punishment. But as you are the man she’s been making love to, you deserve a little more attention, don’t you think?”
The man blanched, and he stammered, “What are you going to do to me?”
“Just meting out a little token of my disapproval.” He picked up a scalpel and approached the man slowly. “You should have known better than to get involved with Yana, my friend. Didn’t I tell you this when you first came to work for me?”
“It—it just happened, Yury. We—we fell in love!”
At the mention of the word, Yury’s face hardened, and when he lashed out, the cry of terror from his victim was like balm to his own wound.
“You’ll regret ever to have laid a finger on my daughter,” he growled, the thin veneer of civility quickly giving way to the butcher he essentially was. Then, with a quick plunge of the blade, he severed the man’s aorta and watched the blood spurt out with fascination. Within seconds, Spartak’s struggles had ceased, and within a minute, the man who’d dishonored Yana was dead.
Pity, thought Yury as he put down the surgeon’s knife. He would have preferred to prolong the treatment—torture the man a little more, but then anger had made him commit this rash act. Oh, well. Impulse control had never been his strong suit. He removed the gloves and strode from the room, safe in the knowledge that other people would clean up the mess.
CHAPTER 16
“I don’t think this will work. It’s just… too big!”
Ruslan watched the girl with fascination. The way her mind worked never ceased to amaze him. And then, of course, there was her body, which was simply out of this world.
“Tatyana, size doesn’t matter.”
The moment he said it, he regretted the inanity. Tatyana’s eyes widened, then she swung a hand before her mouth and burst out into peals of laughter.
“I mean, it’s not as important as quality,” he backpedaled.
Too late, of course. She’d taken his statement and turned it into a meme that would carry on throughout their relationship. She’d simply never let him live it down.
“Just look at the poor darling,” she cooed, and picked up the Saint-Bernard her father had gifted her. “He’s all shook up.”
She teetered on the landing, trying to balance the gigantic ball of fur in her slender arms, and if he hadn’t intervened and quickly steadied her, she would have probably toppled over the balustrade.
“Give me that,” he said a little breathlessly, for in relieving her of the dog, he’d inadvertently touched her arm, and the tiny hairs had felt ever so soft. Licking his lips, he took in her tan skin, then his eyes flitted to the halter top she always insisted on wearing whenever he was on duty, and he couldn’t help but feel dizzy as he took in the swell of her nubile breasts protruding from the lacy green bra peeking out over the fluorescent pink top.
He swallowed a little convulsively, and blinked when she suddenly took his arm and leaned in for a whisper.
“You know why I like you so much, Ruslan?”
“Um, no?”
She took his arm and pressed her breasts against it. He flinched. Then she flashed those huge, innocent eyes of hers and gave him a dazzling smile. “Because you’re the only handsome man in the house.”
For a moment, he was held spellbound by that smile, then he stirred back to life when he heard a door open on the next floor. Correctly surmising that Yury wouldn’t appreciate him chatting up his daughter, he quickly started to return the Saint-Bernard to her room before the boss was upon them.
Tatyana gave him a pout as she sashayed into the room after him.
Nervously, he quickly extricated himself, and closed the door on her look of disappointment. She was one hot little number, and he would do her in a heartbeat, if only Yury wasn’t so particular about who his daughters dated. None of his staff, that was for sure, and most definitely not a lowly serf like Ruslan.
And he’d just started walking away from Tatyana’s