His palm curled around the nape of her neck. “First, kotyonok, before you say another word, you need to know you are of use to me, you always will be. You’re my partner. My choice. Always. Second, I’m not giving up sex in the car. Not now. Not ever. When we have children, it’s probably the only place I’ll be able to have sex with you uninterrupted. You can drive part of the time, but not all the time. I know you’re worth your weight in gold as a driver, but you can’t seriously expect me to give up back-seat sex.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Miron, and I’m so glad he’s going to be okay, does not have skills, honey, and you need a driver with skills.”
“You did fine. Any driver who gets shot can be yanked out of your way and you can show off, but most of the time, you’re in the back seat with me.”
She didn’t roll her eyes, but she felt like it, not that she wanted to miss the sex in the back seat either.
“You saved our lives,” Mitya said. “None of us would have survived had you not taken control of the car, Ania. Sevastyan gives you the highest praise possible. All I care about is knowing you’re safe. I’ve put you in a terrible position . . .”
“I believe a good part of this mess is because of my grandfather and what he did. I’m the one who put you in danger. And I think I know where the missing package is. I might be reading more into it than there is, but I think he left me a clue.”
Mitya tipped her face up. “I have to know that we’re good, Ania. Before anything else. I’m not going to change who I am. I will always insist that you are protected. There will be times I order you into the safe room. I will expect you to go. I will always expect that you do as I say in front of my men. That you have my back. I will give you every consideration, and treat you as a partner, but when it comes down to danger, I can’t move until I know you’re safe.” He tipped her face up to his. “Can you live with that?”
His eyes searched hers, looking for an answer. Almost desperate for one. Ania smiled at him. “Absolutely I can.”
“Tell me what you’d like to do besides wait for me without a stitch on and give me every fuckin’ thing I want or need. One thing I can do for you, give you. Something that matters to you.”
“You said I could drive. That matters.” Because it did. So much.
“Kotyonok.”
The way he said it, that voice. One word. She still hesitated because this really mattered to her, and if he shot her down, she would be devastated.
“Baby. Just fuckin’ tell me.”
“You know that huge garage you have? The one for collecting cars? It’s temperature controlled and there’s nothing in it.”
He shrugged, watching her face. Never blinking. Never taking his eyes off her. She forced herself to continue.
“I want to use it to design and build custom cars from the ground up. I know I can do it. I can use the money from the sale of my family business to start my own. If I never sell a single car, it won’t matter. I just need to do it. I know I’ll be good at it.”
She was trembling. Inside. Outside. She could barely force herself to look at him.
He went still and then a slow smile softened his hard features briefly before he kissed her, taking her to that place she was becoming familiar with and craved.
He lifted his head. “I think that’s the best idea I’ve ever heard. You tell me what you need, and I’ll help you any way I can.”
Ania put her arms around his neck and lifted her mouth to his.18THE house was cold. It shouldn’t be. Ania had kept the heat low, but she couldn’t stop shivering as she stepped inside. Mitya circled her waist with his arm, locking her to him. His body always felt warm to the point of being hot, and immediately his warmth seeped into her.
“It’s too cold in here. I thought I’d left the heat on.”
“Baby, it isn’t that cold. You have a problem coming back to this house. I don’t blame you at all, but maybe you should wait in the car. I can look through the drawers and see if you’re right.”
He kept her tightly against him, even when she reacted, nearly jerking out of his arms to glare at him, because how in the world would she ever have a problem being in her family home?
“That’s not true,” she denied, pushing at his arm.
Mitya didn’t seem to notice she was struggling to get free. “Kotyonok, you do. You become extremely emotional and now it’s affecting you physically.”