Chapter 23
Aman wearing a black sweater stands in the middle aisle of the store, his arms full with a tower of books. His wife rushes up the aisle carrying a paperback.
“Last one! I promise.” She reaches him, and his face lights up. It’s as though she’s brought him the sun.
“As many as you want, Sheri.” He gestures with his chin for her to put the paperback on top of the pile.
“This is it. I think seven should keep me occupied through the week.” She laughs.
“We’ll see.” He grins. “You ready?”
“Yep. That’s it.” She stuffs her hands into her jean pockets. “But we should probably go before anything else catches my eye.”
He leads her up to the register and slides the mountain of books onto the counter. When he twists to look around, I realize I’ve been spying on them from behind the display I’ve been putting together.
“I’ll be right there!” I drop the plastic tubing onto the table, and step over the boxes for tomorrow’s author signing.
I mutter an apology and get them rung up, bagging the books and slipping in a few bookmarks to go along with the purchase before pushing the bag across the counter.
“Thanks.” She reaches for the bag, but he brushes her away and takes it.
She lowers her gaze and thanks him again for the books as he leads her from the store, his hand firmly planted on the small of her back. Warmth rushes through me watching them. Am I jealous of them?
She must feel so loved, so cared for having a man that’s so in-tune with her wants and needs. I didn’t take the time to notice if they were wearing wedding bands, but it doesn’t matter. They’re obviously meant for each other.
For a brief moment I let my mind wander into the what-if portion of my brain I usually keep turned off.
I haven’t thought something close to that could be in my future.
But this past week with Lev has given me a speck of hope.
Maybe it could happen. Maybe I could actually have a husband and children. A family of my very own.
One that I’m not sitting on the outside of looking in. A family that I’m firmly planted in. Where my husband is at my side, and we’re on the same team. Raising our children to know they’re loved and cared for. Where they’ll never have a day of doubt of their worth.
And what if Lev is the man I can have that with?
What a colossal what-if.
“There’s a customer still in the bathroom.” Dmitri steps up to the counter, ruining my little daydream.
Lev only agreed to let me keep my work schedule as normal so long as one of his men kept guard. For the most part, Dmitri has stayed completely unseen. But I’m getting ready to close up soon, so he probably wants to get the last customer out of here.
“We have another ten minutes before we close.” I remind him, and hurry back over to the set up I’m trying to complete before I leave for the night.
The store is only opened until seven tonight, and if I don’t get this finished, I’ll have to either stay later—which will get Lev all up in his bossy feels—or come in early tomorrow. Which would mean having to get up early, and I’d rather not do that.
I’m getting used to sleeping in Lev’s bed. It’s the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in, which has resulted in the most solid sleep I’ve had in years. I can’t remember feeling so rested when I wake up as I have this past week in Lev’s bed.
Even when he wakes me up in the middle of the night and keeps me up for hours, I wake up feeling as though I’d been sleeping on clouds. No matter the soreness between my legs or the dull ache of desire that lingers even after he’s made me climax until my eyes cross.
“He’s been in there too long.” Dmitri turns, facing the aisle that leads to the bathrooms.
“Dmitri, what do you think he’s doing in there? Planting a bomb?” I step back over the packages that still need to be opened.
There’s still so much to be done. The books need to be unboxed and shelved in the display, the table needs a tablecloth, and this stupid frame for the backdrop for the author needs to be put together.
“I’m going to see what he’s doing.” Dmitri decides loudly, then stalks off through the store.
“Don’t scare him!” I call after him, but he’s already halfway there and no doubt isn’t listening to me.
I decide to leave the author banner for the morning and focus on getting the book stock unboxed and up onto the temporary shelving. Pre-ordered copies will need go on one side and the rest of the stock on the other.
As I crouch down to grab one of the boxes, the front door opens.
“Sorry, we’re just closing,” I call out, lifting the box as I stand. It’s too heavy, though, and a pain shoots through my lower back.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Lev’s at my side in an instant, grabbing the box and pulling it from my grasp as easily as plucking an apple from a tree.
I take a small step back, stretching up to my full height until the spasm in my back subsides.
“I was just lifting the box. It’s heavier than I thought.”
Lev turns me away from him and rubs the spot on my back.
“You shouldn’t be lifting all this, anyway,” he mutters. “You could have hurt yourself. Where the hell is Dmitri?”
He’s only been here thirty seconds and already he’s in a bad mood.
“He doesn’t work here, Lev.” I lean into his warm hands. The pain has already left but having him rubbing my back this way feels too good to let him stop.
“I put him here with you. That means he works with you.”
“No. It means he hangs out, stays out of my way, and makes sure no Armenian or Italian mobsters come in here to kill me.” I gently pull away from his deliciously warm hands and face him.
“Which we both know won’t happen, but in order for you to feel better about me being here every day, I’ve agreed to let Dmitri keep me company. ”
Lev’s jaw tightens. He turns his attention at the boxes at my feet.
“You shouldn’t be doing all of this on your own. I don’t like you here by yourself all the time.”
“Well, Mr. Miller likes a slim payroll.” I pat his chest, feeling the strong muscles beneath his jacket. “If he hired more help, he’d likely cut my hours.”
“He’s cheap. You do all the work here, and he gets all the profit. Even the other women who work here don’t do as much as you.”
I never should have let him ask so many questions about my job. But I’d been trying to get him to relent on the whole never-leaving-his-penthouse-again attitude and thought I was doing the right thing.
“It’s fine.” I push another box with my foot. “I’ll just open them on the floor, I think.”
“Keep walking.” Dmitri’s booming voice draws our attention.
It’s the customer he’d been concerned about. A man around fifty with more salt than pepper in his thinning hair and a beer belly leading the way, is shoved out of the aisle. He stumbles, but catches himself before falling, sputtering something under his breath.
“You’re not coming back here. Understood.” Dmitri grabs the man by the back collar of his jacket and drags him the rest of the way out of the store, opening the door and shoving him out onto the street.
I move, ready to argue with Dmitri, but Lev places a hand on my arm. His silent order to stay put and stay quiet.
After the door shuts again and Dmitri watches through the glass until he’s satisfied the man’s gone before turning back to us.
“I told you he was in there too long.” He holds up a book and shakes it. “He was reading this in one of the stalls, jerking off.”
I pull back. “What? Oh my god.”
Lev takes the book from him and looks at the cover, his brow lifts. “Deviant Debutante? This is why you shouldn’t be alone here. What if you had gone in there to check on him, and he was in the middle of jerking his cock?”
For once, he has a solid point. It’s not exactly a sight I would want to see or have to deal with.
“The odds of that happening ever again are small to none,” I say instead of agreeing because once you give Lev an inch he’s going to bulldoze over the next mile. The next thing you know, I’ll be having a full security team here.
Dmitri grabs his coat from behind the counter. “I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Of course you will.” I nod. “It’s a late night tomorrow. Dante Woods is here for a signing at seven.”
“You’re here in the morning all the way through?” Lev accuses.
“Michelle is going to open the store, but I still need to get this all set up.”
“Then let’s get it done. You’ll sleep in tomorrow and come in late.”
“You need help?” Dmitri stares at the boxes.
“No. I’ll get it done. I have something else for you to do.” Lev pulls out his phone and walks Dmitri to the front door, switching to Russian as he explains whatever job he’s giving out.
As I reach down to open one of the boxes, he shouts over his shoulder, “Don’t touch those boxes.”
I leave the boxes and put my mind to getting the shelving all put together and in place.
One on each side of where the author will be sitting.
He’s supposed to have a team of three coming with him to help distribute the books and keep the line moving, so as long as I get it all set up, it should be an easy night.
Lev’s hands wrap around my waist as I’m straightening a shelf, and he pulls me back into him.
I melt into him, just for a second. Long enough to let the warmth of his voice and his touch run over me and soothe the tension from the afternoon.
It’s a dangerous game I’m playing, letting myself enjoy these sorts of moments. But I can’t seem to stop myself anymore. It’s become an addiction.
“Let’s get this finished. We have to make a stop on the way home, and the sooner I get you home, the better.” His eyes are full of mischief and arousal.
“You’re going to help me?”
He tears open the first box, then looks up at me. “Of course. Tell me where these go.”
I blink, silently lost for a moment. He runs the arms dealing for the entire Bratva, but he’s going to spend his night unboxing books with me.
“Max.” He quirks a brow. “Where do these go?”
“Oh. Uh, on those shelves. The box labeled pre-ordered go over here. I have to make sure I don’t sell those before they’re picked up.”
He nods, then gets to work, unboxing and unpacking and tearing down the boxes. All alongside me as I get the area organized and finally get the author banner fixed up.
“Have you ever thought of doing this for yourself?” He asks while pushing in the last bit of plastic tubing to secure the banner in place.
“Doing what?”
“Owning a bookstore? I mean you’re running this place and getting none of the profits.”
“It’s a small store.”
He drops his hands to his sides and frowns. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” I gather up the paper packaging and start stuffing it into garbage bags.
“Don’t make it sound like you do less than you do. This place has doubled its profit in the last year you’ve worked here. Do you know that?”
I freeze. Mr. Miller does the bookkeeping himself, but I have seen reports come over from the accountant. How can Lev know what sort of profit Mr. Miller is making?
“Did you talk to my boss?”
“No.” He hooks his hands on his hips. “I have my own way of getting information. And this place has doubled its profits because of you, so why wouldn’t you consider doing this on your own?”
The man is impossible. Always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.
“For one, a start-up is insanely expensive. And since you’ve gone behind my back to look into what my boss makes on this place, I can assume you’ve seen how small my own salary is.
There’s no way I could get a loan to start a business.
And where would I open a bookstore? If I go too far into the city, I have to compete with the big chains and other specialty shops that are already established. ”
“So you have thought about it?” He takes the last empty box from my hands.
I lift a shoulder. “It’s crossed my mind, but I like it this way. I have no risk here.”
“Sure you do. If he goes under, you lose your job. Same thing if you owned it. And if you owned it, you’d be able to do the things you want, like add a larger romance section.”
“You tapped into my emails?” There is no boundary this man won’t cross.
“No. I heard you talking with Nicolette before she left. She had you on speaker.”
“I’m right about the romance section. And putting in a corner for indie authors, especially for the local writers. But it’s his place.”
“But you’ve never thought about it?” The sarcasm in his tone isn’t subtle.
“Don’t we need to get going?” I pick up the trash bag full of the packaging material.
He checks his watch. “We should. I’ll take that, you get your things.”
“And he’s back to being bossy.”
A playful swat lands across my ass. When I turn to give him a look he winks, unlocking an entirely new level of desire.
It’s hopeless.
This whole situation is hopeless. There’s an axe hanging over us, and as soon as my brothers get back the executioner is going to take his swing.