Ruthless Stranger by Maggie Cole

15

Aspen

Maksim whistles,and I jump. It's low and sexy, but I didn't know he entered the room.

I spin, and he steps forward, wrapping his arms around me. "You only get more beautiful, my krasotka."

I barely have any makeup on. I had mascara, some lip gloss, and eyeliner in my purse. The designer jeans and off-the-shoulder sweater Maksim had delivered earlier probably costs more than my weekly wage. The value of the dress and stilettos he bought for me to wear on our date tonight I won't even estimate.

My insides flutter, and I blush. I shouldn't. The man has seen me in every position possible. My sweat has merged with his too many times to count. I've begged him desperately both blindfolded and with my eyes open. He still sends my adrenaline racing whenever he looks at me or compliments me.

His lips twitch. The cocky expression on his face tells me he knows my insides are Jell-O right now. He dips to my ear, and his lips brush against my skin. "Which of your friends are you going to lunch with?" His tongue flicks my lobe.

Since he's meeting his brothers and the city is barely open, I figured the girls weren't working. I was right, so we decided to have a late lunch. There's a new restaurant we haven't been to, and when I mentioned I was calling to see if they were open, Maksim smiled.

"It's one of my restaurants. I'll find out for you."

I tried not to gape. I knew Maksim was successful and wealthy, but he seems to have a pulse everywhere around the city.

He confirmed they were open and said he informed the hostess I was coming with guests. At the time, Kora confirmed, but I hadn't heard back from Hailee or Skylar.

"All of them."

"Who's who?" His breath against my neck sends tingles racing through my spine.

I pull back, amused. "They didn't tell you their names?"

"No. We kept it secret. They had my wallet the first night. Your magenta-haired friend took it and said she wouldn't open it unless I did something bad to you."

I bite on my lip. "You gave her your wallet?"

"And my phone number. I thought you were from California since her area code is from there."

I could have contacted him over the last few weeks.

None of my friends told me they had his cell.

I didn't tell any of them I wanted to get ahold of him.

"She went to fashion school there then came back to Chicago. She's had the same number since college."

"Ah. That explains it."

I tilt my head. "Your area code isn't a Chicago one, either."

He shakes his head. "No. It's a New York one. I left my phone in a hotel room on a business trip. My cousin, Tolik, lives there and gave me a new one. They wouldn't give me my old number when I got back to Chicago, so I didn't see the point of switching area codes."

"What would you have done if she had a Chicago area code?"

His jaw clenches. "I would have left."

And we wouldn't be together right now.

He blurts out, "And then you would have haunted me. Everywhere I went in Chicago, I would be looking over my shoulder to see if you were there. The truth is, before I ever touched you, I fell for you, my krasotka."

I reach up and stroke the side of his head and admit, "If I had known she had your number, I would have called you."

"You would have?"

"Mmhmm. But don't ask me what I would have said."

He softly chuckles, pecks me on the lips, and says, "Adrian will take you to lunch and escort you inside. You won't even know he's there."

My chest tightens. "Is he going to follow me everywhere I go?"

His face falls, and he adamantly replies, "Yes."

There is no room to argue in his response, but I still say, "I don't think that's necessary. I'm sure Peter learned his lesson yesterday."

Maksim's eyes darken. His voice grows colder. "I won't take any chances with you, Aspen. Not with your ex-husband or anyone else. There are too many things going on in my world for me to be careless with your safety. I understand this isn't ideal or what you envisioned, but I won't let you go anywhere unprotected."

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's nice to be protected. On another, it seems extreme, like a part of my freedom is being taken away.

Maksim's face hardens further, and I cringe inside. "We crossed the line we shouldn't have, and if you want to end this—"

"Why would you say something so horrible?"

His face softens. "It's not what I want. I am selfish and want you as mine. However, being with me has consequences. This is one of them. If you cannot incorporate my protection into your life, then we can never be. And I will still have someone watching over you from afar. It won't be as safe, but I will not ever let you be vulnerable to harm."

I swallow the lump in my throat.

Every decision in life has pluses and minuses. He is the pro. Giving up my ability to roam freely without a bodyguard is the con.

Do I want to be his, or do I want my freedom not to be escorted everywhere by a bodyguard?

It's not even a question. The longing I felt for him over the last few weeks and the emptiness that consumed me before I met him floods my soul.

He is confident as always, but I don't miss the nervousness in his eyes that I won't choose him.

I pull his lips to mine. "Then, I guess Adrian is my new bestie."

He breathes in relief. "Krasotka, I'll make it up to you. I'll—"

"Shh." I kiss him, trying to show him I only want him. No matter what, I choose him and want us.

The doorbell breaks our kiss.

"That will be my brothers."

"Okay. I'm going to go. What time is our date?"

He smiles. "Whatever time you want."

My stomach flips with a hint of anxiety. It shouldn't. He's made it clear he wants me with him. "So, I should get ready here and bring some things over?"

"Pack several suitcases if you wish." He winks, and my flutters take off.

"Maksim," a deep voice with a Russian accent calls out.

"Be out in a minute." Maksim moves me toward the door. "Come meet my brothers."

My nerves take off again. When we enter the main room, the view of the ice covering Lake Michigan is as cold as the tone of his brothers' voices. They speak Russian, and it sounds aggressive.

Maksim interrupts their conversation. "Take a breather for a moment."

They spin. The youngest brother cockily glances between Maksim and me. The one next to him looks at me once then raises his eyebrows at Maksim. His third brother has a shaved head and smiles at me.

It's like being in a tunnel of alpha-male testosterone. The Ivanov brothers all resemble each other to a degree. If I had a Mr. Potato Head, I would need duplicate parts of their features to mix and match. And even if Maksim didn't tell me their story the night before, I would feel their danger. They are intimidating, and I'm sure many people would second-guess whether they were safe men or not, but I don't feel anything but protected around them.

Maksim tugs me closer to him. "This is Aspen." He gestures to each brother in turn, introducing them. "This is Sergey, Boris, and Dmitri."

Dmitri steps forward. "Nice to meet you." He pulls me into an embrace and kisses my cheek. The others follow suit.

Adrian steps into the room.

"Give me a moment," Maksim says to them and leads me to the elevator corridor. He picks my jacket up and holds it out for me.

I slide into it.

He spins me, gives me a deep kiss, then says, "You still haven't told me your friends' names."

"Oh. Skylar has the magenta hair. Kora is the one you met with her. Hailee is the blonde."

"Tell Skylar, Kora, and Hailee I look forward to seeing them again."

"You think I'm telling them about you?"

His face falls.

"I'm teasing," I blurt out.

He kisses me again and playfully pats my ass. "I'll see you tonight." He calls out, "Adrian."

Adrian comes into the room. We leave, and he escorts me through the lobby and outside to the car. A driver is standing by the backseat door. He's ripped like Adrian and has a menacing glare on his face.

"I'm confused."

"By what?" Adrian asks.

"Aren't you the driver?"

"From this point on, I'm solely your bodyguard."

My gut flips. This seems a bit overboard. Peter isn't a threat.

You're dating a man who has ties to the mafia.

I've not had a lot of time to process what Maksim revealed to me. Every decision I've made regarding us has been swift and without analysis. My heart has led me. My typical straight-and-narrow, black-and-white self is nowhere.

Have I changed?

Am I becoming someone else now that Peter is gone?

The man I'm with tortures and kills other men.

The thought should frighten me.

It doesn't. The only thing I want to do is fall back into the warm embrace of his arms.

The driver opens the door, and I slide inside the vehicle. Adrian gets in the front seat.

The car is warm and comfortable. I'm used to the L-train and sometimes an Uber or cab if I'm splitting it with my girlfriends. I can't deny I appreciate the amenity or any other luxuries Maksim bestows upon me. And while I think he is going overboard with the bodyguard situation, I don't hate it. His commitment to protecting me when he's not with me makes me feel even more special to him.

I gaze out the window. A white blanket covers every possible surface. The roads were cleared earlier, but a light dusting covers them. Snow continues to fall in tiny flurries, or maybe it's the wind gusting off Lake Michigan blowing it around. The typical bustle of the city is gone, with hardly any pedestrians anywhere.

Chicago is beautiful and stark naked all at once. It hits me how similar I feel. Maksim has eliminated any ugliness I feel about myself in my heart or mind. But I also feel stripped of everything I know or previously believed.

Have my morals changed? Or do the circumstances of how someone becomes who they are override their sins? Does this make it so they aren't evil?

Nothing about Maksim feels devilish. He told me Satan is in him, but I don't believe it. I can't get past the layer of love he shows me to see anything terrible within him even though I've always felt the danger.

I'm pulled out of my internal debate when the vehicle pulls up to the restaurant's curb and parks. Adrian opens the door and reaches in to help me out.

I take his hand, and he escorts me inside. Kora, Skylar, and Hailee are already at the table, and they all gape at Adrian.

Even though I'm with Maksim, I can't deny Adrian's good looks.

"Ladies." His Russian accent comes out thick. He nods while arrogantly pursing his lips as they ogle him.

"And you are?" Kora asks.

"Sorry. This is Adrian," I jump in.

Why did I not think about what I would tell them about Adrian?

"Where did you two meet?" Hailee smirks.

"Umm..."

"Grab an extra chair. Sorry, we didn't know there would be five of us," Skylar tells Adrian.

"He's not staying...well, at least not at our table."

Confusion fills their faces.

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you when I'm finished," I tell Adrian.

He grunts in an amused tone, checks my friends out one more time, and strolls to the front of the restaurant.

The girls watch him walk away, and I sit. "You can wipe your drool now."

"You better spill it!" Skylar exclaims. "And if you're not with him, is he single?"

I shrug. "No idea."

"Well, find out!"

Hailee clears her throat. "Who is he?"

"Ummm...he's my bodyguard."

"What? Why do you need one of those?" Kora shrieks.

"Shh." I glance around the restaurant, but it's empty, except for us.

The three of them wait for me to continue.

Where do I start?

My pulse increases. "You know the guy I met in Vegas?"

"Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious?" Hailee asks.

"Yes. He lives here."

A waitress with a brown ponytail approaches us. "Ladies. I'm Stacy." She sets champagne glasses on the table. A man behind her puts down an ice bucket stand complete with champagne. He opens a bottle of Cristal.

"We didn't order that."

Stacy smiles, displaying her perfectly straight white teeth. "Mr. Ivanov did."

"Mr. Ivanov?" Skylar raises her eyebrows.

"Thank you." I watch the champagne fizz to the top of my glass as Stacy pours it, trying not to squirm as my friends all look at me in question.

"Do you have any questions on the menu?" she asks after she fills all four glasses.

"No. I think we're going to need a few minutes," Kora replies, still giving me her what-the-heck-is-going-on expression.

"Sure. Take your time. As you can see, no one is going to need your table anytime soon," Stacy jokes and leaves.

"I thought you didn't know who he is?" Skylar asks as soon as Stacy takes five steps.

"You've been seeing him since we got back and never told us?" Kora accuses.

"No. He has a zoning issue going on, and we were in the same meeting yesterday." I take a long sip of champagne.

Hailee leans forward and disapprovingly asks, "He broke the deal and told you who he was?"

I take another sip, and the buzz of the champagne goes directly to my head. "No. I spilled coffee on him. I knew it was him."

"How?"

"His voice and scent."

Kora's face lights up. "What did you tell your coworkers?"

"Nothing. He whisked me off to the bathroom."

"Did you do it at work?" Skylar blurts out, and her mouth hangs open in excitement.

"No! And keep it down."

"But tell me there was a hot make-out session?"

My face burns.

My friends all screech.

"Shh," I reprimand them again.

Kora moves her chair closer to me. She lowers her voice. "So why do you have Mr. Please Bend Me Over following you around? And I hope he's staring at me and not you."

I glance across the room. Adrian stands against the wall with his arms crossed. The fabric of his shirt strains against his biceps. His blue eyes intently gaze at our table.

"He's dirty bad-boy hot," Skylar comments and takes a long sip of water.

Hailee points at Kora and Skylar. "You two need to hold on to your wet panties for a minute. Aspen, why do you need a bodyguard?"

"Ummm...well..." I drink more of my champagne to stall, still not sure what to say. I can't tell them what Maksim told me, nor do I want to. It's between him and me, and it's no one else's business.

"Aspen! Tell us!" Hailee frets.

"Adrian is also a driver at times. Maksim had him drive me home from work yesterday, and when Adrian dropped me off, Peter was there again."

"Again?" Kora raises her eyebrows. "Why would he be at your place? Your divorce is final and filed."

"Yeah," I say slowly. "He wants to move back in and be married again."

"Eew. Do not go back with him," Skylar orders.

"I'm not."

"What about Ms. Boob Job?" Kora asks.

I shrug. "Don't know, don't care."

"Is Peter threatening you?" Hailee asks.

"No...yes... I don't know. He grabbed my arm and left a few bruises on me—"

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Hailee puts her hand over mine.

"Yes. It wasn't intentional. But Maksim saw the marks. Then when Peter was at my place again last night...well... Maksim's just extra cautious, so that's why he has Adrian with me." It's a half-truth. At some point, I'll need a new excuse as to why I still have a bodyguard, but I'm not prepared to explain anything else.

"Aww. That's sweet," Hailee coos.

"You should press charges against that ass." Kora shakes her head in anger.

"It wasn't like that. Peter has never hurt me before. I honestly think he didn't realize what he was doing."

"Not cool," Skylar mutters and drinks her champagne.

"Can we get back to Mr. O-O-O? And does he have any brothers?" Hailee asks.

My face heats up again. "Dmitri, Boris, and Sergey."

"One for each of us. Yes!" Kora does a victory pump in the air.

"Ummm...not exactly. Dmitri is getting married, and Boris's girlfriend is having a baby."

"I get dibs on Sergey," Kora says.

"You don't even know what he looks like," I tell her.

"Does he look and act like Mr. O-O-O?"

"Kind of. He's younger."

"I'm good with cougar land and open to a new cub."

"He's thirty-three."

"Bring him to mama."

"I'm not sure if he's single."

"First job when you see Mr. O-O-O is to find out the deets on his brother."

"I'm good with claiming the testosterone package in the corner." Skylar turns to Adrian and takes a sip of her champagne while eyeing him up.

"Can you be any more obvious?" I ask while laughing.

Skylar turns back, puts her glass down, then rests her forearms on the table. "So what does Mr. O-O-O do for a living?"

My stomach flips. "Can you all stop calling him Mr. O-O-O?"

Kora dramatically gasps. "Don't tell me he was a sex god in Vegas but can't get it up in Chicago!"

"What? No!"

She laughs. "I'm just teasing. Fill us in. What should we call him?" In a deep voice, she says, "Mr. Ivanov."

I elbow her. "Stop it."

"Aww, you really like him." Hailee's eyes shine.

I spend the rest of the lunch gushing about Maksim and avoiding anything about our secrets. When it's time to go, Adrian escorts me to the car, up to my apartment, then carries my suitcase down the ten flights of stairs.

When I get back into Maksim's penthouse, he pulls me to him and kisses me as if he hasn't seen me in forever.

I don't ask anything about what is going on between him and his brothers. He doesn't ask me how my lunch was. The only things that come out of our mouths for hours are the sounds of pleasure.

When I'm getting ready for our date, I wonder how a man who treats me so well and has quickly made me his number one priority could ever have any evil within him.

And that's the thing about love. It's blinding.