Chapter 19
I’ve never been so entertained in a classroom.
Genesis is fucking smart.
Watching her in action is goddamn sexy.
When class ends, my phone rings. Everyone’s attention turns to me.
I hurriedly silence the call, like I’m about to get in trouble and Teacher Genesis will confiscate my phone. It takes me two attempts to squeeze out from the desk, and I’m sure it looks ridiculous.
“I need to take this,” I whisper to Genesis while leaving the classroom and walking around the corner into a vending machine area.
I lean against the wall and call Paolo back.
“Boss, where are you?” he asks through the speaker.
While I’m not the boss of the Lombardi family, I have men who work exclusively for me. Paolo is one of them.
Paolo works at the casino as well, and it’s weird for me not to be there first thing in the morning.
Hell, half the time, I don’t even leave, and I sleep there.
“I’m coming in late today,” I tell him. “Handle shit for me.”
“Everything okay?”
I grip my phone tight and lower my voice. “Keep an eye out for Russians. If you see even one, you call me.”
“Got it.”
I end the call.
If Genesis hadn’t snuck out of my office, I wouldn’t have all this Russian anxiety.
Her little antics are why I’m here.
Why she doesn’t have much freedom.
She fucked up.
Dima made it clear how easy it was to get to Genesis, and the son of a bitch wanted me to know it.
Per my contract with Yaroslav, I can’t marry Genesis until I pay my balance.
Before, I had no problem with that. She needed to give me a baby, and I’d free her from the Russians.
Everything is changing now.
I need to knock her up faster than I thought.
Time for me to start fucking Genesis.
As if the asshole knew I was thinking of him, he calls me.
“Yeah?” I answer.
“You got my money yet?” Yaroslav asks between coughs.
“I’m working on it.”
“The clock is ticking. Ticktock. Ticktock .”
“I have sixty days.”
“Not a long time to come up with that amount of money.”
It’s not about a lack of funds. I could pay him off today.
“I don’t break deals,” I say through gritted teeth.
“The same with me, Julian.”
“Since I have you on the phone, I want to make something clear.”
“What’s that?”
“Dima stays away from my casino and Genesis. She’s not his wife.”
“ Not yet .”
“ Not ever ,” I hiss. “Tell him to stay the fuck away from her. Your son doesn’t want the consequences of fucking with me.”
I end the call.
“I need a favor,” I tell Antonio, sitting down in the cognac-brown leather chair seated in front of his desk.
He looks up at me from his office chair, raising a brow.
“Tell Gigi to invite Genesis over for a girls’ night,” I say, repeating my plan.
Gigi is one of the most protected women in this state. If Genesis is with her, that makes her just as protected.
“Why?” Antonio asks.
“I need her to stay out of trouble while I work.”
He sighs, as if understanding my problem. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Thanks.” I slap the arm of the chair and stand. “She’s having a rough time with her father’s death and now having no family.”
“You need to keep her in line and away from the Russians.”
“That’s my goal and why I’m trying to keep her busy.”
He plucks a gold pen from his desk and twirls it between his fingers. “What’s your plan with her? Is this a game with her or real?”
His question isn’t one from a friend.
It’s one from the mob boss of the family I work for.
“I’ve already paid half a million dollars for her. I think that should answer your question.”