“I’m going to give her time until she comes to me out of her own free will.” I lean closer to Alexei, and my voice rumbles low, “We don’t force women, remember?”

He holds my gaze and then finally nods. “I just want the best for you, brother.”

“I know,” I say, and I let out a tired breath. I place my hand on Alexei’s shoulder. “I appreciate you wanting to make this happen for me, but like you said yesterday, the control is in Ariana’s hands. I won’t take her freedom. It’s all she has left. Once the dust has settled, I’ll tell her how I feel.”

This time there’s no amusement on Alexei’s face when he asks, “How do you feel?”

I take a deep breath. “Everything about her drives me insane. I just… want her. It’s fucking exhilarating chasing her.”

Just then, there’s movement by the front door, and Ariana slowly comes back into the house. Her eyes dart between Alexei and me. The awkward expression on her face tells me she overheard some if not all of the conversation.

“How much did you hear?” I ask.

She shrugs and begins to fidget. “Ahhh… not much.” She gives me an apologetic smile, but then it fades, and a blush creeps up her neck. “Okay fine, I heard from where Alexei asked if that’s what you really want.”

So basically everything.

Ariana moves closer to us, and then she locks eyes with me. I can see she’s struggling not to look away as she tries to joke, “At least I now have one thing less to wonder about.”

“But it’s made you uncomfortable,” I state, which has the blush on her cheeks deepening.

She quickly shakes her head then looks at Alexei. “Can I have a moment alone with Demitri?”

He gives her a wide smile. “Of course, gorgeous.”

“Fucker,” I grumble at him as he heads in the direction of the security room.

When we’re alone, I turn my gaze to Ariana, and I have to wait a couple of seconds before she looks up at me.

Her tongue darts out, wetting her lips, and it’s sexy as fuck.

“None of it was news to you,” I say when she stays quiet for too long.

A nervous smile tugs around Ariana’s mouth. “Yeah, but hearing you say all of that kind of put it in a different perspective.” She lowers her eyes to her feet. “Look, it’s been really rough, and I’ll admit I’m attracted to you.” She takes a deep breath and then looks up at me again.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I give her an out.

She shakes her head. “It’s not that I’m not falling for you, it’s just…” her shoulders slump, and the fear returns to her eyes, “I need to get to know you better. I need to see who you really are. You’re the best at what you do, but I don’t know what that entails. I also want to know what makes you smile and what makes you angry.”