YURI (Her Russian Protector #3) (23 page)

I was taken aback. I'd hoped to salvage my pride by showcasing the fun I'd had and making it very tongue-in-cheek but to make money off it? "Seriously?"

"Yes—and it got me thinking, Lena. We have some skills and strengths that play well off one another. Maybe we should consider throwing in together."

"A gossip columnist and a PR girl?"

"I know. It sounds crazy but what do you do best?"

"Um…"

"You rescue businesses, baby girl! You took 716 from the toilet to the top of the Houston club scene. You helped Tai and Chuy launch their food truck to save their restaurants. Your friend's bakery relaunch is a huge hit."

Was he right? Was
that
my real talent?

"And me? Girl, I understand how a crisis and a scandal play out in the media better than anyone."

"So what are you suggesting? That we form some kind of crisis management firm?"

"Something like that," he agreed. "I've got a lawyer in mind for the legal end of things. Can we meet for drinks to chat?"

"I'm busy tonight."

"An early lunch? Say eleven?"

"I can swing that."

"Great. I'll text you the details. I'm really excited about this, Lena. I hope you'll give it some real consideration. I think we have something here."

"I'm open to all possibilities right now."

"Wonderful! Until tomorrow!"

"Bye."

Pocketing my phone, I tried to wrap my head around Ty's proposal. Everything he'd said really resonated with me. Was this why I'd been so unhappy at my old job?

Sasha suddenly spun toward the door. His ears perked and he let loose a rough growl. He moved in front of me again and continued to rumble warningly.

But this time the door opened to reveal his master. Overcome with excitement, Sasha bounded across the entryway to meet Yuri. Unlike me, Yuri got him under control with one sharply worded command. Tail wagging, Sasha sat and waited for Yuri to acknowledge him.

As Yuri petted Sasha, I spotted the three men trailing him. Derek came through the door first and gave Sasha a wide berth. The two men who followed Derek went wide-eyed at the sight of the behemoth dog. The first of the two strangers through the door I didn't recognize but the second face I knew very well.

"Kelly?"

The Faze bouncer and former Marine grinned at me. "Hey, Lena!"

I glanced at Yuri who tightly held Sasha's collar. "What's going on?"

"Dimitri thought it would be safer for us to have two extra guards. I see that you already know Kelly Connolly." He gestured to the other man. "This is Vasya."

The giant Russian nodded at me. "Miss Cruz."

"Call me Lena. I prefer that." Catching Yuri's gaze, I smiled sweetly. "Can I see you in the office really quick? You had a visitor while you were out and she left something for you."

Yuri saw right through my ruse but he smiled and nodded. "Sure." He glanced at Derek. "Get them set up in the staff quarters and run them through the security program. I'll touch base with you later this evening."

"Sure, Boss."

As the men left the foyer, Sasha relaxed but kept close to Yuri who joined me as I headed for his office. Once we were safely inside, Yuri shut the door and leaned back against it. His pleasant expression slipped. "What's wrong?"

"Two more guards, Yuri?" I rubbed the back of my neck as the stress of the situation made my stomach clench. "That's so
expensive
."

His expression turned comical. "Is
that
what this is about? Money?"

"Of course it's about money." I couldn’t believe how blasé he was about the situation. "I know the going rate for Dimitri's security guards. When you told me that Jake was going to follow me around, I didn't make a fuss because he's already under contract but adding two more guards? Yuri—it's too much."

"It's a small price to pay for my peace of mind."

"A small price? No, it's a huge—"

"Enough," Yuri cut me off. His curt tone surprised me. Softening the harshness of his interjection, he reached for my hand and dragged me closer. His palm curved against my cheek. "You agreed that you would let me spoil you."

"When I made that promise yesterday, I thought we were talking about the occasional trip abroad or a handbag or something. I didn't agree to let you spend tens of thousands of dollars to hire me another babysitter."

I tried to pull away from him but he slid his arm around my waist and kept me right where he wanted me. "Your father is being held hostage in exchange for a painting. I need to know that you're safe. Kelly and Vasya are here to make sure that nothing happens to you."

"Yuri, please," I whispered, my throat tightening.

"Help me understand what bothers you so much, Lena. I'm trying to see things from your point of view but it's difficult."

I tried to find the right words. "Money makes us unequal, Yuri. It makes me
less
than you. I want us to be equals. I want us to be partners—and I can't be your partner if I'm running a mental tab on what I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything. Everything I give you I give freely. There are no strings attached to any of this."

I could hear the hurt in his voice. My chest tightened as I realized how I was making him feel by constantly harping on the money issue. "I'm sorry. I didn't think—I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful."

"I don't think that." He kissed me with such tenderness that the prickly heat of tears irritated my eyes. "I know you're struggling to feel equal with me in this relationship." He cupped my face. "You are my equal. I see you as my equal. The numbers in our bank accounts don't matter to me. They shouldn't matter to you."

I swallowed hard and placed my hand against his strong jaw. "I promise I'll try to let it go, Yuri."

"I realize it won't be easy for you and I appreciate that you're willing to try." His lips touched mine briefly. "In fact, why don't we start with this?"

He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and retrieved a box. The cheery hue, that telltale robin's egg blue, made my heart stutter.

My shocked gaze jumped to his face. "What's this?"

He pressed the box into my hand. "It's a just-because gift."

Biting my lower lip, I studied the box. "This is probably one hell of a just-because."

He chuckled. "I hope you like it."

I didn't think that would be a problem. I had a feeling I was going to love whatever the box held. With trembling fingers, I untied the bright white ribbon and lifted the lid. My lips parted and a soft gasp escaped them as I uncovered the gleaming gold cuff I'd been lusting over a few weeks earlier. Interwoven leafy vines stretched from one end of the delicate, airy cuff to the other.

Lifting my gaze to Yuri's smiling face, I asked, "How did you—"

And then I remembered where he'd been this afternoon.

Narrowing my eyes, I murmured, "Vivian?"

He grinned and gingerly lifted the obscenely expensive cuff from the box. Holding my hand, he slipped it around my wrist. "I wanted this first gift to be perfect."

As I admired the gorgeous cuff, I caught exactly what he'd said. "The first gift?"

His sexy grin made my tummy wobble. With a flourish, he produced a second box from another pocket. He whisked away the empty box and tossed it on the nearby sofa before thrusting the new box into my hands. Even though I wanted to exclaim at how much he'd spent on his shopping spree, I didn't dare. I could see how much he enjoyed giving me these gifts. His eyes damn near sparkled with excitement.

Inside the second box, I found the matching earrings. They were the same vine motif but dotted with dozens of tiny shimmering diamonds. I fingered them with such awe. "Oh, Yuri!"

"Let me see them on you." He swiped the box from my hands.

I slipped the simple studs from my ears and dropped them into my pocket. Yuri stepped closer and carefully threaded the posts through my lobes. The gentle, cautious way that he held my earlobes set my skin alight. Breaths quickening, I gazed up into his smiling face.

Yuri touched my cheek. "What's that look, Kitten?"

Blinking back tears, I confessed, "I'm just thinking how ridiculously lucky I am to have stumbled into your life." Lest he think it was the beautiful jewelry that had inspired my thoughts, I added, "It's not about the earrings and the bracelet. It's just—it's everything. Any other man would have thrown me and my cousin out the front door last night. Any other man would have told me to take my cartel problems and my ex-con dad and hit the streets." I gulped down the painful knot blocking my throat. "But not you."

"Not me," he whispered and lowered his mouth to mine.

I rose on tiptoes to meet his seeking kiss. Winding my arms around his neck, I darted my tongue between his lips. He answered the invitation to deepen the kiss sifting his fingers through my hair and tilting my head back for better access.

Just as the kiss started to get really interesting, someone knocked at the door. Sasha leapt up from his spot on the rug and marched to the door to woof loudly. With an irritated groan, Yuri ended our kiss. He brushed his knuckles down my cheek. "Between that dog, the staff and our phones, we may never make love again."

Giggling, I patted his chest. "Maybe we should check into a hotel."

"At this point, I'm willing to
buy
us a hotel to get five minutes alone with you."

He said it jokingly but I could see him actually going through with such an outlandish thing. Trying to rein him in, I suggested, "How about a bed and breakfast?"

Yuri tossed back his head and laughed. Glad the money tension between us had dissipated, I reached for the door and discovered Feodor on the other side.

"Dinner is ready."

"We'll be right there."

I glanced back at Yuri. "Dinner?"

He strode to his desk and picked up the folder sitting there. "I thought you were telling a white lie earlier to get me alone in here. Who brought this?"

"Anna." I stepped aside so Sasha could escape the office. No doubt his dinner had been placed in his bowls too. "She said it was important but that you'd already left the office. She was on her way out of town, I guess."

He nodded. "I'm sending her to Europe to tamp down the environmental protests. They voted to give me permission to build but it's not playing so well in all the papers. She's going to help Jameson, the pipeline project VP, get the situation under control. After that, she's going to spend some time with a sick relative."

"Do you still think it's an inside job? The sabotage, I mean?"

"Yes." A frustrated sigh erupted from his lips. "I had my financial team vet our backers again and they swear everyone looks good. I hate to think someone who works for me is causing these problems but I'm starting to become very suspicious."

"I'm really sorry that all this crap with my family got dropped on your doorstep when you're trying to save this pipeline deal."

He waved his hand. "If the pipeline doesn't come off the way I want, I'll find a new way to make it work. We may have to change the route or come up with a better design, one that will placate the environmentalists, but I'm getting this pipeline built."

I raised an eyebrow. "Come hell or high water, huh?"

"Absolutely." He dropped the folder onto his desk and strode toward me. After pressing a kiss to my temple, he said, "But no more business talk for a while. Let's have dinner like two normal people and try to forget everything else going wrong in our lives."

I didn't know if it would be that simple to go an hour without thinking about my father's precarious situation, my dumb cousin's criminal blunder or my job prospects—but if any man could make me forget my troubles, it was Yuri.

* * *

Later that night, Yuri sat at his desk and finished up the last of his nightly correspondence. He'd been reading through the day's reports while enjoying a drink and the light notes of
Scheherazade
over the office's sound system.

Across the office, Lena lounged on the sofa and quietly tapped away at her laptop. She'd already had her evening bath and had changed into a tiny pair of striped shorts and a tank top. Though he'd wanted to join her in that bath, work had beckoned him. As much as he wanted to blow it off to spend an evening enjoying her supple curves and pleasured sighs, there were hundreds of employees who depended on him to maintain focus.

Soon, he promised himself, and picked up the next stack of paperwork that needed his attention.

The folder Anna had dropped by the house caught his eye. He shifted aside the geology reports from the newly proposed mine and picked up the folder. Inside, he found a thick stack of papers and a cover sheet with Lena's personal details and a quick synopsis of the contents of the dossier.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, he glanced at her but she remained none the wiser. His heartbeat kicked up a few notches as he quickly perused the file. She had a clean credit report and surprisingly high balances in her checking and savings accounts. He had a good idea of the salary she'd earned at the PR firm so he now understood just how frugal she truly was.