15
False intentions
I was still boiling with rage because my son was alone. Alone! Hadn”t it been made clear enough that one of her duties was to take care of the child? Did she really need me to tell her that if I left the house, her main function was to look after my son?
The cook, the gardener, and the guy who cleaned the house, in addition to handling the maintenance, had the day off, they were usually the ones who stayed with Adriano when I wasn”t there. There was no one there until seven in the morning.
We had to get the hell out of there quickly, as we were doing right now.
What happened was a mess. It really pissed me off that I had to be called out at Kai Morgan”s club.
I didn”t care if Nikita slept with those two idiots or twenty-five others. The problem wasn”t there, but in that she didn”t consider, not even for a moment, what her place was in my life.
And all for what? Jealousy? Because I had slept with Irene instead of her? Did she really think I would do that after she tried to hook up with one of my men?
My lover was going to need stitches because of her, and she was very worried about a scar that might remain on her forehead from hitting the wall at La Torre.
I couldn’t accompany her to the hospital as I would have liked, because as soon as we stepped out the door and I saw that blue motorcycle parked on the street, I almost had a heart attack. At first, I couldn”t believe it, but seeing the malicious smile that topped my wife’s face, I knew I was right. Instead of coming in on a broomstick, she rode in on my Harley Butchered!
I nearly had a heart attack. A million and a half bucks parked in front of a nightclub full of hookers, horndogs, and drug addicts. It didn”t matter how loaded they were, leaving it there was suicide.
I was a microsecond away from killing my wife. I didn’t even know how I could restrain myself. Well, yes, because Mak and Luk were still glued to my neck, waiting for us to leave without causing another scene. And because I made a promise that had my balls in a vice. Thank God she wasn’t aware that my word was going to lead me straight to hell.
I pulled out my phone. I asked one of my guys at the bar to accompany poor Irene to the hospital while I dealt with my wife over that jewel that had never left the house.
”I don’t understand why you’re so upset; it was just a little spin. The guy at the door was watching it. Besides, why do you want a bike like that if not to ride it?” she asked, fitting her helmet as if it were nothing.
The very daughter of Russia displayed such serenity that it made me want to shake her. I wasn”t a violent guy unless absolutely necessary. The problem was that Nikita triggered every furious molecule in my body. She knew how to mess with me with every word she uttered.
”Get on already! We”re in a hurry!” I growled.
”You can go alone if you like, it”s you who”s worried about
that kid. I could stay and find someone to give me a ride later...”
”Get on!” My gaze was threatening.
”You must have had a terrible lay to be in such a mood. Don’t worry, we’ll have time for you to learn some manners,” she commented, finishing getting on.
I didn’t even wait for her to sit properly. I started up not giving a damn if she fell off and rolled down the road. She didn’t.
I saw her man in the swinger area, at the bar. Surely Nikita intended to leave with him after the failed fuck with La Marca”s thugs. Well, fuck her! She interrupted mine, and she didn’t deserve a night of sex and orgies.
My other bike was parked in the garage at the back of my bar. Before going to La Marca de Caín, I had to meet with Dante. I received a message from him at the wedding and needed to speak with him.
It had been three days since one of my warehouses was raided, right after receiving a shipment of coke. The drugs were only supposed to be there for five hours before being transported to the port for export. I had several officials bribed and the director blackmailed with some very juicy photos.
It was supposed to be easy. If it hadn”t been for the sixteen tons ready to be taken to Hamburg that vanished. It had me unusually pissed off. It was a lot of drugs to have just disappeared! The loss would be in the millions, and my father was going to bust my balls if I didn’t recover the cargo!
I suspected Cheng”s men, they were the only ones with enough infrastructure to pull something like that. The most worrisome thing was that if they knew about the cargo, and when to act, it could only be for one reason: that I had a mole in my ranks.
I had no solid evidence, just a hunch.
I ordered Dante, the bar manager, to send some of the guys to watch the Chinese dealer’s runners; I saw no other way they might lead us to where they had my drugs. What worried me most was that the coke might no longer be in the country, and that the bastard had already sent it to France.
Dante mentioned that since time was against us and they hadn’t gotten anything, they thought the best thing would be to kidnap Cheng’s right-hand man.
My guys took him to one of our choirs. That’s what we called the hideouts where we made traitors and enemies sing.
The plan was for me to go there after sleeping with Irene, but with my wife’s irresponsibility, that would have to wait.
I fixed my eyes on the road with bloodshot eyes and a thousand ideas fluttering in my mind.
I had to focus, and Nikita’s arrival destabilized me. I didn’t know her intentions and needed to attend to what was truly important.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea that the first mate of my wife and her men coexist among mine. That way, it would be much easier to try to understand what she intended.
I accelerated. Coexistence was not going to be easy, I was convinced, nor was educating her.
Koroleva grew up in the shadow of her brother, absorbing the behavior of a true Vor, which made her a difficult woman with a volatile temperament. She was a minefield camouflaged under the beauty of a meadow as green as her gaze. Beautiful and lethal. I clenched my teeth thinking of her on that stage, I came watching her, and that pissed me off tremendously.
When we arrived home, I let her off the bike and ran up the stairs two at a time. I went straight to Adriano”s room to make sure he was okay.
I entered his room and breathed a sigh of relief seeing him peacefully asleep, oblivious to our disappearance and the mess that had unfolded.
I felt a lot of fear, not for the safety of the house, but because he would wake up in the middle of one of his nightmares and not find me. His panic attacks left him trembling and broken. He still didn”t want to talk to me about them, he didn”t feel enough trust yet, having only been with us for six months. He wasn’t overly talkative and was still struggling to open up.
I watched him. His expression was relaxed, his mouth slightly open, and his dark hair falling messily over his forehead. He looked like a normal child, tired after a day full of emotions, nothing more.
I stroked his soft hair and gave him a light kiss on the forehead.
”Do you kiss him without brushing your teeth? I hope at least you didn”t eat your whore”s pussy before doing that.”
The remark, thrown from the door, made me jump up.
My wife had time to undress and put on a robe, full of transparencies, to look at me defiantly from the door frame.
I walked over to her to avoid shaking her inside. I didn”t feel like arguing in my son”s room.
I stormed out and the first thing I did was grab her by the neck, slamming her against the wall while with my heel I pushed the edge of the door to close it without too much noise.
She didn”t stop my grip, continuing to look at me defiantly. It seemed she was evaluating if I was capable of going further with her provocations.
”I swear right now all I want is for you to stop breathing,” I threatened her. Nikita smiled.
I was leaving just enough space for a little oxygen to get into her lungs, if I pressed harder, she would run out of air.
”And what”s stopping you? We both know it wouldn’t be the first time you”ve finished someone off.” I clenched my teeth until they hurt.
”I have plenty of reasons,” I growled, releasing her to punch the wall. The temptation to see that body break was too great.
”And what”s stopping you?” she goaded. I wasn”t going to tell her.
”I don”t kill women.” She let out a laugh.
”What nonsense. Why? Do you consider us weak?”
”Rather because I prefer to screw them. All of them, except you. I”m not going to touch you again.” She raised her eyebrows and the corners of her lips. I saw a challenge in those green pupils.
”Do you really think I would let you when you stink of second-rate pussy? Honey, I”m no one”s second choice. And, as much as you”ve been with that redhead, your body says you wanted to fuck me. Tough for you.” Her hand flew to my groin, which immediately hardened.
”If you say it because my dick gets hard, I”ll tell you that my cock usually likes any wet hole. It”s me who decides where it goes, and I”d never sink it into you, who has proven to open your legs to anyone.”
Nikita pursed her lips and spat in my face, angry. Her saliva fell on my beard. I grabbed her face and returned the gesture against her mouth.
She screamed indignantly and I rubbed the wet part of my cheek over her lips.
”What are you doing?!”
”Returning what”s yours. You”re not going to provoke me with such childish tricks as that.”
”Let go!” she exclaimed, finding herself pinned by my body. ”You stink of her!”
”And? You smell like a brothel whore! We”re even.”
”What do you want, Romeo?” she growled, squirming.
”The truth.” Her gaze shone. ”Why did you accept my father”s proposal? Why did you want to marry me if you despise me so much? Why do you want to ruin my life with every one of your actions?” She narrowed her eyes.
”Despise you? I would have to feel something for you, and I don”t give a damn about you.” Her response stung. ”Want a reason? I”ll give you one: the hardness of the struggle determines the height of success.”
I had heard that phrase before, just not from her, that damn mouth that tensed every cell in my body, whether I wanted it to or not. And there I was again, with a stiff zipper.
”That”s not an answer.”
”Of course, it is if you”re smart enough to read between the lines. Nothing is going to stop me. I needed this alliance, for my family’s pharmaceutical company to restore its credibility after someone tried to ruin its reputation with the side effects of Mentium. My company was on the brink, so it needed the strength of another to turn the situation around. I want to know who is screwing me and why.”
”You didn”t need me for that, you could have married Putin”s pick.”
”You’re right, but he wouldn”t have given me what I need.” I don”t know if she did it consciously or unconsciously, but she glanced at my mouth.
”And I do?” A humorless laugh burst from my throat.
”Indirectly, yes,” she declared unabashedly. ”Your father assured me that Tecnosalute would help. Besides compensating for the memory of Yuri and my father. I like power as much as he does. I gave him the chance to make the Costa del Sol ours, and he the tools I need. If I had accepted Putin’s proposal, my future husband would have stripped me of my decision-making power, Russians are very territorial and chauvinistic.”
”Do you think Italians aren’t?”
”I don’t care how Italians are. What I know is that I have your father’s word, and as far as I know, he is a man of honor and the one in charge. Remember, my negotiations are with him, not you, you were just part of the package.”
”Then you should have married him, not me. You might have agreed on something, but I’m your husband, and I can make things very difficult for you if you piss me off.” Her breath brushed my mouth, and her hand touched my groin.
”You wish...” I stepped back, looking at her with disdain.
”Go to your room, I”ve had enough of putting up with you all day.”
”It will be a pleasure, I’m exhausted. Good night, darling.” She blew a kiss and walked down the stairs.