Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Ryker
Taking the stairs two at a time, I head back down to the garage and then push the elevator button to make my way to the second floor.
I see the camera lights flash, telling me they’re back on.
I don’t love that I’m deceiving Dimitri. He was the man who’d pushed for me to take over the Palace. My brothers would not have put me in charge otherwise and it was an assist that I greatly appreciated.
But in the quest for independence, all is fair.
It’s not that my partnership with my brothers hasn’t been profitable. They have worked tirelessly to bring all of us the kind of wealth that is almost unimaginable, by negotiating our family into a half dozen profitable casinos, two of them connecting to an underground tunnel.
If Vegas visitors loved the convenience of overpass walkways, they adore the tunnel. Equipped with moving walkways, there is no concept of day or night, it’s just all fun as they quickly move from casino floor to casino floor.
These moves have made us billionaires.
But as a researcher, I have always had an eye for detail, and it’s the details that have doubled the Palace’s profits even in the short three months I’ve been at the helm. Imagine what I could do with our other businesses if they allowed me to take charge. But they don’t.
My plans are much larger than that.
Like I said, it’s not that I don’t love my family, but I’m tired of living in their shadow. It’s time for me to have a deal that’s all my own.
The elevator opens and I step into the lobby of the second floor, which we’ve converted into a meeting space.
The building is nearly empty and used only in emergencies like these.
A month ago, Dimitri had come to my family with the proposition. He owned three mid-level casinos that his father mostly used to wash money. He’d sell us two casinos if we’d give him access to the tunnel with his third.
It was a win/win proposition. With a property on the tunnel, he’d make more money than all three properties combined.
And for us, we’d have access to more Vegas real estate that we could, with proper management that his father had never allowed him, turn them into money-makers.
Dimitri is an intelligent man, he could have made money with them himself, but his father tied his hands, using the casinos to wash the Bratva’s dirty money.
Selling the properties, technically in Dimitri’s name, had been his move to put his father on notice. Dimitri didn’t work for the Bratva anymore.
The affair had culminated in Dimitri’s father confronting his son as he’d held a gun to Sasha’s head and then tried to kill Dimitri.
Bastard.
I hadn’t been there when it all went down. But Tris and Gris had seen the entire thing, and they’d said it was as gritty as any shit my public father, the sixth Duke of Grandmont, had put us through.
Our “father” had been tough on all six of his “sons.” But he’d known that Killian and I weren’t his real children, and he’d been merciless on the two of us.
Dimitri stands by the back bank of windows, looking out into the twinkling lights of Las Vegas, his profile lit by the city lights.
He scrubs at his jaw, the tattoos that cover his hands dancing in the light.
I’m a man who likes a good tattoo. I’ve got a full set of ink across my chest. But I keep mine hidden in places they won’t be seen in a shirt and tie.
I’m business by day…
Dimitri turns to me, “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
I barely keep the grimace from my face. There is no point in delaying with pleasantries. It’s nearly midnight and I’ve still got a fair bit of work to do.
Then again, this is a test. An opportunity to see how receptive Dimitri is to my wedding addendum. “I’d like to request a change for the upcoming nuptials.”
Dimitri turns to me then, his brow furrowed. “What kind of change.”
I stop, drawing in a deep breath through my nose, creating the pause that says I’ve thought this through. “It’s a bit delicate.”
“All right.” I can tell by his tone that he’s already impatient. Which I can appreciate. Men like Dimitri, my brothers, myself…we don’t do bullshit.
“While Katarina is lovely…”
Dimitri draws himself up taller. “She is that.”
“I find that I have…feelings…” I hate that word. I’ve never told a woman in my entire life that I have feelings for her. Emotions are things you bury deep. You never share them. “For Sasha.”
Dimitri’s eyes widen, his lips parting in surprise. “Seriously?”
What the hell is that supposed to mean? “Seriously.”
“For Sasha? My sister?” He shakes his head like I’ve lost my mind.
My brow furrows, irritation snapping my back straighter. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Dimitri shrugs. “I don’t know. Katarina is worldly while Sasha…
” His shoulders lift as his hands come out, palms up.
“I’m not sure she’ll ever marry. She’s not—” he looks up at the ceiling like he’ll find the words up there.
“Try to understand that Katarina is much more suited for a marriage of convenience. She’ll do her part, even stand tall, but Sasha… ”
That’s exactly why I don’t want Katarina. Sasha, among other things, will be so much easier to bend to my will. “You’re sure you’re not underestimating Sasha?”
“That will be my problem. It’s too late to change anything now.”
The hell it is. I’m not marrying Katarina because a piece of expensive vellum was sent in the mail.
“I’m fairly certain that Sasha feels the same about me that I do about her.”
Dimitri’s chin whips back. “How can you be certain? You’ve not even spoken, have you?”
I place a thumb over my finger, cracking the joint before I move to the next. “We’ve talked, and I see the interest in her eyes, feel the attraction. We’re much better suited.”
This is a new low even for me, but I plan to make this worth Sasha’s while, especially now that I know what she wants.
Dimitri shakes his head, turning back toward the windows. “I’ll have to think on it.”
I nod, cracking another knuckle. “Of course.”
“Sasha, she’s always struggled with this life more than the rest of us. It’s not…” He stops, seeming to search for the words again.
“I know what shadows my family operates within, but I am just a businessman, brother to a duke. My professional life is in the light.”
Dimitri looks back at me then. “And your personal life?”
He’s got me there. “I don’t have one.”
“Amen to that,” he looks back out the window. “I’ll consider what you’ve said and get back to you, tomorrow.”
While part of me wants to push, I refrain. If it’s a maybe, it’s a no. It’s an unwritten rule in negotiation that I learned a long time ago.
That means, I already have my answer.
But another rule I live by is not to take no for an answer. If the front door doesn’t work, it’s time to find the back entrance.
With a nod, I turn back to the elevator, but I don’t head down to the parking garage. Instead, I push the up arrow.
My brother Killian has also moved into the building as an added security measure for Dimitri and his family’s protection. None of us had any idea if and when their father might attack again, which is why, when Sasha and I marry—and we will marry—we’ll live in this building as well.
While I might be using her for my gain, I’ll keep her safe while we’re wed. That is a promise.
The elevator opens and I step in, pressing the button for my brother’s floor. The penthouse I’m moving into tomorrow has a private elevator that opens directly into the apartment, but Killian chose the floor below, wanting a hallway and a front door.
Which means that after I step out of the elevator, I had to walk past two other doors to knock on his.
But my knock is met with silence.
Are they sleeping? Killian is usually up all night, so it would surprise me if he were already in bed. Is he out?
I knock again.
“Who the fuck is at my door?” Killian barks, the sound of his voice carrying through the thick wood.
“It’s me,” I call back. “Open the door.”
It opens up a few second later, my brother in nothing but a small pair of briefs, his erection on full display. “This had better be a fucking emergency.”
Behind him, Chloe, his wife, appears, wrapped in nothing but a sheet. Her blonde hair is tousled, and her eyes shine bright with a slightly dazed expression like she was in the middle of very happy experience. “Is everything all right?” she asks, her breath still coming in short little gasps.
Jesus. No wonder Killian hardly leaves his apartment. I can smell the sex, feel the steam. For a moment, I’m actually jealous.
Not of Chloe. She’s cute and all, but not my type. But I do feel a twinge at what my brother has found. A woman that he loves so much, he’s completely devoted, and in return, she must be making him feel like the most virile man.
“I don’t know yet,” Killian growls, shifting to block Chloe from my view. Like I might be interested in his wife. Please. “But if Ryker doesn’t get to the point, what’s about to be wrong is the way I kick his ass all the way back to the elevator.”
I give him a half grin for that. “Go ahead and try.”
Killian is feared by most men. He’s got this dead stare that sets people on edge, and then there’s the fact that he’s a remorseless killing machine.
But in hand-to-hand combat, I kick his ass every time because I taught him most everything he knows.
“Go back to bed, Chloe. I’ll be right there,” he tosses the words over his shoulder before he turns back to me. “Why are you here, Ryker?”
I wait for Chloe to disappear and then I give my brother a level stare. “I need,” I pause, just so he feels the weight of the next words, “Katarina’s phone number.”
Killian’s eyes bug out. It takes a lot to catch my brother by surprise, but I have. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Trust me on this one, it’s better.” My brothers all agreed, since there was no backing out, it would be in everyone’s best interest for me and Katarina to get to know one another after the wedding. But plans have changed.
Killian cocks his head, giving me the side eye. “You’re planning something.”
No one knows me better than Killian. I’m a year and a few days older than him, which means we really grew up together. Coupled with both being our father’s least favorite sons…
Instead of addressing his accusation, I shift. “You ever get tired of being on the fringe of our family?”
“I like the fringe.” He shrugs. “And it’s gotten even better since I met Chloe.”
Can’t fault that. “This marriage is my move to raise my status.” I’m picking my words very carefully. “I’m not ruining my chances now. Promise.”
Killian stares at me, several seconds going by. For anyone who doesn’t know him, those silences are painful, and part of his power. But I’m used to them, know how to work them to my advantage, and even use his tactic on occasion. Which is why I wait.
Finally, he nods. “All right. Fine. Hang on.”
Internally, I crow with the victory.
But I don’t move, don’t make a sound as he goes back inside, and returns a minute later with a slip of paper.
I take it from his hand, giving him a wink as I turn to leave.
“Ryker.”
“Yeah?” I look back over my shoulder.
“Interrupt my wife’s orgasm again, and I’ll punch you in the dick.”
That makes me laugh, though I know Killian isn’t attempting to be funny. “Noted.”
Killian is the last man I expected to see happily married. Not that my brother’s unexpected happiness fills me with some sort of hope.
My marriage is a means to an end. Nothing more. And my little songbird is going to make my dreams come true.
Whether she likes it or not.