Page 12 of Conceal

She pulls her lower lip between her teeth, which does nothing to calm my raging erection. I want to see her bite her bottom lip with my head between her thighs.

Jesus.

I clear my throat.

She’s clearly hesitating, still wanting to fight with me, I think, but taken off guard by how turned on I am in her presence. I’ve always teased her, but I’ve never made my attraction so blatantly obvious. It’s a dangerous game I’m playing, but fuck if that doesn’t make me want to play it more.

“Whenever my next girlfriend cheats on me, you can beat the shit out of her too, deal? Now go eat.”

She frowns, though, lines creasing her brow. But before I can ask her what’s wrong, she slips by me and back into the cafeteria. I follow, scanning the room again, enjoying the look of terror that crosses Leo’s face.

Serves him right.

Chapter nine

Mikhail

Tatiana is looking gorgeous in her champagne-colored dress. The arrogant fucker pulling her chair out for her doesn’t deserve her. Okay, he might be a perfectly nice guy. I’ve never actually met him. Roman and I are sitting at a table diagonal from them, so he can provide her coverage and I can judge the man and give her my feedback later. I know I should give him the benefit of the doubt, in case he really is good for her, but the sad, jealous part of me just can’t.

No one will ever be good enough for her.

Especially not me.

She smiles at him politely and, fuck, she never smiles at me like that. Like there’s a possibility or hope there. It guts me. But I’m used to this pain. That’s the price I have to pay, being in love with my best friend.

Her posture is perfect; her hands folded delicately in her lap. Her mother had her in etiquette classes almost before she could walk. “In our world, a woman’s reputation is not hers alone. It belongs to her father before marriage and her husband after. Every dress you wear, every room you enter, every mistake reflects on the men responsible for you,” her mother would say.

Right now, she is Tatiana, Dimitri Chernov’s daughter. All elegance and perfection.

Maxim is the son of a private equity tycoon. Someone who buys companies, sells off the valuable parts of them, and shuts the rest of it down before the employees realize they’ve just received their last paycheck.

I’m sure Irina saw nothing wrong with that.

They make polite small talk at first. They’re close enough I’m sure Roman can hear them, but my cochlear doesn’t work well in a crowded room with a lot of noise.

But I can read their lips.

When the server comes back to their table, though, Tatiana opens her mouth to order before shutting it again and plastering her polite smile back on. The motherfucker’s ordering for her.

I smile.

Strike number one.

Tatiana might be polite and upper-class and perfect, but she knows her own mind and won’t stand for a man who thinks he knows better. Especially on a first date, when he couldn’t possibly know what she likes to eat.

I bet he watches those bro-dude, alpha-male podcasts and thinks he’s showing her his masculinity. This should be fun.

Tati doesn’t need to be “owned” or “submissive”. She needs someone who will support and protect her while she flourishes. Because once she feels supported, there’s nothing she won’t be able to accomplish.

“Oh, that’s interesting...” she says, and her smile morphs into what I call her professional smile. It’s the one she wears to galas, and charity events, and family dinners. It looks genuine to everyone who doesn’t know her. I should not be as happy as I am that it seems like this isn’t going well.

Suddenly, Tati’s polite smile vanishes, and her cheeks turn a porcelain-doll shade of pink. Roman’s spine stiffens, and his calculated gaze turns stormy.

“Oh... uh... I don’t think... I don’t think that’s a topic for polite dinner company...” she says. What the fuck could he have asked her?

I put my hand on Roman’s sleeve to get his attention and sign: What did he say?

Luckily, Roman learned ASL when he first took the job, since Tati and I sign to each other so much. He hated not knowing what we were saying and started online tutoring.