Chapter THREE

ADRIK

The first thing I remembered when I woke up was the taste of Zaika moya. Poor little thing, I’d kept her up till the sun rose with my insatiable hunger for her. I could not help myself.

Her pussy was like ambrosia. Better than any drug or alcohol, or that Swiss chocolate Josef was addicted to. It was the best damn thing I had ever had. It was like fucking pure moonlight. Ever do that? Fuck the moon?

That was what it felt like to be buried between her legs. From the moment I saw her in that silver dress that was not hers, I wanted her. And now that I’d had her, I wanted her still. More, even.

But when I opened my eyes, Zaika moya was gone. I sat up, tossing the rumpled sheets aside before checking the bathroom attached to my bedroom. Next, I searched the common rooms of the penthouse. But no. She was gone.

The silver dress. My moonlight goddess. Zaika moya. Gone. Fuck.

“Motherfucker,” I growled and ran my hands over my face.

I didn’t even get her name. Fuck. The scent of coffee told me Josef was in the kitchen. I did not like a lot of people in my space. Sure, there were guards outside, but the cleaning staff was ordered to come when I was not in residence.

Josef, of course, would let himself in whenever he wanted. I had gotten used to the man’s coffee, and you could say I was addicted. No one made a pour over like him. As for my brother, he had his own place, but with the party last night being in the same building, I was not surprised he’d stayed over. Right then, I did not give two shits for Josef or Marat. Not even when my brother opened his bedroom door and escorted three scantily clad women to the front door.

“Ad, if you are going to parade around naked at least wait for my dates to leave so they don’t think they went home with the wrong brother,” Marat joked, tossing me a towel as the giggling trio of women looked their fill.

I snarled, and they stopped laughing, leaving fast as their stilettos would carry them. Usually, I was better behaved than that. But I was out of sorts, admittedly so. I’d never felt that way about a woman, especially one I had just met.

But there was something so right in the way we came together last night. It was like she saw my soul. All the dark damaged pieces of me, and she wanted me anyway. How the fuck could I have let her go without getting her name? Woman must have fucked me into a stupor. I never slept that well.

“Boss?” Josef handed me a mug of coffee, steaming and black, like I liked it.

“I want you to find her, Josef.”

“Who?”

“The woman from last night,” I growled.

He knew damn well who I meant. But my head of security just raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

“I already tried, Adrik. But she was not on the guest list and our host did not recognize her.”

“Did you see her leave?”

“No. I would not have allowed it. Or I would have sent her home in a car or something, so we knew where to reach her. Just in case. But the new men, they did not think,” he explained, but I was too angry to care.

“Fire them. I cannot have imbeciles working for me.”

“Fire them?”

“Move them, then. Somewhere else. Far away from me. I need guards who are aware at all times,” I growled.

“Yes, boss.”

Josef nodded. He’d tried to convince me to hire men from the old days, but I’d been determined to break ties. Unfortunately, my head of security was right about this. Even heads of corporations had enemies. If my guards would allow a single woman to walk past them unattended and unquestioned, then they needed to be replaced.

“Is this about the woman from last night?” Marat asked, joining us with a mug of coffee and looking like some sort of male angel in his white silk robe.

“Who needs women with you looking so pretty?” Josef teased, and Marat frowned.

“Fuck off, Josef. So, big brother, you got lucky?” he goaded. “She was pretty. A little thick for my tastes, especially in the ass department, but whatever gets you hard—ouch!”

I did not bother answering with words, just cuffed Marat in the back of the head like I used to when we were kids.

“Fuck, Ad. You didn’t have to hit me,” he grumbled, messing with his hair.

I ignored him and just kept staring out the window. It was a multimillion dollar view, but all I saw was her. Her eyes when she turned them up at me as I undressed her delectable body. Her lips when they parted, screaming my name as I pushed us both over the edge of ecstasy.

But even more than the sex, was her conversation. Between bouts of lovemaking and hard core fucking, yes, we had engaged in both, we’d talked. She was smart. Funny. And I was a fucking idiot for not getting her name.

It was like I was under some damned witch’s spell. I felt obsessed with the woman. And that was not okay for a man like me.

“Why do you look so grim, Ad? You got lucky last night. Smile, for fuck’s sake,” Marat said, continuing the discussion when I would much rather stew in silence.

“Lucky? No. It was not lucky. Whoever that woman was, she bewitched me, Marat. I need to find her.”

“Find her? What the fuck are you talking about?” my brother asked, seemingly stunned.

He was not wrong. I never got this way over a woman. Sex was easy for men like me, with money, power, and it was not bold to say I had a certain appeal. I was not pretty like Marat, but I was fit, and my face was far from ugly. But there was something about my Zaika that got under my skin. Something that made me want more than I should.

“Josef, I mean it. Find her.”

“Yes, boss,” he replied again, and I knew my orders would be followed.

Marat stood up, his face a study in disbelief. My poor pretty brother could not understand why a woman held me so captive. Maybe it was because it took three to satisfy him. But Zaika was enough to fill any man’s most desperate desires—a thought that spiked primordial rage through my blood.

No one should have access to her sweet body but me. No, she had not been a virgin when I took her on the couch, then my bed. I learned so many of her secrets last night. But not all of them. Still, as far as I was concerned, Zaika moya was unfuckingtouched by all save me.

My proprietary instincts were off the charts, and I knew it was absolutely insane of me. To feel ownership over this female. To crave her like I craved oxygen. Not as an extra, but as a necessity. It was madness. Especially since I knew so little about her.

“Adrik, we need your head focused on business,” my brother said.

Suddenly, he was standing in front of me. And I hadn’t even heard him move. That was unlike me. I was used to being the wolf, the hunter, the apex predator tracking every breath my prey expelled. And everyone was my prey. Everyone.

Especially her.

“This merger with CoreTech, you remember? The company working on the drill we need for our new mines is important. We need this win, Ad. It will be far cheaper to just buy some pussy to keep you entertained until the deal is done.” Marat said, clearly exasperated.

I sucked air between my teeth and let loose a low growl. Marat was my brother, and I loved him, but if he spoke about Zaika moya one more time, I’d beat the shit out of him. The topic was off limits to everyone, and I supposed I needed to lay down some ground rules.

“I know what needs to be done, Marat. I have been taking care of business, of you, of me, longer than perhaps you remember.”

“I know, Adrik. I know. I just never saw you affected like this by some slu⁠—”

“Do not finish that word,” I warned.

“I’m s-sorry,” Marat gasped, and I released my grip on his throat.

Fuck. I didn’t even realize I had grabbed him until I was already letting go. I shook my head and clenched my fists at my side.

“The woman is not your concern. I will have Josef find her and I will do what I need to do. Fuck her out of my system. Then I will get on with business as usual,” I growled, then snapped my attention to our head of security. “Tell me the moment you find her.”

“Yes, boss. I am on it.”

“Good,” I growled, stalking back to my bedroom.

I hated to wash off her scent, like jasmine, sweet, sultry, and fruity, but I needed to shower. Business never rested, and I had many responsibilities. I remembered the slimy councilman from last night and made a note to tell Josef to start with questioning him about Zaika moya.

I need to know her real name. Where she lives. Who she is. I want every bit of information I can get about her.

Information was power. And I had always been at my happiest when I held all the cards.

Once dressed in another custom suit made of the softest wool, of which I had dozens, I met Josef and Marat in the living room. They were also similarly dressed and ready to go to the new Volkov building we bought and renovated.

Old habits die hard, and I absently patted the place where I used to keep my knife and gun. Even with special holsters designed so weapons would not be recognizable, I could not get past security in most of the higher end office buildings armed.

Besides, I was a businessman now. Not a criminal. A distinction that was hardly visible on most days. Maybe there was something to be said for the way I grew up. Everything I had, I worked for. This place, these people. They did not understand that kind of grit.

CoreTech was owned by one of the New York elites I so often found myself in meetings and parties with these days. The Castle family was old money, and while they enjoyed power, they were not hungry for it. In fact, they never knew real hunger. I walked into the new Volkov Towers with a determination I hadn’t felt in years.

I had a meeting with Matthew Castle in an hour. After that, Josef would likely have an update on Zaika moya. Until then, I would focus my energy on doing what I did best, hunting down what it was Mr. Castle really wanted. Then, I would offer it in exchange for the company I needed for our newly acquired mines.

“Marat, Andres will be adding some events to your calendar for the next couple of weeks. Make sure you are available,” I told my brother, naming my assistant.

I just then decided to devote the next few days to my unusual task. Vacation was not a word in my vocabulary, and this was hardly the time, but as the minutes passed by, I became keenly aware I was missing something. I was missing her. And that would not do.

“Of course, brother. May I ask, where will you be?” Marat asked casually.

It seemed he’d already forgiven me for my outburst. Not that I would apologize. He deserved the reminder of what I really was. Maybe all the luxury surrounding us had caused a lapse in his memory. But we’d been raised hard. And even though his almost too good-looking face was made even prettier with his straight-toothed, brilliant white smile, I saw the darkness in his nearly black eyes. No, my baby brother did not need reminding. He knew exactly who I was.

Wolf.

I raised an eyebrow, glaring at him until he shrugged and tossed his hands up in surrender. Marat had everything I ever wanted for him, but sometimes I wondered if he wasn’t as lonely as I was. Two wolves did not make a Pack, and yet we were not ever alone, having only each other in this vast, cruel world.

I would do anything for my brother, and I have. I did not doubt his loyalty for a second, but I wanted him busy when she was found. Last thing I needed was to compete with him for the attentions of a woman who’d left my bed like it was on fire.

It could not have been because she was unsatisfied. Fuck no. I’d made sure she came at least twice for each of mine. Being a generous lover did not come naturally. I was more the conqueror type, but I could not get enough of her pleasure. In fact, her delightful whimpers and moans, the sultry way she said my name, the times she scored my back with her nails, it all only made the experience that much better.

We were combustible together, and I was dying to have another go. That kind of explosive passion was not easily attained. Even Marat had spoken of the lack of spark in his many encounters, and he had a plethora of lovers. I preferred to be alone, resigned to the fact I would die that way, while Marat fucked anything with a pussy, trying to fill the void within himself.

To each his own. I waited for the elevator to stop with no hint on my face that I was losing patience. Impatient men did not become billionaires. It had taken a long time to go from the streets of Moscow to the penthouses and top floors of Manhattan, but that was where we lived now.

“I will see you later,” Marat said, walking to his office.

The morning was a never ending series of conference calls and looking over proposals. Multitasking was a rare talent for most men, but that was the thing about being a hunter. You needed to be able to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. So, while our attorneys arrived with important documents that needed signing around ten, I paid attention to them while my mind churned, thinking about her and what she’d been doing since she left the warmth of my bed, my penthouse, hell, maybe even the entire city, in the wee hours of the morning.

Did she have a car parked somewhere? Or did she take a cab or the subway? Where had she gone? Did she get there okay?

I wished she’d stayed. Wanted the pleasure of waking up with her in my arms. So soft. So warm. So breathtakingly delicious. Fuck, just remembering the taste of her made my cock thump behind my trousers. I ran a hand over my face. This was not like me. I hardly remembered the women I’d bedded in the past.

The second they left my bedroom, that was it. They were gone. Unimportant. Useful at the time. But nothing special. Just something to pass the time or scratch an itch. This woman was their opposite. She was special. And she was taking up way too much space in my head. I needed her found. What I’d told Marat in passing seemed like an ideal plan now.

I wanted to see her again, yes. But what I needed was to fuck her out of my system. Then I would be myself again. The wolf. The hunter. Not an animal made weak by desire, caught in her trap. No. I would never be that man. Anger rose inside me, but whether it was directed at her or myself, I could not be sure.

By the time our attorneys left, it was well into the afternoon. I had skipped lunch, but I was not in the mood for food. It was something I hated doing, but I found it necessary on days like these. Going hungry by choice was a lot different from when we were children and there were no other options.

“Boss?”

Andres, my assistant, came into my office after the lawyers were packed up and gone. I’d headhunted the younger man from a former competitor who I later bought out. That was some ten years ago now. I’d been unable to purchase or glean information from him using other, less savory means regarding the deal we were trying to make.

Afterwards, I offered Andres a job. Marat thought I was being sentimental, but I admired his loyalty and grit. Asking him to join our team was one of the best business decisions I had made. The man was like a walking, talking computer. He had a knack for recalling details with unerring accuracy, and I knew I could trust him with corporate secrets.

It took a few hours going over notes before we switched to the daily correspondence. Going through my email with Andres was always easier since he was better on the computer than I was. I did not have the patience for technology, ironic as that was. The metals we mined were necessary to keep such tech working, but I did not care which iPhone was out or what new gadget was the next best thing.

Facing the window, I watched the storm clouds gather among the skyscrapers and towers. Those mile high representations of humankind’s genius stood in defiance of nature. Imagine that kind of brilliance to master physics, making history and erecting monuments that point directly at the heavens as if daring the gods to strike them down.

I admired the men and women who created such things. They must have had balls of steel to challenge the very beings responsible for creation itself. Like recalcitrant children asking their parents for a duel. Innovators were often mad, wasn’t that a saying? I was sure I had heard it somewhere. I listened as Andres rattled off the rest of my schedule with about half the attention I should have given it.

“Dinner tonight at Chez Luis with Marcus Porter from Capital One at seven,” he said.

“No. Move the dinner appointment to Marat’s calendar. In fact, move all of them to my brother’s schedule. I will be unavailable for everything save my office hours during the next few weeks.”

“What about the Castle Ball on the twentieth? He will expect you to attend in person,” Andres said.

“Fine, but make sure Marat and Josef, and you too, Andres, make sure all three of you are on the list as well,” I said, steepling my fingers as I continued to watch the storm clouds gathering.

“Very well, Mr. Volkov,” he replied, frowning as he added the note.

Josef knocked and entered my office without waiting for a response. I ignored him while I rattled off replies to the most important of my messages. Andres typed everything into his tablet faster than a fifteen year old on TikTok.

Once we were finished, I turned my head and acknowledged Josef. It was after four now, and my business day was just getting started. He spoke into the mic hidden in his cuff link and pressed the com in his ear as he listened to whoever was speaking to him. He had come into our lives later, but if I had to choose anyone in the world other than Marat to guard my life, or the life of someone I care about, it would be him.

“What is it, Josef?” I asked, stepping inside my office, where Andres waited for me.

“We might have a line on the woman.”

“Might?”

“Yes. I think you will appreciate this. She arrived at the party last night as Missy Castle’s plus one.”

“Missy Castle?”

“Indeed. She’s Matthew Castle’s sister. If my information is correct, I know your mystery woman’s name.”

“Well. What is it?” I growled, impatient.

“Sofia DiFalco. She works as Missy Castle’s personal assistant, but I understand she is an aspiring novelist.”

“A novelist?”

That was surprising. I never met a novelist, not even an aspiring one. My heart hammered inside my chest at the prospect of seeing her, Sofia DiFalco, again. I trusted Josef to have already put together a dossier on the woman, and I stood from my desk, hand out for the tablet Andres held. He gave it to me immediately.

“Send me everything you found and get the car,” I instructed.

“Yes, boss.”

“Where is she now?”

“She rents a shitty apartment in a Midtown.”

I grunted and scrolled to the file, opening it as I walked to the elevator. Josef had already called for the car and was seeing to security as I read more about the woman who rocked my world last night.

Sofia. I liked the sound of her name. The more I played it over and over again in my mind the better it sounded. She was almost ten years my junior. She’d turned twenty-eight years old this past November, and I frowned, wondering if she would mind the age difference. She did not seem to mind it last night, but what did it matter, anyway?

I was not proposing marriage. Just a short arrangement. A month. That was it. A month to fuck her out of my system and get my brain focused back on what was important. Business. Family. That was all I had room for in my life. But even billionaire bosses deserved a vacation once in a while.

Sofia DiFalco was mine.