His Ward Read Free

and moving arrangements all at the same time, and by the time Tionne’s father was laid to rest in his new home in Arlington Cemetery, Tionne had been moved into Misha’s home, along with two of the most overpaid, unnecessary au pairs, who’d watched over her despite her being at an age where she didn’t need a babysitter, let alone two. Despite how she’d pleaded, Misha would not be moved. He insisted it was the proper thing to do, and as with all things, what Misha wanted, Misha got.
    Even all these years later, he was still the self-appointed “boss of her.” Tionne worked in one of his many companies in a job specifically made for family members, where she did nothing of importance for an obscene salary. She lived in a condo he owned, drove a car he’d bought, and wore clothes purchased with funds he deposited monthly into a checking account, despite the fact she was employed.
    Misha did everything in his power to insure she wanted for nothing. And if she went to him with this small problem, Misha would make everything better. But in order to do that, she’d have to tell him what she’d done, and that, of course, was out of the question.
    There was no way on earth she wanted to explain to Misha that she’d chickened out of going through with her plan to lose her virginity. This was a disaster of her own making. She had no one to blame but herself, and no matter how easy Misha made it for her to run to him when she had a problem, she refused to get him involved. Tionne was a grown-up. It was about time she started acting like one.
    Resolved, she pressed the Off button on her cell phone, then dropped it over the side of the tub onto the bathmat. The sound of it thudding against the decorative rug rang nicely in her ears as she lay back. She could get through this on her own. The only question was how.
    Groaning, she closed her eyes and sank deeper under the water. As was her way when she was thinking, she tapped her fingers on her forehead. “What to do? What to do? What to do?”
    “The first thing I would suggest is to stop doing that.”
    Tionne opened her eyes and screamed at the unexpected voice. Her gaze landed directly on the very man she’d been debating calling not even a minute ago. Acting instinctively, she crossed her arms over her breasts and sat up so the sudsy water covered her lower half. Her fear quickly morphed into irritation as she focused on calming her pounding heart. “What the hell, Misha.”
    “Language,” he reprimanded calmly, as if him standing in her bathroom in the middle of the night was the norm.
    His audacity blew her away. “Seriously.” Tionne reached over the side of the tub with one hand while shielding her breasts with the other and yanked her towel from the floor. She pulled the thick material into the water and used the cloth to cover her body. “You barge into my bathroom, scare me half to death, and now you’re going to chastise me for saying hell.”
    Misha frowned. “You know I don’t like to hear you curse.”
    “Well, I don’t like being scared witless.”
    “I assure you, your wit seems fully intact.”
    To her surprise, Misha reached down and picked up her bathtub caddy. He moved it to the sink, then came back and took a seat as boldly as he pleased on the side of the tub. He was dressed as if he were on the way to a business meeting, immaculately clothed and not a sable hair out of place. He was as out of place in her bathroom in a suit as a baby would be in a bar, yet somehow he still seemed to fit in.
    “Are you okay?”
    “Besides this mini heart attack?”
    “Don’t deflect.” He reached out and ran the back of his knuckles against her cheek. Her resistance ebbed away, and she found herself leaning into his touch. “Tell me, moja draga .”
    My darling, his private nickname for her . Just like that, Tionne melted. This was why her first instinct was to turn to him. He was so gentle with her. “How do you always know?”
    He continued to