Vlad looked down at his wife while she worked quietly. She sat crosslegged on the floor on top of his expensive rug in front of the roaring fire she had insisted he light for her. He'd demanded a kiss in return for the favour. When she had laughingly refused, he had, like the thief he was, stolen it from her and then proceeded to steal so much more. It amazed him yet, this intense feeling he felt for his wife. He knew it was love, yet he couldn't bring himself to say it. What he felt went beyond the calf-like love he witnessed in others. He had wanted to possess Jane in a way that would bind her to him for eternity. Even now, he felt anxious that she wasn't as much his as she should be. He could make men bleed without thinking twice. He took anything and everything he wanted, leaving destruction behind him if he encountered resistance. Yet Jane had defied him on numerous occasions and he could do nothing but claim her again and again. She was a strong woman, not to be broken easily
"McKinley, we have your guy in holding," Detective Gruber said, stopping by his partner's desk and looking down at the small, serious, dark-haired woman. She was poring over an open file, her elbow on the desk and her body slumped slightly in the chair as though she had been reading for some time. When she focused her golden brown eyes on him, he said with a shake of his head, "I hope you know what you're doing. He's one mean son of a bitch, and now you're about to be on his radar. It's one thing to bring in the minions, but the Boss himself. You're asking for trouble, woman."Gruber whistled for emphasis.Jane McKinley pushed her chair back and looked up at the other officer. The fatigue of reading endless business papers that, so far as she could tell, betrayed no hint of fraud or money laundering, began to fade. Gruber could have been a poster boy for aged cops, broad, shaved head, tired looking with a cynical edge. They were pretty much exact opposites. She grinned and patted h
"Do you want us to take care of the cops boss?"Vlad remained silent for a moment, contemplating his next move, before answering Boris' question. It would be safer to have the woman detective killed, rather than let her continue on her current path. He had been somewhat curious about the cop that had been sniffing around his business for months. She hadn't posed a real threat before now, thus he had mostly ignored her investigation. He sensed in her an inherent goodness, which combined with the stubbornness of a bloodhound, would eventually lead her to the truth about him. Ordinarily he would offer a bribe at this point or find some blackmail material on the person that was annoying him. He knew with the certainty of a man well used to judging people at a single glance that neither would work on McKinley. She would be as her appearance suggested, untouchable. He pictured the slight curl of her beautiful lips at the suggestion of a bribe.That left the only other option he would norma
Jane unlocked the door to her apartment and disabled the alarm system. She tossed her keys on the kitchen island and reached for an open bottle of wine. She poured herself a healthy dose of the rich, red liquid and sipped it as she made her way to the back of her small living space. She discarded clothes as she went until she stood in only her bra and panties. She barely glanced at her compact body as she passed the full-length mirror on the back of her closet door. She stripped off her underwear as she turned the shower on. She took another healthy sip of wine before unclipping her bra and letting it fall to the floor. Stepping into the hot shower, she moaned at the feel of the spray on her skin. Showering was cleansing. It washed away the stress, the sadness and the death of her job. She closed her eyes and let the water soothe her.Today the pounding heat of the water hitting her skin wasn't working the way it usually did. She couldn't forget the black eyes that hunted her in the
Jane sat frozen in her chair caught between laughter at the absurdity of his proposition, and terror. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You would let a cop get that close to you? Just to scratch an itch? You like to live dangerously, don't you, Sitnikov? Sure, yeah, let's do it. Can we go back to your place now? Can I have the code to your safe before we get down?"His lips curled in a quasi smile at her sarcasm. "No, I would not allow a police detective access to my private life," he said calmly.Jane frowned. "I don't understand. Supposedly you want to have a fling with me, a detective, but you don't plan on letting law enforcement near you. I'm not sure how long it's been for you, but usually that kind of intimacy requires a physical presence. Not that I'm even remotely entertaining the idea of any kind of relationship with you. Not happening, Russian." She spat the last word.He didn't seem to enjoy the way she spoke to him. His body was rigid in the seat and he seeme
Jane touched the door of the coffee shop, hesitating with uncharacteristic uncertainty. She despised the feeling. Jane always knew what she was about. She charged through life head-first and made no apologies. She hated the idea that Sitnokov had her emotions so twisted up that she was now doubting herself. Since when did she hesitate while in pursuit of a potential collar?Yet, as she watched the small, dark-haired woman on the other side of the glass, she found herself trying to find her usual courage. Her next move could prove extremely deadly. Jane was technically off duty. One of her confidential informants had let her know that the girl she was looking for was on the move. Which lead her to the Knight's Out coffee shop.Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and strode in. She was met with a cacophony of noise. Some kind of board game being played by several customers seemed to be getting out of hand. A blond waitress was tearing them a new one, using language that was colou
Jane grinned down at her phone, reading through a text promising her some badly needed information. It had been three long weeks since Sitnikov's visit to her apartment and she hadn't been able to find any more leads in her murder case. She had searched tirelessly through boxes of evidence to come up empty every time. She had returned to Yankovich's apartment and gone over it again with a fine tooth comb, which yielded nothing more than the original search. Sitnikov was better than even she had believed, and she was looking at him harder than anyone else in the force. Like any other crime that seemed to link back to the Russian, all the evidence slid off of him like oil on leather. She'd been ready to break with protocol and drag the man back in for another interview when one of her confidential informants had finally come through for her. Jane dropped her phone in her purse and forced back a shout of triumph. Her abysmal luck on the Sitnikov case was about to change. She wanted the
Jane's heart sped into overtime as they approached the gated mansion located in an exclusive sprawling community on the edge of the city. She tried hard to retain her composure, but it was difficult. She was excited and afraid. She'd been investigating Sitnikov for so long now she was used to thinking about him day and night. During the day she worked on finding evidence of his many crimes. At night she remembered the way he had threatened her when he had come to her apartment. How he had forced her body against his and exposed her breasts to his predatory gaze. She couldn't think of him without picturing his hard body pressed against her. She looked across the unmarked cruiser at her partner. She was impressed that he'd finally stepped up in their investigation. After she had told him about her conversation with Desiree and the search warrant she was able to achieve he'd taken it upon himself to organize a unit to search the Sitnikov property with them. They had to move quickly on