Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (20 page)

Why
did the dream have to come again? Wasn’t having the dream for
the past five years enough? He’d hoped it wouldn’t have
happened here. At the very least, the dream could hold off until he
returned home alone so he could sweat and panic in privacy. Not with
Gabi snuggled in bed beside him. He glanced over at her, the only
response she gave him was her gentle breaths slipping between her
lips. Good. He hadn’t woken her.

He
pushed the blanket off him and slipped out of the bed, being extra
careful not to disturb her or the kitten she cuddled with. One more
glance back to her as he tiptoed toward the bedroom door. If the
dream hadn’t of rattled his nerves so bad, he would’ve
stopped to admire her peaceful beauty as she slept. But not right
now. His angry thoughts would taint the image. He ran his trembling
hand through his hair again as he pulled the chair over to the
window.

The
dream wasn’t a figment of his imagination. The event had really
happened and wasn’t the only one haunting him regularly. Every
person he’d ever killed came back to him in his dreams but the
one with the blue-eyed child came more often and always shook him
worse. It was torture and he didn’t know a soul he could
discuss it with. Mikolas needed to do something to fix this. Even if
it meant giving up the role of hitman. But for now, he needed another
vice before those deep blue eyes burned in his memory drove him
insane.

If
Mikolas smoked, he would have gone through a carton of cigarettes
tonight. If he drank, he would’ve downed the entire bottle. He
did neither of those so he pulled the book out and began to read in
an attempt to erase the images from his mind.

He
had made it through three chapters when he heard Gabi move around on
the bed. A moment later, she shuffled into the living room and sat
down on the couch.

“
What’s
wrong?” she asked, leaning her head against the arm of the
couch. Her eyes peered up at him and damn she looked gorgeous.

His
heart beat faster at the question. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Her
eyes narrowed as if she didn’t believe him. “Sure,”
she mumbled.

He
shifted his gaze back to the opened book on his lap and took a deep
breath. Why couldn’t he tell her? She probably would try to
comfort him which he would love to happen but that wasn’t the
problem. When he told her about the nightmares and explained the
after effects of them, he’d have to tell her what caused them.
He couldn’t do that.

“
Mik,
I’m here for you if you want me to be.” She rose from the
couch and turned her back to him.

He
didn’t want her to go. Her presence, even though only for a
short time, had been a comfort to him. A comfort he’d never
experienced before in his life, mostly due to not ever allowing any
woman to sleep with him for the entire night. Gabrielle was different
though. He wanted her to be there, to hold his hand and tell him that
he would be fine.

“
Gabi?
Don’t go.” The words were enough to stop her from
disappearing out the living room. He waited until she nestled herself
on the couch again. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong.
Maybe it’ll help.”

She
slowly nodded her head. “It probably will.”

“
I
might lose you either way so I might as well.” He pulled the
chair back where it belonged so that he could face her fully. “Do
you know what my job is?”

She
shook her head. “I asked but you wouldn’t tell me.”

“
I
am a…” He hated the last word. The meaning. Everything
it implied. “A hitman. And what do you think that means?”

Her
cheeks flushed as she stared at him, her top row of pearly white
teeth nibbled her bottom lip. “I need you to tell me
everything, Mik.”

Would
she want to go back once she found out? Would she be scared of him?
“I kill people for money.” The words came out cold and
heartless even to him. But he did care. He regretted every murder
he’d ever done the past five years. His hands started trembling
again.

“
No.”
She shook her head as if one simple word could erase the truth. If
only it was that easy. “I don’t believe you. Mikolas
Russo could never take a man’s life.”

“
Yes,
Gabrielle, I do.” He stood from the chair and walked over to
the window to avoid witnessing the sadness in her eyes another
moment. He watched the snow falling outside the window. “It
goes to show much little we actually know about it each other.”

“
But
you only kill people trying to hurt you or someone else in the
Family. Right?”

“
No.
Some of them are just people who owe your dad money or have made him
mad. Rarely is it for protection.”

She
gasped behind him. He fought the urge to go over to her and pull her
into his arms in order to wash away the fear she was sure to feel
now. After all, she was alone in a cabin with a killer.

“
If
you don’t want anything to do with me now, Gabi, I understand.
I don’t want anything to do with myself half the time. A part
of me dies with each person I kill.”

“
This
doesn’t make sense. I had heard you went to school to be a
police officer. Did you change your mind after school?”

“
There’s
so much you don’t know and I shouldn’t tell you but I
will because I’ve decided to leave anyway. In time, you’ll
know everything. Right now I want to go back to bed.” His voice
dropped while he filled with hope that she’d want to return to
bed with him. He wasn’t even sure if she’d heard him
until she placed her hand on his shoulder and she kissed his bare
back.

“
I’m
so sorry.”

“
You
didn’t cause any of this.” He slid his hand over hers.

“
Did
you have a nightmare tonight?”

He
nodded.

“
Tell
me about it.” Damn she felt good. The way her sweet breath blew
against his bare skin as she whispered the words, the way her hands
comforted him with just a small touch, her body pressed against his
back. Everything.

“
You
don’t want to know what I have done.”

“
I
do because it might make you feel better. I promise not to let it
scare me away.”

The
words sounded good to his ears. He had wanted someone to actually
care for so long. He wanted Gabi to be the one. He turned to her,
sorry to have broken the physical contact between them. “I
can’t do that to you. Just having you here with me, caring
about me helps more than you’ll ever know.”

“
I’ll
be here for you whenever you need me.”

“
I
don’t deserve it.”

She
nodded, a strand of her dark hair fell over her bare shoulder. “You
helped me tonight. I needed you there and you were trusting me when
you didn’t have to. I don’t have the slightest idea of
the reason why you have chosen to be a hitman for my father, but I
know in my heart you are a good man.”

Her
gaze met his, but he glanced down when she nibbled on her bottom lip.
His stomach tightened every damned time she drew his attention to her
lips, making him want to be the one tasting them. They had gone
toe-to-toe with the line between friendship and lovers. He was ready
to cross it. He put his hands on her bare shoulders and moved his
mouth closer to hers. Just one kiss would point him in the right
direction as far as the two of them were concerned.

A
little meow came from the bedroom door, shattering the moment.
Mikolas turned to find the kitten watching them. “I think she
wants us to come back to bed. Grab the candle.”

“
Let’s
go to bed then,” she said as she let go of him.

He
sighed as he picked up the kitten. He’d go to bed with Gabi any
night of any week.

Chapter Twelve

Gabrielle
didn’t roll out of bed until daylight brightened the room. Soft
snores continued to slip between Mik’s lips. He was still in
those sexy-as-hell boxer briefs. All night long, he’d nestled
his body against hers, his bulge touching her ass. It almost drove
her crazy with desire, not to mention taking every ounce of strength
to not reach around and take that hard rod into her hand.

She
turned her back to him, giving a quick glance over her shoulder
before she slipped her shorts down her legs and kicked her moist
panties off. She tossed them into the corner and took out a fresh
pair. Good thing she brought several pairs of panties because she was
sure she’d go through them all. Mik had a unique super power-
the ability to keep her damp twenty-four-seven.

With
a new pair on and her sweatpants on, she left Mik sleeping peacefully
as she went into the living room to build the fire. Her skin prickled
and the tiny hairs on her body stood on end from the chill in the
air. She didn’t even want to think about her puckered nipples
pressing against the flimsy fabric of her tank top. Good thing Mik
was still sleeping.

Mik.
The simple name sent her pulse pounding and her mind spinning. She
still hadn’t had time to absorb what little information he’d
thrown at her last night. A hitman for her father? The very idea that
he’d take anyone’s life seemed so absorbed. After all,
he’d just saved a kitten from freezing to death in the snow
last night. Even though she should be afraid of him, she hadn’t
been for a second. After he’d shared that information with her,
it felt like they had gotten even closer.

The
growl from her stomach tore her from her thoughts and sent her into
the kitchen to find something for breakfast. She flipped the light
switch, hoping it would turn on. No luck. Who knew how long it would
be out? They had to use the food before it spoiled. A quick idea came
to her as she heard Mik, at least she hoped it was him, rummaging
around in the bedroom.

A
moment later the bedroom door swung open. “Ah, you got the fire
started. It heats the place nicely.” His voice filled the room
with a low sexy rumble.

“
It
sure does. Hungry?” she asked, trying to ignore the fact he
hadn’t put any clothes on. “I’m working on
breakfast.”

“
I
don’t have any clue how you’re going to whip up something
edible for us.” He leaned against the counter, every bulge of
his body boldly pronounced. “But I’d love to help.
Anything I can do?”

She
kept her gaze focused on the potatoes she was peeling over the trash
can as she debated asking him to get dressed. That would be a big
help. Sure he was wonderful to look at, but her day would go a whole
lot smoother if he’d put more clothes on. “I need you to
find some sticks like what we’d use for roasting marshmallows
or hot dogs.”

“
You
got it.” He turned and she took the opportunity to check out
his ass until he disappeared around the corner into the bedroom.

Once
out of view, she turned back to the task of chopping potatoes as she
listened to him rooting around some more in the bedroom. Moments
later footsteps made their way to the front door. Once the door shut,
she left out a breath of relief.

She
was finishing up the egg mixture when he arrived in the kitchen with
two nicely sharpened long sticks in his outstretched hand. “Are
these good?” he asked with a broad grin.

“
They
look great. How’d you do that?” She took the sticks from
him and set them on the counter.

He
shrugged his still bare shoulders. “My knife.”

She
turned to him. “What? You have a knife?”

He
shrugged again. “Sure. I’m a hitman. I’m
always
armed.” He turned from her before she could reply.

He
was always armed? He’s a hitman so it made sense for him to
have more than one weapon on him. That meant Mik could’ve taken
her out at any time. Why hadn’t he? She dumped the egg mixture
into the thinnest pan she could find. Once the potato cubes were slid
onto the sticks, she carried breakfast into the living room. “We’ll
need to clean out the fridge really soon if the electric doesn‘t
come back on. Everything’s nearly thawed out in the freezer.”

“
I
can do that later. What do you have there?” He was sitting on
the floor in front of the fire. Small puddles of water glistened in
front of the door where it had once been bits of snow that had fallen
off when Mik had come inside. He wore a pair of black sweats that
hung too low on his hips, showing the waist band of those sexy boxers
of his.

“
Scrambled
eggs and hash browns… camping style.” She handed him the
sticks. “Can you toast these over the fire, please?” Just
then she realized she didn’t even know if he liked eggs and
potatoes. She had known him nearly her whole life but really didn’t
know what he liked, how the inside of his house is decorated, or even
the name of his best friend. She was in love with a man she really
didn’t
know.
Could it even be possible?