30. Arsen
30
ARSEN
Gedeon strolls into my office and drops down on the windowsill just behind my desk, a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. “Where’s Nina Bean?”
“On a walk with Polina.” I pluck the cigarette from his mouth and flick it out the window. “But she’ll be back soon. Keep your smoke out of my house.”
He sighs. “Is this even your house anymore? You showed Laila the new place, right? When are you all moving?”
Gedeon was a huge help in finding the house, actually. Which is why he’s almost as invested in Laila’s reaction as I was.
It’s also why he’s going to be as disappointed as I am in her response.
After the initial shock wore off, Laila hasn’t breathed another word about the entire subject. I’m starting to wonder if the whole walkthrough wasn’t something I dreamed up.
“I have no clue,” I admit. “I think she liked it.”
“You think she liked the house you almost sold your firstborn child to purchase for her?”
“If I’d sold our firstborn, Laila would’ve hated the house. And me.”
Ged dips his chin. “You know what I mean. That greedy old bastard who owned the place raked you over the fucking coals, and you let him all because you were sure the house would be a slam dunk.”
“I know,” I grit out. “It was.”
“Good, good.” Gedeon sketches his finger in the air like he’s working out a complicated math problem. “It took millions of dollars to get this far, so maybe, by the time you auction off your organs on the black market and crack whatever the hell Bitcoin is, she might even want to be in the same room as you.”
“Speaking of being in the same room, I’ll shove you out that window if you don’t shut your mouth.”
Gedeon grins, but I don’t miss the way he steps away from the window, suddenly preferring to lean against a solid wall.
I drag a hand through my hair. “I’m trying to give her time. Space. That’s all she’s asked for from me. The house was a gesture of goodwill. Making demands about how she reacts to it is going to look like I’ve attached strings. It’ll push her away.”
“Look at you,” Gedeon whistles, “all evolved and patient. I never thought I’d see the day.”
I never thought I’d see it, either. But Laila hasn’t given me much choice. It’s either be patient or lose her, and only one of those is an option.
“Has she mentioned anything to you?” I ask, trying to sound way more casual than I feel. “About the house or… me?”
“Please,” Gedeon snorts. “We may be friends, but she knows I’m in your pocket. She stopped sharing things with me months ago. About the time you made me her prison guard in exile.”
“Can we stop referring to it as prison and exile?” I growl. “I sent her there to make sure she was?—”
“You did it to keep her safe,” he interrupts, circling his hand through the air like he’d love to fast forward through this conversation. “I’ve heard it all before. I know. You love her.”
He says it easily. Like there’s not a doubt in his mind.
The only doubts in mine come from a lifetime of being warned against it. I was taught that falling in love with a woman would be the end of me.
Every so often, I have to stop and wonder if my asshole of a grandfather wasn’t right.
“How long do we have before you have to go pick Laila up from class?”
He checks his watch. “Half an hour, give or take.”
“Then you might as well make good use of your time.” I jab a finger at the chair across from my desk. “Fill me in.”
“You talking about Charles?” he asks, sinking into the chair, one ankle crossed over the other knee. “Because there isn’t much to fill in. He’s disappeared.”
I lean in, suddenly tense. “What does that mean?”
If Charles is off the map, it means the irritating little gopher is going to pop back up again. The bastard just doesn’t know when to die.
“Sorry,” Gedeon says quickly. “I meant he’s left town. He’s somewhere in Oklahoma last time I checked, getting into bar fights and swindling the good people of the Panhandle State out of their hard-earned money. The man is a waste of space no matter where he goes.”
“What about his creditors?”
“Hot on his trail. He’ll be heading west before the week is out is my guess.” Gedeon chuckles to himself. “I’ll almost miss the guy when they finally catch up to him. It’s been fun to watch him squirm.”
Nothing about Charles Barnes has been “fun.” When he’s gone, I’ll gladly never give him another thought.
“He’s been on his last life for too long. It’s time for him to go. For Laila’s sake, I’m just glad I wasn’t the one who had to do it.”
I shove out of my chair and pace to the window. Polina is coming around the back of the house, pushing Nina in her stroller. I can see my daughter playing with her feet and laughing at the clouds.
It’s mesmerizing, the way she sees the world. I’ve never had an interest in children, but the second Nina was born, I was fascinated. I still am. I could sit next to her crib and watch her breathe for hours.
“You’ve had to make some tough calls to keep them safe,” Gedeon admits. “But I’m glad you didn’t have to make that one.”
I turn back to him. “If there’s nothing else about Charles, we can talk about Enzo.”
“What about him?” Gedeon sits up tall. “Is he causing trouble?”
“Not yet. And I don’t expect him to, which is why it’s about time to announce our alliance.”
Gedeon relaxes back into his chair. “How about a skywriter? It can be both of your last names written in the clouds with a big heart around it.”
“Cute, but Enzo was thinking that me attending the opening of his restaurant might do the trick. He actually wants my entire inner circle there.”
Gedeon whistles. “That might be even more official than my cloud heart idea. He wants to make a big statement.”
“I happen to think it’s not a bad idea. It signals to the underworld that I’ve tamed the Calcagnos. And it means another level of protection for my family and his.”
Gedeon shrugs. “I’d never say no to a good party. So long as it's an open bar.”
“Good. Then we’ll plan on it. Tell Dom, but I don’t expect him to join us.” I glance at the clock. “It’s about time for you to go.”
Gedeon starts to rise to his feet, but he hesitates. He wavers on the spot before he sinks back down into his chair. “Actually, would you mind doing me a solid and picking Laila up yourself?”
I frown. “You’re asking me to do your job for you? Did something more important come up?”
“Never.” He makes a big show of bowing to me in feigned respect. “But the truck was giving me trouble this morning. The engine sounded… I don’t know. But it needs to be checked before I drive her around in it.”
I grab my keys and toss them to him. “Take my car.”
He catches them and tosses them right back. “I would, but I should stay with the truck while it’s being looked over. You know? Make sure there are no tracking devices or cut brake lines or pressure cooker bombs strapped to the underside.”
I raise an eyebrow, studying Gedeon’s tapping feet and nervous smile until I understand what’s happening here.
“Fine.” I stand up and walk around him to the door. “I’ll get her. But you owe me.”
“Oh, I don’t know about all that,” he mutters under his breath. “I think you might owe me .”
Gedeon can play matchmaker all he wants, but there’s nothing that breaks the ice like a cute baby. Which is why I pull into the yoga academy’s parking lot with a chubby-cheeked angel babbling in the backseat. Laila may not be thrilled to see me, but she’ll be overjoyed to see Nina.
“Are we here to get Mama?” I coo at her, reaching around to let her squeeze my finger in her little hand. “She’s gonna be so happy to see you.”
Nina bats her green eyes out the window, watching the leaves in the trees like she’s never seen anything more wonderful.
Fucking adorable.
I watch the entrance of the academy with a similar intensity. My chest clenches every time the door opens, but at least a dozen people walk through the doors before Laila finally appears.
When she does, she’s not alone.
She’s with a tall, blond-haired man who is the genetic result of Vikings going surfing. Even worse, he has his megawatt smile aimed right at my wife.
Goddammit. A man can’t let his guard down for one fucking second.
If I wasn’t worried about leaving Nina alone in the car or bringing her with me and making her bear witness to me smearing Viking Surfer Boy across the pavement, I’d be out of the car in a hot second. As it stands, I do nothing more than roll down my window so I can try to catch some of their conversation.
They’re too far away to hear much and the breeze that was nice a few seconds ago is now a veritable wind tunnel. But I don’t need to hear anything.
My eyes see it all.
The man is leaning towards her, his elbow brushing hers as they walk. He runs his hand through his Prince Charming locks and laughs at every other word out of her mouth.
He won’t be laughing when my hand is wrapped around his throat. That would teach him to mess around with married women.
She’s taken. Check the rock I put on her finger, motherfucker.
But just then, Laila waves her hand in the air… and her ring finger is bare.
Not only is she walking around with that body. That face. That smile… She’s doing it all without my ring on her finger.
The man flips his hair over his shoulder like he belongs on the cover of a 90s romance novel, and it’s the last straw. I climb out of the car, gently lift Nina from her carseat, and take the least obvious route to where my wife is being hit on so that I won’t be noticed until the last second.
“… could be teaching the class yourself,” he’s saying with another wide smile. “Your downward dog is impressive.”
I narrow my eyes. No man compliments a woman’s downward dog unless he’s imagining himself standing right behind her while she’s doing it. This fucker has got some balls on him.
“I don’t know about that. Matilda’s way ahead of the game.”
“The difference is that Matilda has all that hot air weighing her down,” he mutters, nudging Laila’s arm.
Laila cackles. “Trevor, stop.”
“Yeah, Trevor,” I snarl from where I’m watching this mating ritual a few feet away. “Stop.”
They both turn to me. Laila is surprised, but just as I planned, the sight of Nina puts a smile on her face. She rushes over to pluck our daughter out of my arms.
“My sweet girl!” Laila kisses her neck, making Nina giggle. She has no idea the danger she just put Trevor in. My hands are free, and Trevor is looking me over like I just stole his lunch money.
“Who’s this?” Trevor asks.
Your worst nightmare , is on the tip of my tongue when Laila beats me to the punch. “This is my husband, Arsen. Arsen, this is Trevor. He’s one of my yoga instructors.”
Trevor’s jaw drops. “You’re married?”
Laila nods. “I am. And this little beauty is our baby girl, Nina.”
“Married…” He closes his mouth with some effort. “And you’re a mom.”
“I mentioned her before,” Laila laughs. “I showed you pictures.”
Was that before, after, or during her “impressive” downward dog? I have a good idea what Trevor might’ve been distracted by.
Laila ignores the disappointed slump of Trevor’s shoulders and waves. “Anyway, I’ll see you next week. Bye, Trev!”
Before I can tie Surfer Boy to my bumper by his bangs or throw Laila over my shoulder and carry her back to the car, she dismisses Trevor and reaches for my hand.
“Shall we?” she asks, walking back to the vehicle before I can answer.
“Who was that?” I growl.
“I told you: my instructor.” She waits for me to open the car door for her, and then straps Nina back into her car seat. “Also,” she adds, “a man you shouldn’t slaughter in a public parking lot.”
“I wasn’t going to slaughter him.”
She closes the door and crosses her arms over her chest. She looks unreal in her black sports bra and it takes serious effort to keep my eyes on her face. “So you weren’t considering the cleanest way to dismember and dispose of him?”
“I never said that. I just said I wasn’t going to do it.” Probably. I open her car door, and she slips in with an eye roll.
“Is this why you came to pick me up?” she asks as soon as I open the driver’s door. “Are you here to check on me and make sure I’m not running around on you?”
I start the car with a little more force than necessary. “Should I be worried? Trevor sure seemed surprised you were married. And you aren’t wearing your ring.”
“Because I get hot during class and my hands swell. I don’t want to get the band surgically removed, so I took it off,” she explains. “Also, Trevor is a good yoga instructor, but he’s too busy listening to the sound of his own voice to listen to anyone else’s. I’ve told him—and everyone else—about you and Nina. They all know I’m married.”
I’m a little ashamed to admit how much the possessive beast in my chest likes to hear that. Even if it also liked the idea of my ring being permanently welded to her finger.
“You’re my husband, Arsen,” she finishes softly. “That means something to me.”
Does it mean we’re going to sleep in the same bed again? Does it mean she’s going to forgive me? I want to demand she tell me right now exactly what she means, but I have a strong suspicion Laila doesn’t know herself.
“It means something to me, too. Namely,” I say under my breath, “that I’ll fight any asshole who thinks he can have you.”
Her hand slips across the console, and I think she’s going to grab my hand or touch my thigh. Instead, she drums her fingers on the leather. “I know you want to fight for me—but you need to trust that I’m fighting for you, too.”
Our eyes lock together. Something passes between us. I’m pretty sure Laila feels it, too, because she pulls her hand back into her lap and forces her eyes to the windshield.
I turn the engine on, feeling for the first time that I may have a real shot at coming back from all this.