Drake Sisters 06 - Turbulent Sea

love. Hell, if I were straight, I'd be all over you.'
    She laughed. 'There's always an excuse with you. But, seriously, I'm not all that great. I have secrets just like everyone else. We'll have to form the club for worst taste in men.'
    Brian ducked his head. 'He could be good, Joley. He swears he had nothing to do with the incident tonight.'
    'You know better, Brian. Deep down, you know, that's why it hurts so much.' She could feel Ilya's gaze on her and knew he was wondering what they were talking about. Sometimes she felt her palm itching, and a slight flutter of warmth in her mind, but she refused to acknowledge him. She might succumb if he touched her, but in the meantime, she was building defenses as fast as she could.
    Chapter Thirteen
    Ilya stood in the shadows as he normally did. The park had little lighting, and with the clouds overhead obscuring the moon, and the thick stand of trees, he doubted anyone could see him, but he wasn't taking chances with this meeting. He'd been followed. He'd lost his pursuers the moment he entered the park, but they'd find him again soon, so he had to hurry.
    He watched through night glasses as Jonas Harrington came into view. Jonas wasn't alone, and Ilya recognized Aleksandr Volstov just from the way the man moved. They halted at the appointed meeting place, and with one last look around, he went to join them.
    'What part of "come alone" didn't you understand?' he asked Jonas.
    Joley's brother-in-law looked him up and down, his expression a mixture of wariness and respect. Jonas was a man who couldn't be bought, had intense loyalties and would charge hell with a bucket of water if need be. Ilya liked and respected him almost as much as he did Aleksandr. He knew Volstov was engaged to another of Joley's sisters. The man had been a policeman in Russia and then later worked for Interpol.
    'What the hell are you doing with Joley?' Jonas demanded.
    'This meeting is about our mutual problem with Nikitin, not about Joley. That subject is off-limits,' Ilya decreed.
    Joley had been safely locked up in a hotel room for the last three days, away from him, and he hadn't real-ized until that moment how much it disturbed him that she wouldn't see him. She hadn't responded the times he'd whisper to her, shamelessly using his voice through their telepathic link, although he'd known she was awake and could hear him.
    'My ass, it's off limits,' Jonas snarled. 'You're not going to hurt Joley without getting the pounding of your life. I could care less if you scare everyone on three continents, you don't scare me. Stay the hell! away from my sister.'
    Aleksandr put a restraining hand on Jonas's arm, giving Ilya a clue as to why he was there. Jonas was a hothead when it came to the Drake sisters. He'd ] been protecting them all of his life.
    Ilya found Joley both maddening and endearing in her fight to stay away from him. He knew she thought she was running because of his reputation. His refusal to disclose his past had been another excuse. She feared turning her life, her body, her heart over to him. He knew what her needs were, and that embarrassed her, terrified her, because he would make certain they were met and she was fiercely independent. She didn't want to need him. She didn't even want to want him. He hoped she craved him, thought of him night and day the way he did her, because right now, that was all he had to entice her with - sex - and his voice.
    Ilya shrugged. 'I'm going to marry Joley, so you'd better get used to the idea of having me around.'
    'She know that?' Jonas asked, somewhat mollified.
    'Not yet. She has a few issues with me.'
    'Don't you hurt her.'
    Ilya's eyebrow shot up, and for a moment his tough features were stamped with sheer arrogance. 'I have no intentions of hurting Joley. And we're done with the subject.'
    More of the tension drained out of Jonas. 'I'm not going to ask who you work for, Ilya, but you're in a bad position.
    Aleksandr's been hearing rumors from a few friends at Interpol that Nikitin is one of the main traffickers of women and children into Brussels and Indochina. If that's true, and his reputation is growing throughout Europe, then you're smack in the middle of a time bomb. Nikitin is spending so much time in the States that he's in danger of losing his stronghold. They'll be a war soon, and with every side thinking you're the enemy, you're going to be the number one target.'
    Aleksandr agreed. 'Nikitin is spending way too much time here; he's