Looking away from him, she said, “When I was five I wanted a princess party, complete with a prince and princess.” She wasn’t sure exactly why she was telling him other than she wanted him to know what this house meant to her, what his offer essentially meant. “The ‘prince’ got food poisoning or something at the last minute so my dad stepped in and wore the costume and stayed in character the whole time. The party was by the pool here, including a pink princess house, and all my friends got princess costumes and tiaras to wear and take home. It was so ridiculously over-the-top for a five-year-old.” She shook her head, laughing slightly. “My dad was always like that with everything. He grew up poor so I guess he just…I don’t know.” She sighed, swiping at more tears. “I swear I’m not normally a crier.”
Viktor wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his hold almost awkward, but she appreciated it. Hell, she needed the comfort right now. She leaned into him, trying to ignore that spicy masculine scent that went straight to her head. He was just becoming more and more attractive to her every moment.
“You can cry all you need.” His accent was slightly thicker now.
She laid her head on his hard shoulder, soaking up some of his strength. “You really are nothing like I expected,” she murmured.
“I don’t hear that a lot.” His voice was dry. “Usually people say I’m worse than they expected.”
Laughing again she lifted her head to look at him. Their faces were only inches apart, making her suck in a breath at the close proximity of his mouth.
His very kissable mouth.
She swallowed hard, stared into those intense blue eyes. For a long moment she wondered what it would be like to kiss him, to feel his lips on hers. That thought would have seemed insane a day ago. Now…
He cleared his throat and whatever weirdness was going on between them was instantly broken.
“My father was nothing like yours,” he said quietly, looking straight ahead again, his posture stiff.
Something about the way he was almost awkward was…sexy. Something she shouldn’t be thinking about. “Even with…you? Was he not a good father?”
He let out a harsh laugh, the sound full of bitterness. “When I was fifteen he threw me into a ring with one of his fighters to ‘toughen me up,’ as he put it—he ran an illegal fighting ring for about a decade. The guy went as easy as he could on me without making it too obvious. He didn’t want to kill me, but I ended up with a broken nose, three broken ribs and…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “At least you have good memories with your family.”
She was too shocked to respond. How awful to have such a brutal man for a father.
“Take the house, Dominique. It’s the best ‘fuck you’ to my father you can make. Take it and do what you want with it.”
Forget the house. She wanted to reach out and comfort him somehow.
As if he sensed her thoughts he abruptly stood and headed for the door.
“Have dinner with me tomorrow night?” she blurted. When he turned to look at her with raised eyebrows she continued. “To talk about the contract.” Which, okay, was a complete lie. She wanted to spend more time with him. That knowledge disturbed her but she couldn’t fight the pull toward him. The house was something she didn’t even want to think about right now.
He nodded, his eyes flaring with heat, and she wondered if he felt that same pull. She knew he wanted her, had seen moments of awareness from him, but it could be nothing more than just lust. “I can meet you somewhere.”
“Or you can just pick me up. I’m guessing you know where I live by now?” It should annoy her, but he was trying to fix what his father had done. Considering that he’d sent her that contract, it wasn’t hard to figure out that when he’d done research on her, he would have found out more about her. Her address and phone number were probably at the top of the list.
His face flushed, the action…almost adorable. The man really was ridiculously sexy. “I’d have to look it up, but it’s in the file I had put together on you.”
“I feel like I should be mad about that.”
His mouth curved up ever so slightly. “You should be. Though…you found me at my hotel so you’ve done some research too.” There was a hint of a question at the end. As if he’d been wondering how she’d done that.
Her face heated at his words. She wasn’t going to admit that she’d asked a friend to locate him.
“Is seven o’clock good?” he continued when she didn’t respond.
“It is.” The tingle of excitement in her belly was ridiculous, she told herself. But that didn’t matter. She was already thinking about what she’d wear tomorrow night.
Because she wanted to get to know sexy and dangerous Viktor way more than she should.
Chapter 7
Abram wasn’t sure what he’d done to piss Lucy off, but in the last hour she’d been giving him the cold shoulder—and he had no idea why. Last night he’d been annoyed with his brother for taking Lucy with him and she’d no doubt sensed the tension between him and Viktor. But things had been normal between Lucy and him today. They’d even had lunch together. Sure, Viktor had been with them, but things had seemed like they always did.
And now he felt like a fucking fifteen-year-old girl, obsessing over her. He scrubbed a hand over his face as she stepped into his office, her expression perfectly neutral. It annoyed the hell out of him.
“I’m about to head out. Do you need anything else, Mr. Ivanov?”
He gritted his teeth at the formal title. There was no doubt she was pissed at him now. “What did I say about using my first name?’