Wicked Pursuit

16

Casimir tenses as if he’ll just snarl at me, but then he lifts me so I can wrap my legs around his waist. There’s a rush of hands and soap and rinsing each other off, and then he carries me to the bed and eats me out until I lose track of how many times I come. We fuck with the franticness of two people painfully aware of the clock ticking down on their reprieve. I can’t imagine a way this will work, and he doesn’t seem able to imagine a way it won’t.

There are no answers two days later, the rising sun bringing our time in this house to an end. Casimir disappears briefly and comes back to the room with our clothes and phones. We dress in silence, and fuck if I know what to do. Say goodbye? Keep arguing in circles?

I don’t protest when he takes my hand and leads me through the warren of hallways to the same door through which I entered a few days prior. It feels like a lifetime ago. There’s a fancy black sports car waiting, all sleek lines and predator vibes.

Casimir opens the door for me, his movements easy and downright habitual. How many times has he done the same thing as Luke? More than I can begin to count. “Let’s go.”

It doesn’t even occur to me to demand my own ride. I slide into the buttery leather seats and watch him walk around to the driver’s side.

It’s only as we exit through the gates that I turn to him. “Whatever plan your family has, it will never work. Even if I lost my mind and married you, the other heirs won’t follow suit.” Michelle wouldn’t know commitment if it bit her in the ass. Cassim is so uptight, I can’t imagine him having a whirlwind romance with an enemy. Talia is ruthless enough to slit someone’s throat if they try to take the territory that’s her birthright. We can’t even get Kiley to come out with us, let alone lose her head enough to marry a Romanov. There’s no established heir to the neutral territory that the Underworld stands in. “It won’t work.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?”

I glare. “My fathers will kill you.”

“They’ll try.” He shrugs. “But if you tell them you love me, they’ll pull their punches for fear of breaking their baby girl’s heart.”

“Stop saying that,” I hiss.

“Calling you their baby girl?” He takes a corner a little too fast, a tight smile pulling at his lips.

“Saying I love you.”

“You do.”

I watch the speedometer creep up. If he’s speeding to ensure I don’t try to punch him in the face . . . Well, it’s a good plan. I’m not going to die today. “I loved Luke.”

“It wasn’t all fake. The best cover is more reality than anything else. You love me, baby.”

I curse. “Even if I agreed with that, I cheated on you.”

“Water under the bridge.” He glances at me as he changes lanes. “Especially since you plan to keep doing it.”

“What?”

“Ruby.” The censure in his voice makes me squirm. “You get off on being bad. I get off on punishing you. One plus one equals two.”

For a moment, I allow myself to picture what a future like that might look like. To be my true self, messy and bitchy and ruthless. It makes me a little dizzy to even consider. “You can’t keep killing people who touch me.”

He tightens his grip on the wheel. “I’m willing to . . . negotiate on that element of the equation.”

Am I seriously considering this?

It seems like I am. I lean back in my seat and cross my arms over my chest. “Do you want to fuck other people?”

“Nyet.”

“But you’re okay with me doing it as part of our game?”

“Da.” He reaches over and opens the glove compartment. “As long as you wear this when you do.” He pulls out a small box and hands it to me.

It’s too small to hold the ruby necklace, which is just as well. That jewelry is gorgeous and ostentatious, but there’s no way I could wear it regularly. It’s too over-the-top. I flip open the box and swallow down a gasp. This necklace is brutal in its simplicity, a chain long enough to loop twice around my throat and a dagger dangling from the end, a ruby winking in its hilt. I press my thumb to the blade and hiss out a breath as it slices my skin. “Sharp.”

“Da.” He sounds pleased. “A lock was tempting, but that’s not your style, and someone might look at it and take it the wrong way.”

The wrong way. Because I’m heir and will eventually lead the territory. Because I can’t afford for anyone to think that I might be beholden to a partner in a way that would put them before my people. The realization makes me feel strange. I choose to focus on something simpler. “Your accent fades in and out. What’s up with that?”

“Habit.” He shrugs. “Do you have a preference?”

The fact that he’s asking me that almost makes me laugh. This is the strangest conversation I’ve ever had. “On if you have an accent or not?”

“Yeah.”

“I want what’s real.” I clear my throat. “What happens if your family changes their tune? Even if I were to marry you, there’s no way the plan will go as smoothly for the others. What happens when the Romanovs decide war is the better option?”

He takes the exit to the airport, cutting through traffic in a way that makes my stomach swoop. “That won’t happen.”

“But what if it does?”

Casimir sighs. “My uncle has his hands full with Dmitri Romanov’s daughters currently. Marrying you will allow me to prioritize my role here over dealing with that mess. They aren’t going to buckle, regardless of what he believes. That will keep him busy long enough that Carver City will be sorted.”

I can’t fathom his arrogance. As if it’s as simple as that. “I’m not going to keep your secrets. I’m going to tell Michelle and Zayne about Tatiana.”

His jaw tightens. “Tatiana can handle her own shit.”

“No love lost there?”

“She’s a pain in my ass.” He slashes a look at me. “She seduced you, knowing I’ve already claimed you. She’s lucky I don’t shoot her in the kneecap.”

I don’t know what to say to that. I don’t know what to feel. No, that’s a fucking lie. The truth is that I’m pulled between what I want and what I should do. I know what Michelle and Zayne would say. What my parents would say.

Kill Casimir and flee. Return to Carver City where I’m safe and prepare for the Romanovs to strike back.

I also know what my aunt would say. She loves me, but she’s sacrificed plenty for our territory. That’s what good leaders do—sacrifice for the greater benefit. Marriages of convenience are common enough in our world. Marrying the enemy might be slightly less common, but it’s not unheard of. As Casimir said, war is expensive.

Really, I’m just looking for an excuse to take what I want. I stare at the man who’s occupied so much of my thoughts for years now in one variation or another. Even with everything between us, I’m relaxed in the passenger seat, just like I have been so many times before.

“If we’re doing this . . . No more lies. You stop pretending to be Luke. You . . .” I suck in a breath. “No more missions or whatever for your uncle. You can’t be allied to two people, Casimir.”

He pulls up in front of the airport and puts the car in park. “Baby, you know how Romanovs work.”

“Yeah, I do. And I’m still drawing this line in the sand. What happens if your uncle decides this plan doesn’t make sense and tells you to kill me?”

Casimir shakes his head. “He wouldn’t do that.”

Judging from the rumors I’ve heard about Jovan, I’m not so sure. He’s a ca

“Maybe not, but what if the plans don’t play out the way he wants here? If Carver City goes to war, I’m siding with my allies here, with my family. Not with yours.”

He grins. “You’ve already decided to marry me.”

“No, I haven’t. I’m just playing through scenarios.”

“Liar.” He glances at the cars swarming around us, at the people exiting and entering the doors to our right in waves. “Trust me when I tell you that it won’t come to that.”

I might trust him, but that doesn’t mean I trust the rest of his family. “What if it does? I can’t say yes to you without having an answer to this. Without you giving me your word that you won’t stand against the people I care about. Against me.”

He drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “I can’t avoid being called back to Russia from time to time. Regardless of anything else, family is family.”

I want to argue, but he’s right. No matter what happens in my life, if I somehow ended up somewhere else . . . I’d still have relationships with my parents.

Still. “That’s not really what I’m asking you.”

“I know.” He sighs. “Baby, I won’t hurt you. Not for anything. And you’d never forgive me if I hurt your family or friends. So I won’t. The rest, we’ll figure out.”

It’s not exactly a promise to stand with us against a Romanov invasion, but it’s good enough for me. “How much time do we have before your uncle starts considering war a legitimate option?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, he’s distracted with New York. That will take some time to resolve. In an ideal situation, we’d have Carver City wrapped up before then.”

Wrapped up. A Romanov match for every heir. The current territory leaders will never stand for it.

But this Romanov? He’s mine. I can admit that now. We’re two twisted plants growing toward the same bloody light, tangled with each other so thoroughly that there’s no escape. More, I don’t want to escape.

I drag in a rough breath. “We have to do this my way. My parents are going to freak out, and while we could just ride it out, that’s not the best option.” It’s what I’ve been doing for most of my life. Riding the waves and pretending they aren’t carrying me to a position of power. If I’d been actively training as an heir, would Casimir have approached me a different way?

In fact . . . if I’m going to truly step into my role as heir, that has to start now. Before we return to Carver City. “If you really mean to be my bloody right hand, then I have a task for you.”

He climbs out of the car and circles around to open my door. Casimir offers his hand. “I’m listening.”

There are people all around us, but I only have eyes for him. “I want you to secure your uncle’s word that the Belmonte territory is off limits.”

His eyes widen. “A bold demand.”

“If he really means to do this without war, then it should be an easy agreement.” Jovan might not hold to his word, but if Casimir does this for me . . . It means something. I can’t pretend it doesn’t.