Loving You Is Forbidden (Third Book of "Fire and Ice" series)

CH. 22: A matter of pride and provocation

"No, I haven't been around them for the entire day and I always keep very clean when I come to visit..." he halted and stared at me worried.

"I know you visited your sister," I said in a calm but firm tone and he tried his best to muster a confident expression in front of me, yet he did not manage to very convincingly. "I mean no harm to you and to your relatives, hence you can relax. I simply need to talk to you for a few minutes."

"Alright, we can walk there. This area is quite cool and chilled." I nodded and we began to walk. He cleared his throat and glanced at me sideway. "You're really Anatoly's man? He got lucky with you, I can say. He's quite the special case, right? Especially in bed, when you take him in the right way and turn him into an animal." His eyes gleamed with a rather impudent and overly confident light, believing he had reached his goal in provoking me.

I quietly chuckled at his last comment that was a rather pathetic excuse to somehow trigger my temper or any sort of jealousy, insinuating he had the privilege of turning Anatoly in the explosive and very wild lover he was. I chuckled, knowing where the truth lay. Anatoly and I had no secrets between us and we had been very straightforward with each other, which turned out to be the best way between us two. Vincent Dalton glanced back at me and he could not conceal the confused expression, not even when he forced his lips to a rather cocky grin.

Did he really believe that such words would actually provoke any reaction in me? If any, they made me see him for the immature young man he was and that, exactly like Anatoly months ago, needed to grow up. It was time to draw a defining line here, before his arrogance would give him the foolish and very misplaced belief that mere words would sort any effect with me. I had been trained for this and aside this, I knew Anatoly and his past very well.

"Vincent Dalton, before we begin our conversation let us make something very clear." I halted in front of him and stared down as he was shorter. My eyes pierced his and held them without giving him the chance to look away; he felt my dominant presence and that was exactly what I had wanted. "There is nothing you can say concerning Anatoly's past that will upset me. We have been very honest and open with each other; which means I know what sort of relationship you two shared. Whatever happened stays in the past and it is part of Anatoly's past only. However, I know how things really are with Anatoly." I paused to let my words sink in his mind, as I kept assessing him with hard stare. "I am not a jealous man, but I am very protective. Anyone trying to hurt or somehow upset Anatoly goes on my watch list and, in a way or another I will take care of it." Vincent only stared at me completely taken aback and he actually took a step back. His very arrogant and sardonic nature did not function with me. "I am here to talk about something important and I am sure you can help in this. I advise you to not waste time in trying to provoke me: it is pointless. Did I make myself clear enough now?"

He did not speak for almost a minute, solely gazing at me in complete silence and processing the words I had told him with authoritative voice, meant to make him understand our different places. It was evident that my words wrong footed him and made his self-confidence falter; this young man here in front me was not used to deal with a person like me and I understood that he got the message by the way his eyes let go of that futile and pretentious swagger.

"As I said on Sunday, no wonder he punched me when I tried to kiss him. I mean, I had been an ass with him." He shook his head and ran both hands in his dark hair, tilting his head back and staring at the sky. "If I can help him somehow, I will. Anatoly deserves it and I want him to know that I'm not the jerk he thinks I'm."

"He knows that," I said and he gave me a tired smile. "However, I do not wish to put you in any dangerous situation. Anatoly would not be happy about that and I definitely do not wish to upset him in that way; also, I am not the kind of man that would make use of such method. You want to leave the gang, correct?"