Page 83 of Bratva Menace

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.

Keep it together, Lyla. Keep. It. Together.

Although his words sent a massive fucking thrill through me—so much so I actually couldn’t believe I was still sitting in my chair and not riding his fucking lap—the tone he used indicated that he wasn’t overly happy about feeling the way he was.

“And that’s bad because…”

“Because you kidnapped me. I should want to kill you. Not fuck you.”

Should want to kill you.

That was what he said. Want to kill you. That meant he didn’t want to kill me.

That was a win in my book.

“You could pretend to kill me and then fuck me?” I offered.

He blinked, momentarily taken aback before raw, burning hot desire blazed in his eyes. “That, uh”—he cleared his throat, adjusting in his chair—“that sounds⁠—”

“Hot? Exciting?”

“Intriguing.”

I’ll take that.

I took a few bites of pasta, trying to pick my next words very carefully. It had been a few days since the incident at the café, and it was the first time since then that the conversation had taken a sexual turn.

I wasn’t sure what was holding him back. I was primed and fucking ready, especially after the way he’d gotten on his knees for me. The image of Lukyan, kneeling, surrounded by dead bodies with my collar around his neck was one that appeared in my mind often. I wondered if it was the same for him. If he was just struggling with his feelings toward me and fighting our connection.

I didn’t want to rely on our sexual chemistry to win him over, but if I had to, I would. I would win him over with my body first, then my mind.

“Just out of curiosity, what are you into?”

Lukyan arched an eyebrow and leaned back into his chair, his thighs spreading wide. “You want to talk about my sexual habits over dinner?”

“Why not?” I shrugged. “Unless you have something else you’d like to talk about?”

“I wanna talk about when you’re gonna let me the fuck out of here.”

Tension shot through me, and I cracked my neck.

“Before you lose your shit, I need you to understand that I have family obligations. I have people who are counting on me. I can’t just spend the rest of my life stuck in this house. In that town. Doing nothing all day.”

I tsked, looking away from him. Okay. He kind of had a point. I couldn’t expect him to spend his life like that. A soul like Lukyan’s, a spirit like his, needed to be free and wild, not cooped up.

I knew that. Understood it. But I couldn’t let him go. Not just yet. Not until he felt the way I did. As if he couldn’t breathe when I wasn’t near. Like his whole world would just crumble if I wasn’t part of it.

I needed him as obsessed with me as I was with him. That was the only way any of this was going to work.

“Do you mean that business with your grandfather?”

“It’s one of them, yes.”

“You want to kill him.”

“I need to kill him,” he corrected, voice hard. “That bastard’s death date is long overdue, and I’m going to be the one to give it to him.”

Leaning forward, I placed my elbows on the table and clasped my hands together, excitement streaking across my face. “How?”