasn’t a potential customer.

She threw a light jacket on over her t-shirt, slung the bag crossbody over her head, and opened the door to her room.

Yvgeny was leaning against the wall right outside.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew the answer. He planned to come with her.

Shit.

He smiled, and he didn’t even bother to try to make it a polite one.

“No,” she said.

“No, what?” he asked, his smile growing wider.

“No, you’re not coming with me.”

“You’re not going alone.”

“I’ve been doing this, talking to sex workers, giving them free medical stuff for months. All by myself for months. I don’t need a babysitter.”