His brother cleared his throat. “I don’t think Lucy should be working under me anymore, for personal reasons. I want to…be with her. She can’t work for me if that’s going to happen.”
“You finally tell her how you feel?” Viktor had been trying to ignore the chemistry between them but it was so damn obvious.
Abram cleared his throat again. “Sort of.”
“We’ll talk to HR, make sure—”
“I’ve already taken care of everything. No matter what happens between us she’ll have job security. And we’re giving her another fucking raise.” He said the last part as if he thought Viktor might argue.
“Agreed. Look…how serious are you about her?” He glanced at his driver, who didn’t seem to be paying attention, but he never underestimated anyone. He’d had the same driver for years, until recently when he’d promoted Lyosha to a different position.
“Very.”
Good. “I heard her talking to a friend about a Bulgari necklace she said would be her Christmas present to herself one day—”
“I bought it a month ago.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Shit, you are serious.”
Abram just snorted. “You going out with Dominique tonight?”
Something in his brother’s tone annoyed him. He gritted his teeth. “Yes.”
“All right. Just…be careful. I called Lyosha, told him to head up an extra security team tonight. They’re going to tail you, subtly. She won’t know about it, but I want you to have some backup just in case. I don’t like that mugging.”
Viktor scrubbed a hand over his face. He didn’t want to say too much in front of his driver, but he didn’t like the way the mugging had gone down either. A two-man team for a simple snatch and grab? What he hadn’t told Dominique was that he’d gone to the owner of the restaurant later that night and it turned out all their security cameras had been tampered with right around the time he’d arrived with Dominique.
Which meant someone could have followed him. He’d checked his vehicle for trackers and found nothing, but that didn’t mean shit. Someone could have followed him or tracked him another way.
He’d left his life of crime behind but that didn’t mean he didn’t have enemies. And he didn’t think for a second that she’d been the real target. This felt like a message to him. “I don’t either,” he finally said.
“What if she’s involved? Maybe the whole thing was a setup.” Abram’s voice was tight, agitated.
“To what end?” He didn’t believe it, regardless. Dominique had been shaken last night. Unless she was the best actress in the damn world, no, he didn’t think she was involved with her own mugging.
“I don’t know yet,” Abram grumbled.
Viktor hid an exasperated sigh. “Why don’t you quit worrying about me and worry about yourself?”
“You’re my brother.”
“I know.” The truth was, he worried about Abram too. All the damn time. He was the only family Viktor had. “Let me know how Lucy is, if she needs anything.”
Abram just grunted and hung up.
Shaking his head, Viktor tucked his phone into his pocket. He’d be seeing Dominique in less than an hour and the anticipation humming through him was like a live thing. She’d been on his mind all day, consuming him.
After she’d picked up a new phone today they’d grabbed lunch at a food truck and eaten at a nearby park. While he’d been vigilant about their surroundings, he’d realized that he’d been relaxed with her, unlike how he felt with most people. But it was as if she didn’t want anything from him other than his company. Hell, she wouldn’t even take the house. He’d tried to bring it up once but she’d shut him down fast.
It was clear she still hadn’t made a decision about it, and that was fine with him. The longer it took her to figure out what she wanted, the longer he still had a reason to contact her. Not that he seemed to need one other than to simply ask her out.
He wanted more than just dating though. He didn’t care if it was too soon—he couldn’t just do casual. Not with a woman like her. He’d had casual sex, sex he paid for. He wanted something real. Even if he wasn’t sure he deserved it.
The only problem was, he knew shit about relationships and women. He didn’t want to come off too strong, but once they crossed a certain line, he knew he wouldn’t let her go. He just hoped she was ready for him.
Chapter 10
Feeling a little bit possessed, Abram pounded his fist against Lucy’s front door again. He knew she was in there; had seen a light flip on about ten seconds ago. And he knew he was acting like a psycho. He just didn’t care.
She lived on a quiet cul-de-sac with beach-cottage-style homes, some two-story but mostly one-story houses. A next-door neighbor stepped out from his front door, eyed Abram with suspicion. The guy was good-looking too, probably in his early thirties.
Shirtless and tanned, he glared at Abram. “You need something?” the man asked, his tone brusque.