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“Yury will want to see us kiss,” he said in a low growl. “And if he suspects for one moment that ours is not a real union, he will have our heads. Understood?”
    Her eyes were furious as they bored into his. “Understood,” she hissed, giving him the dirtiest look she was capable of.
    In response, he gave her a nod of comprehension and released her from his grip. Before she could say any more, he’d slammed the door shut in her face. She quickly opened it again and scooped up Ram from the flagstone he was perched on, his little face expectant.
    “Come here, honey,” she murmured, then buried her face in the little dog’s fur. “And don’t mind the big, bad man. As long as I’m around, he won’t dare hurt you.”
    The dog gave a single yap, and when Vitaly slipped behind the wheel, she pecked a kiss on the dog’s head. At least somebody in this world loved her, she thought, and wouldn’t take advantage of her.
    When Vitaly started the engine, her tongue flicked imperceptibly along her lips, the pressure where his had touched them lingering. She didn’t know why, but that one kiss had stirred something deep inside her that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend. It was fear, she knew, mingled with an emotion that was foreign to her.
    She stole a sideways glance at the burly man seated next to her, and surreptitiously studied his profile. The sharp lines of his face jutted out at awkward, unattractive angles, and his nose was aquiline, lending his features a harsh cast. Along with the swarthiness of his skin and the blackness of his shoulder-length hair, it added to the air of danger that surrounded him.
    She knew not what to think of him. Yesterday, when he’d been sick with worry over Yana, he’d seemed almost… nice. Now? He was probably the most dangerous man she’d ever met. And yet when she was with him she felt strangely alive. As if his mere presence charged the atmosphere with an aura of vivacity.
    Whatever else was wrong with Vitaly Loganov, life with him would never be boring, she instinctively knew, and reluctantly had to admit this secretly thrilled her to some extent.
    She lay back against the headrest and absently stroked Ram’s tangled fur, automatically straightening it. And as she watched the house she’d called her home for the past five years disappearing from view, a twinge of fear told her she was sailing toward an uncertain future. A future now wholly dependent on a single man.

CHAPTER 9

    Briefly, Vitaly considered taking the woman beside him to the airport where her flight awaited. But he knew it would only cause more trouble than she was worth. Yury wouldn’t accept any answer but the truth, and he knew the man to possess an uncanny knack for telling fact from fabrication. He’d know he was lying the moment he opened his mouth to speak.
    There was a reason everyone feared and respected Yury Abraskamov. The man was ruthless when it came to weeding out the competition, but he was even more merciless when it came to dealing with his own. Loyalty was his highest quality, and one he expected from all his associates in return.
    If you did right by Yury, he rewarded you with lavish gifts and the present of his friendship. If you crossed him, in business or personal affairs, your life wasn’t worth a cent.
    Vitaly had worked for the man for going on a decade now, and he wasn’t about to risk his ire over a woman, even if she had saved Yana’s life.
    He cast a glance at her and saw she’d fallen asleep, the wild tangle of hair spread across her face as her chest rose and fell to the rhythm of her deep, even breathing.
    On an impulse, he reached out and pushed back her hair, tucking the strands behind her ear. He told himself he did this so the tickling mane wouldn’t disturb her slumber, but in reality he wanted an undisturbed look at her lovely features.
    Ever since first laying eyes on her, he’d discovered she stirred something deep inside him. He wouldn’t call it love. He