“That’s one for the day.”
“What? Why?”
“What did I say about the word okay?”
Ugh. “Ok—I mean, fine. Fine. How about if I only ask for one reward a day?”
He shakes his head.
“Once every other day?”
“No.”
“Twice a week?”
“Once a week and I’ll judge whether or not it’s reasonable.”
I squeal. “Yes!”
In my delight that I won one against the devil himself, I catch myself on the verge of hugging him before I remember who he is.
No matter what he grants me, I will not be grateful. I will not humanize him.
Adrian stares down at me with what resembles approval, and I try not to get caught up in it.
Keyword being try.
Adrian’s attention is like a powerful magnet I can’t escape from. A black hole that swallows everything in its surroundings.
But the truth remains—he’s only seeing Lia in me.
And I’m far from being her or her ghost. I’m a shell who needs to go back to her numb state before I become a danger to his and his son’s life.
18
Adrian
My fingers tap against the wood of my desk as I stare at the feed on my screen.
Kolya sits across from me, telling me about the latest reports from V Corp, but my concentration is scattered, and I’m hardly paying his words any attention.
Lia is hugging Jeremy, their legs wrapped around each other as they sleep on his bed. Her dress rides up her pale thigh, barely hiding the crack of her ass. Even through the monitor, I can see the red welts on the backs of her thighs from last night’s punishment. I didn’t hold back, and she writhed and squirmed more than the other times.
She almost screamed. Almost.
She’s developed the habit of napping with Jeremy over the past couple of days. Something that makes my son ecstatic.
It’s been a week since she became a part of his life, and he has no doubt in his mind that she’s his mother.
During this short period of time, Lia has been doing weird things, like dressing him to match her and dancing with him in the hallways—things that Ogla does not like. His nanny has scarcely done any work, because Lia makes sure she’s Jeremy’s only caregiver, teacher, and playmate. In no time, they’ve become inseparable, their bond growing naturally, without the need for my interference.
However, her influence isn’t exactly very positive. While I’m glad Jeremy is coming out of his shell, she’s teaching him unnecessary things, like how to whistle or to run inside the house as they play hide-and-seek. I often bump into them, and she uses Jeremy’s presence as a shield to escape my questioning.
At night, though, when Jeremy’s fast asleep, she can’t avoid me. At first, she tried to convince me that she’s better off sleeping with him because he needs her more, but after that ended with her being punished, she started coming to the bedroom of her own volition.
Her movements remain hesitant with a slight twinge of fear in her light blue eyes. But the moment I touch her, she free-falls with no wings to hold her upright.
It’s not due to her lack of resistance, because she does resist, fighting tooth and nail.
Lia still bites her lip or the pillow to muffle any sound she might make. She still stares at me with defiance after she orgasms. She still turns away from me when she sleeps and inches to the edge of the bed to keep as much distance from me as possible. She still stiffens like a board whenever I wrap an arm around her waist and flatten my chest against the delicate skin of her back.
I’m waiting for her to come around with time, but I’m not a patient man. Correction. I’m not a patient man when it comes to her.
In other parts of my life, I’m the epitome of steady decisions. I don’t allow myself to get agitated or to lose my head; that will only lead me to rash decisions, and eventually, to my downfall.
When it comes to Lia, however, I seem to lose sight of my modus operandi. It doesn’t help that she defies me every step of the way. Even when she’s shattering all over my fingers.
She looks so compliant when asleep, her lips slightly parted and the soft lines of her face in eternal peace.
If only she were as docile while awake.
Maybe it’s her sleeping face that stops me. Maybe it’s her relationship with Jeremy.
But I’ve been holding off the inevitable for some time now. I need to take the next step with her before it’s too late.
“Kirill didn’t show any suspicious activity,” Kolya says, tapping rapidly on his laptop.
When he received military training, Kolya excelled in both the intellectual and the physical departments. In a way, he’s the most valuable second-in-command in the entire brotherhood. And he’s smart enough to hide his actual worth so that the Pakhan doesn’t take him for himself. Nikolai Sokolov came close once, but he died before he could fight me for him.
“Don’t allow the men to slacken around Kirill,” I say, still watching Lia. “He’s most likely waiting for an opportunity to strike.”
“They’re my best men. They wouldn’t disappoint you.”
“We will see.” I pause, tapping on the desk. “How about Vladimir?”
“We can’t tell for sure.” Kolya pauses and stares for a beat at his laptop screen before his brown eyes slide back to me. “He’s keeping his cards close to his chest, but since the Pakhan hasn’t said anything, he knows nothing.”
“He knows nothing yet. That could change any second.”
Kolya taps a few more things into his laptop. “Vladimir’s movements have been normal. He’s done nothing unusual except for going to the police station.”
“He could be getting help.”
“From whom?”
“Mikhail. Igor. Rai,” I enunciate her name. “Keep an eye on the three of them and on her husband. He has killer friends and wouldn’t hesitate to use their intel if he thinks it would benefit her.”
“Not Damien and Kirill?”
“Kirill wouldn’t have told me if he were going to choose the other side. His game is different than internal affairs. And Damien doesn’t get involved in anything that won’t allow him to use his fists.”
“On it.”
“And Kolya?”
“Yes?” He lifts his head.
“We need to have a meeting with the Italians.”
His Adam’s apple bobs up and down with a swallow. Nothing gets that reaction from my second-in-command. Not blood, not killing, and not even bombing a place just to get me out. When we were in our twenties, he single-handedly killed five men to save me from an attempted assassination.
He’s the most courageous and loyal man I know, and it’s been tested throughout the twenty-five years we’ve known each other. The fact that he’s even showing a sliver of discomfort right now is for one reason, and one reason only.
He’s worried for my life.
“I’m against it, sir.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion. I only told you that it will happen.”
“With all due respect, if Sergei or any of the others find out, it’ll be the last strike. They will have every reason to question your loyalty.”