His Ward Read Free Page A

move his hand, tenderly stroking her. “Know what?”
    If she were a cat, she would have purred. All the stress of the last few hours dissipated at his touch. “When I need you.”
    “Because you’re a part of me.” He framed her face with his hand and stared intently into her eyes. “You’re my responsibility.”
    His words were a brisk wake-up call. Even now, when she was sitting before him, covered by a soggy towel and nothing else, he still didn’t see her as a woman but as his ward. “I’m not.”
    “Not what?” A puzzled frown wrinkled his forehead. “A part of me? I beg to differ.”
    She grimaced and jerked away from him. “I’m not your responsibility. Not anymore.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?” His eyes darkened alarmingly. He seemed as offended by her words as she’d been by his.
    “It means that it’s time for you to go. I need to get dressed and…”
    “You said you needed me,” he reminded her unnecessarily, his gaze intent on her face.
    “I’m fine now.”
    He studied her for a long moment, then shook his head. “Tell me what happened.”
    “I need to get dressed,” she said stubbornly. “You should go.”
    For a moment, she thought he would argue, but then he rose from his perch. “In the other room. You’re right.”
    “That’s not what I was saying.” He headed for the door before she’d even finished her sentence. His high-handed manner made him a shark in the corporate world but a pain the ass in every other situation. “I meant you should leave the condo.”
    “And as I said, I’ll wait in the other room. You and I have something to discuss.”
    “Misha, you can’t just barge in here and tell me what to do.”
    “I believe I just did.” He left without saying another word.
    Irritated, she climbed from the tub, leaving the wet towel behind her in the now draining tub. With a fierce tug, she yanked a dry towel from the rack, then used it to dry off, cursing under her breath the entire time. She made quick of working of putting on the clean underthings she’d brought into the bathroom, then slipped on her robe before going after him.
    “Has anyone ever told you what a ginormous ass you can be whe—” She rounded the corner, then came to a complete stop inside the doorway. To her utter surprise, Misha wasn’t alone in her living room. He was accompanied by his cousin as well as two very large and imposing bodyguards. “Really, all this just because I used your driver?”
    “And here I thought you’d be proud because I only brought two guards,” Misha replied. “Gentlemen, turn around, please.” Nicholi along with the two guards accompanying them wasted no time turning their backs to her, reminding her instantaneously of what she was wearing and how little of it there was.
    Heat rushed to her cheeks as she glanced down at the peach thigh-high robe barely covering her. She had grabbed the first thing she saw to put on, but that was before she knew she had a room full of company. “I’m a little underdressed, it seems. Don’t suppose any of you has an extra trench coat I could borrow?” Her attempt at humor failed to garner even the slightest smile from Misha.
    “They don’t. Care to change?”
    Instead of bowing to his wishes, she crossed her arms over her breasts. This was her house, and they were uninvited. “Care to tell me what you’re doing here?”
    Nicholi tried to cover his laughter with a cough, but she wasn’t fooled. Misha’s cousin was definitely the easier going of the two, and if she hadn’t already been head over heels in love with Misha, she might have fallen hard for the tall brunet. But her heart was a loyal one, and it had set its sight on Misha when she was fourteen years old and hadn’t looked away yet. But being in love with him didn’t mean she was going to let him walk all over her.
    Misha arched a brow. “Do I need an invitation? I do own it and everything in it, after all.”
    His haughty tone set her nerves on