Page 35 of Victor's Lethal Desire
He saved me when I had nothing. When my parents' blood was still wet on the floor and the world felt like it was collapsing around me. He gave me purpose. He gave me a life worth living, even if that life involves killing in the shadows.
Everything I do, I do for him.
Everything for Ivan first. Get to the tablet.
The bartender sets the glass in front of me, remembering what I ordered last time, and I take a sip, forcing myself to breathe.
Victor being here changes everything.
I can't wait for the perfect, quiet moment to breach the penthouse. I can't afford to slip upstairs at midnight when Dimitri is down here drunk and the guards are rotating shifts.
Victor is unpredictable, and if he makes his move on the suite before I do, I lose everything.
I set the glass down and push off the bar.
Screw it. I need to move now.
I slip through the crowd, angling toward a side door near the kitchens. The music and laughter fade behind me as I step into a narrow hallway that smells of garlic.
The walls are plain white, and the fluorescent lighting is harsh. A server brushes past me, carrying a tray of champagne flutes, and I press myself against the wall until he's gone.
I continue walking, and I can feel my heart rate slow and my breathing even out.
This is where I'm comfortable. In the spaces between the glamour and the violence.
I reach down, sliding my hand through the high slit of my dress until my fingers brush the cool ceramic of the blade strapped to my thigh. It's still secure, still hidden just in case.
I move quickly now, navigating the service corridors with the same accuracy I used to map them earlier. Left turn. Right turn. Up the back staircase to the second floor.
The penthouse is on the top floor, accessible only by a private elevator or a single guarded staircase that starts on the third floor, so that's where I'm heading.
Getting past the guards will be the hardest part, but I've done harder things.
I've killed men twice my size with nothing but this blade and my bare hands.
I've infiltrated secure facilities, extracted targets from fortified compounds, and walked away without leaving a trace.
I can do this.
But even as I climb the stairs, even as I shift fully into operative mode, I can still feel Victor's hand on my back.
The way his fingers pressed into my skin and how his breath felt against my ear. And the way my body reacted, hot, needy, desperate, even as my brain screamed at me to stay focused.
I grit my teeth.
Come on, Danika.
Victor is an enemy. A complication, a damn distraction, and most importantly, a threat to the mission.
And if he gets in my way, if he tries to stop me from doing what I came here to do, it won't matter what my thoughts are.
I'll kill him this time, no matter how much my body wants him.
I reach the landing and come out on the second floor, moving down the hall quickly to the door that will lead me up to the third floor.
I open it and enter the stairwell. When I reach the top, I know there will be a guard assigned to the penthouse stairwell, checking each hotel worker who needs access to it.
I figure this is my best shot, as the elevator is too out in the open.
