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"I could die here." Her frizzy head tilted. "I'm more likely to die here. You have a half decent security system, right?" she addressed Joey Chan.

"The best." The man's eyes gleamed. Because he'd have her in his home. Nik's hands balled into fists.

"The best," she repeated. "This is a casino, anyone could walk in. A home would be more secure."

"Tatyana." She had a point but...

"I trust you to protect me, Nikky." She covered one of his fists with both of her hands.

"That'll be easier to do if you isolate the threat."

"There has to be another way." Something they hadn't thought of.

"There isn't. That's why Pavel let me through. He knows there isn't. Grandfather knows there isn't. You know there isn't." She held his gaze. There was no uncertainty in her eyes.

"We'll do this together, you and I."

He paused. There was no other way. "We won't fail." He couldn't. He'd keep Tatyana safe.

"We won't." Her smile reassured him.

"Then, it is decided," Grandfather declared. "Tomorrow, Nikolay and Tatyana will be your guests." He shook Joey Chan's hand. "And tomorrow, we end this."

"Gladly." Chan stood. "I'll go. I have much to prepare for."

Nik walked with him to the door. "As do I." He would double up any security Chan had.

Tatyana was his responsibility.

"Tatyana will see you out, Chan. I have use for Nikolay."

Nik gritted his teeth. Called to heel like a damn dog. "Tatyana."

She gave him a brave smile. "I'll be okay, Nikky." She reached up and kissed his chin. "Boris and Ivan will be with me. I won't leave the casino. I promise."

"Don't fret, comrade. I won't steal her away." Chan laughed. "Today." Before Nik could tell him to go to hell, they were gone.

"Our plan does not please you?" Grandfather lit a cigar, taking short, quick puffs to get it started.

No, it did not please him. Not at all. "Chan's involvement is unnecessary." Nik threw himself into the booth. "A Kaerta home would be more secure." He didn't like another man having primary responsibility for his fiancee's protection.

"More secure than Chan's?" Grandfather snorted. "Unlikely." Nik couldn't argue. The man was paranoid. "The killer expects us to use a Kaerta facility. He'll know our buildings inside and out. Chan's home..." He shrugged. "Maybe not. And this allows us another layer of security. Chan's best men. Our best men."

They'd need them. "He's a professional."

"As are our men and professionals do make mistakes."

Rarely. "So, we kill him and then what?" Nik took out his favorite pack of playing cards, shuffling as he thought. "Whoever hired him will find a replacement. It'll be a temporary solution." All this would start again.

More lines appeared around those wrinkled eyes. "True. But that's next week's problem."

Next week. Igroek. Tatyana. "What's her relation to Igroek?"

Grandfather puffed on his cigar. "Could be nothing. Could be something. Next week we'll know." He leaned forward. "Keep her safe, Nikolay. If this goes wrong..."

War. It'd be war. For that to happen... "Igroek's daughter died years ago." Some sort of hushed-up family situation, the details hazy.

"Supposedly." Another puff. "After running away with a man her father disapproved of."

Tatyana's family tradition. "Shit." Igroek was the brat's grandfather. That wasn't supposed to happen. She was his, and only his. Damn it.

Grandfather chuckled. "I couldn't have said it better myself." He tapped the cigar against the ashtray. "These are interesting times, Nikolay."

Eyes tracked Tatyana as she moved through the casino floor. Her costume, a red, sequined, body hugging tube dress ensured that. It was bright, bordering on garish, particularly chosen to draw attention. If the killer didn't know where she was before this, he would now.

When Nikky spotted her, his face would be even grimmer than it was this morning. "Where is he?" She hadn't seen the ass since their meeting with Grandfather and Joey Chan.

"Security," Boris answered, Ivan following at a greater distance.

Nikky must be locked up with Pavel, preparing for tomorrow. She had preparations to make too, equally unpleasant. Tatyana perched in front of a penny slot machine, put a dollar in, spun, and waited.

"Cousin Tatyana." She didn't have to wait long. Stepan sat beside her, his leg brushing her thigh.

Cousin Tatyana? So now she was back to being family? He must think her a complete idiot.

She didn't answer, ignoring him.

"You and Joey Chan looked cozy earlier."

"Looks can be deceiving, dear cousin." She glared straight ahead, spinning. Pineapple, red seven, diamond. Nothing.

"Or not. Should your fiance be worried?" Stepan didn't bother playing, staring at her in that creepy, needy sort of way.

"If I was engaged to any other man, maybe." She pressed the spin button. "But Nikky isn't any other man." A pineapple, purple bar, red apple.

"I think he should be worried. Joey Chan has influence my cousin might never have. Nikolay reports to Grandfather. Joey Chan reports to no one." Joey Chan also murdered his previous wife and is a male chauvinistic jerk. What was Stepan's point? "There are rumors that you brought this morning's trouble to us, that Joey Chan was looking for a woman resembling you, that Nikolay, like Grandfather, took what didn't belong to him."

Tatyana knew the source of those rumors. Two-faced bastard. She spun. "You think I should leave Nikky for Joey Chan?"

"I didn't say that." Stepan squirmed, aware he had gone too far. As he had. Nikky would go ballistic if she relayed this conversation. "But you could get to know him better."

That was the opening she needed. "Well, I can't help but do that with Nikky and I being at Joey Chan's house all weekend. Oh, no." She covered her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to say anything." She looked to the left and right, feigning concern. "Forget that last bit."

"It's already forgotten, little Tatyana." The cousin lapped it up. "My lips are sealed."

Stepan's smirk communicated that they weren't.

"I knew I could count on you." To do the opposite of what he should. The killer would know exactly where to find them.

"Of course, you can count on him." A warm hand rested on her shoulder. "You are family and Stepan is loyal to family," Nikky warned.

"Nikolay." Stepan stood. Chicken shit.

"Stepan," Nikky dismissed his cousin, kissing Tatyana's neck.

Stepan looked to Tatyana, then Nikky, as though he wanted to stay. Receiving no encouragement, he turned and slinked off.

Tatyana stifled a smile. Nikky bossed people around simply by looking at them. He shuffled that ragged deck he carried with him always, his long fingers flying. He did that when he thought. And whatever he was currently thinking wasn't pleasant.

"You going to play?" She loved how fierce he got sitting at the blackjack tables. Like it was serious business and not a game.

He smiled, slow and sexy. "We're going to play. You and I."

"But..." She glanced around them. His family was everywhere. They'd notice her bad luck. "I always lose, Nikky."

"You won't when you're playing with me." He sounded sure of that. She let him draw her to her feet. "I'll show you how to win."

Shit. Nik stared at the cards in disbelief. The dealer had twenty-one. Again. A push, Tatyana neither losing nor winning. He was engaged to the unluckiest woman on the planet.

"Amazing, Boss." Pavel shook his head. Ivan crossed himself. Boris simply chuckled.

The brat smiled at him, happy as anything. "I'm not losing, Nikky."

No. Because he was switching her cards. They were cheating and she still wasn't winning.

Impossible, and eventually she'd lose or the dealer would suspect. "Do you want to play some more, Tatyana?" Because he had had enough.

She shrugged. "There isn't really any point, is there? I don't lose, but I don't win, either."

"Good." He tossed the cards. "Let's play poker." He'd indulge in a couple of games to calm his mind. Then a night with the brat to settle his body.

His men flung money on the table, the dealer converting it to chips. "Nikky." Tatyana fingered her own chips, the exact same stack she started with.

His Walmart-shopping girl was so easy to read. Although it wasn't her own money, she didn't want to lose it. "You wanna be my good luck charm, Brat?" He patted his knee.

"The odds may be even then." Pavel's ugly face lit up. "It doesn't work that way." Tatyana cast the big man a dark look before moving over, reclining on Nik like he was a chair. The curve of her ass made him harden. She wiggled.

He groaned. "Brat," he warned.

She stilled, giving a contented sigh, as though she'd accomplished what she set out to do.

Which was to drive him crazy. Her frizzy hair tickled his neck. Her scent filled his nostrils.

Damn, he wanted her. Nik tried to concentrate on the game.

Tatyana concentrated on Nikky. After the first game, won by her fiance, the far superior player, she shifted so she could watch his almost emotionless face. Almost emotionless because he had a slight tell. When he bluffed, his brown eyes darkened similarly to how they did when he was aroused.

No one else seemed to notice. She touched his square chin. Because no one else knew that about him. She traced his lips. Nikky kissed her fingertips, not taking his gaze off the cards.

Only she knew Nikky.

For all her brave talk about tomorrow, she was scared. She'd lose him. That was guaranteed. If they were successful, there'd be no reason for him to continue on with this farce of an engagement, his commitment to the green-eyed woman done. If they weren't successful, he'd be dead.

Her heart seized. Her fingers trembled as she gripped his suit jacket lapels. She wouldn't survive his death. It would destroy her. "Nikky?" She needed him to reassure her.

"Brat." His gaze flicked to her. They stared at each other, Tatyana letting all her fears show.

His face softened. "We're out." Nikky tossed the cards on the table.

"Boss," Pavel protested. Groans erupted from the other players.

Nikky ignored them, gathering her up in his arms, as though he didn't want to let her go, either. As though he truly cared for her. They moved through the casino without speaking, Nikky nodding to people he knew, Tatyana nestled in his arms, thinking.

When they reached their room, she had reached a decision. "Nikky." She slid down his body to stand before him. "You shouldn't come tomorrow."

"I'm coming. Tonight, tomorrow, and the day after that." He tugged her top down.

He knew what she was referring to. Tatyana placed her hands on her hips, preventing the dress from slipping to the ground. "Pavel and Boris and Ivan can handle it. You don't need to be there." He didn't need to put himself in danger.

"You are my fiancee." Nikky cupped her breasts, kissing her neck. "I will be there."

"Your fake fiancee," she reminded him, forcing herself to remain strong. "There's no need to do this. You're too important to put yourself at risk."

That stopped him. Nikky stepped back, eyes flashing. "Too important to the family, you mean. Did Grandfather put you up to this? No way am I going to be chained up here like a damn dog while some assassin hunts down my fiancee. If he thinks that..." He headed to the door.

What the hell was he talking about? "This isn't about the family or your grandfather." She scowled at his back. "This is about me. You're too important to me." She rolled her eyes as he looked over his shoulder. "Me. Ass."

He stopped. "I'm important to you?"

"Didn't I just say that?" What was he? Hard of hearing?

He turned, grinning. "You care about me?"

"Of course I do. Why else would I still be here?" That grin spread. "If I didn't love you, I would have run long ago. Nothing you or your pathetic security team could have done would have stopped me. Believe me." His shoulders shook. "If you laugh at me, I'm going to punch you in the nose." She waved her index finger at him. Idiotic man.

"You love me." That imprudent confession set him off. He bent over, laughing.

Bringing his beautifully straight nose within striking distant. She intentionally missed, making a solid connection with his square chin, the smack of flesh against flesh loud in the quiet room.

"What the hell?" He rubbed the red mark.

"I warned you." She backed up as he straightened. "I will not have my feelings laughed at and my fears dismissed like they don't mean anything, like I don't mean anything." The long skirt hampered her movements so she pulled her dress down, stepping out of the circle of fabric.

"Oh, you mean something, Brat." His gaze swept over her heaving breasts.

Was sex all he thought about? "Pay attention." She threw a stiletto at him. Nikky caught it easily. "Tomorrow, you will stay here, let your men handle the psychopath."

"No one handles you but me." He took a step forward.

"I am not the psychopath." She threw the other shoe at him. He caught that one, too, dropping it on the carpet. "Damn it."

"Language, Brat."

Language? He was about to get himself killed and he worried about language? "You're staying here. I mean it."

"Only if you stay here." He backed her into a corner. "I'll be wherever you are."

"You'll get yourself killed." She used her bra as a slingshot, launched at his face. He caught that, too. "That'll really piss me off, Nikky." She couldn't deal with that thought.

"Language, Brat."

She ignored him, funneling all her fears into her anger. "You haven't seen me truly pissed off, but if you die, you will, I promise you. I'm going to beat you until you can't see straight."

"Because you love me." He was so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

She shook her head. "I said that already. Focus, Ass." Why wasn't he touching her? That's what she needed. She arched an eyebrow. He looked down, pointedly. Right. She was still wearing her panties. He was a lazy bastard, wanting her to undress herself. She pulled them down and kicked them at him.

"I'm focused." He captured her ankle, raising her leg, his other hand on her waist, securing her. "I'm not going to die, Brat." He kissed her. She leaned against his hard body, wanting to believe him. "I need you to trust me."