Page 97 of Captured Obsession

His chair screeches back as he stands, and everyone around us turns to stare. He’s quick to adjust his jacket, and I can’t help the smile on my lips.

“Perhaps if you can show me that you might be able to kill me, I’ll allow it. But there will be no brotherly bonding shit. Or maybe you can just finance me. From what I’ve heard, you’re a big billionaire now.”

Not that I need money. I’m a skilled killer first and a calculated opportunist second. I’m wealthy in my own right.

His lip peels up with distaste. “I’m not doing thiswithorforyou. But I promised when I took my father’s life that I would personally deal with anything or anyone from the bratva that came after my family.” He looks over at Elanee, who smiles with a brave face. I wonder how much she’s told him. Probably all of it. But they show none of those wounds as they sit across from us.

“Are you sure this is something you want? It won’t be long now until you’re a father. You might not return.”

He and Elanee share a definitive look, and I’m once again reminded of the power within this woman who took everything that destroyed her and came out stronger. She has my highest respect. Her choice in man may still leave something to be desired, though Ihave an innate desire to antagonize him simply because I’ve chosen not to kill him.

I built up such an idea of how this would go down to only be disappointed. If he becomes dead weight, I’ll be even more annoyed at letting him accompany me.

“Much like you, I’ve been carved by the blood that runs through my veins. And it will be widely known that no one is to come for me or my family. With or without you,” Dmitri says.

“Listen here, you smug little shit, you’re not the one running this operation, okay? It’s my idea.”

Sienna squeezes my hand, and when I look at her, she’s smiling. “What?” I ask.

“I was just thinking how you already sound like squabbling siblings.”

I gape at her, as does Dmitri, and we point at one another.

“This guy? No,” I’m quick to say.

“He does need me since I’m connected with the Armanis. You do realize once you do this, you’ll be deemed a traitor to the bratva families. You’ll openly be aligning yourselves with the Armani family,” Dmitri says.

“Ah, about that,” I say, rather smugly, since he thinks he’s so buddy-buddy with Luca already. “That’s why the world already thinks I am dead.”

Sienna is curledin my arms, and I breathe in the scent of her freshly washed hair. I draw circles on her arm as she lies on my chest.

“It doesn’t bother you that I can’t have children?” she asks quietly, and I shift so I can get a better view of her face. I’m sure this question was brought on by Elanee’s announcement.

I hook my finger beneath her chin so I can look into her eyes as I say, “You are more than I could’ve ever asked for,mishka. If you want children, we can adopt. Or purchase a humiliating number of dogs.”

“What about cats?”

“No. Cats have snarky temperaments.”

She chuckles as I smile and push back a lock of her hair. “I have no expectation of you as long as you’re happy. Whatever you want, I’ll make my hands bloody to obtain it for you.

“I don’t know how to be around children,” I admit. “But I can teach them survival skills, such as hunting, throwing knives, and?—”

“No violence.” She breaks out into laughter. “But self-defense doesn’t sound so bad,” she adds with a softened gaze. “We have plenty of time to think about that. Right now, I just want to focus on moving forward. And I will count down the days until you return to me.”

“And what do you plan on doing while I’m preoccupied?” I ask.

She shifts onto her elbows, careful not to touch anyof my injuries. We lie in her pink silk sheets, and she looks down at me with a smile.

“I’m going to go back to London. I might travel a bit for some modeling gigs. I don’t want to do the acting anymore. Not because I’m giving up, but, honestly, I never enjoyed it much. The modeling I like, but I’m thinking of getting into fashion.” I listen to her intently as she rattles off all her endeavors, amused by her spark of life. My woman plans on taking on the world while I clear a path for her… In the underworld, of course.

“Will I see you on the cover of every magazine, then? I don’t do well with having other men look at you,mishka,” I remind her. I’m a selfish, possessive, jealous man. None of these things will change.

But it’s her sultry grin that’s more devil than I am. “I’ll be doing double time on purpose so you’ll see my face everywhere and know to hurry home. Besides, it doesn’t really matter, does it? We are, after all, still in an open relationship, aren’t we?”

My heart stops beating, and my blood turns cold. Then she breaks out into a fit of laughter. “Well, we haven’t had a discussion around being exclusive, and?—”

I yank her into me, pain erupting in my ribs as she hits my wound, but I don’t care. She’s goading me, I realize, but if I haven’t already made it abundantly clear… “I own you completely,mishka. There are nostagesor conversations of exclusivity. I have you inevery way already. And you have all of me, devoted only to you. Nothing will come between us. And I swear to God,mishka, if a man so much as looks at you the wrong way?—”