Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AXEL
I stood in the kitchen and listened to the clatter of my wife’s heels as she ran up the stairs.
I brought two fingers to my nose and inhaled the soft, feminine scent she had left behind. It made me feel feral, and my dick was so hard it hurt to move.
I needed a cold shower. I made my way upstairs to my bedroom, peeling my clothes off as I crossed to the attached bathroom. I stepped under the icy water and winced with pain as the cold droplets pelted my burning skin.
It didn’t help. My erection was too far gone.
It was so hard it hurt. A noise of relief escaped me when I fisted my cock and started to pump with long, savage strokes.
I shut my eyes and remembered Mila thrashing in my arms, her cries growing to a crescendo as I penetrated her with my fingers.
Her wet little pussy had clamped down on my fingers, and her hips had bucked.
She had been all but begging to be taken.
I wanted to bury myself deep inside of her.
I wanted to come inside of her.
I wanted to take possession of her body and make it mine.
Four hard jerks, and I cried out harshly as I pumped an endless stream of come against the shower wall.
I pressed my forehead against the cold tiles, trying to get my breath, while cold water streamed over my back.
God help me. I wanted to fuck my wife.
An hour later, I sat in my office, nursing a vodka and debating my options.
Sleeping with Mila was completely out of the question.
She was a complication I couldn’t afford.
It was bad enough that I had married her against her will.
I refused to compromise her further, especially knowing that this marriage of shared lies was built on even bigger lies that she didn’t know about.
My phone rang. It was Maksim. Phone calls late at night were generally not a good thing in my line of business.
“Axel here.”
“Boss, we have a problem. Our crew was intercepted on their way to our regular Friday delivery.”
“What happened?”
“They were held at gunpoint while the men offloaded our entire truck. They beat up the driver pretty bad, but no one was killed.”
“How much was that shipment worth?”
“Just over fifty thousand. That’s our loss to absorb.”
Which meant we’d barely be out of the red this month. “Do we know who they were?”
“It was a Volkov crew.”
“Let’s talk in the morning about setting up heavier security for our deliveries.”
“Already on it.”
“Talk to you tomorrow.”
I tossed back the rest of my drink and held my phone in my hand.
Now I had to call Grisha and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
When I had arrived in Vancouver, his operation here was bleeding money.
I had worked around the clock to turn that around, but every week that we didn’t turn a profit enraged him.
“Grisha here.”
“It’s Axel. I have some news.”
“It had better be good news.”
“We came under attack from a Volkov crew. They intercepted our delivery last night.”
“I sent you there to do a job. Why does everyone fail at everything I ask?”
“Numbers are up, shipments are up and issues are down, but the turf war has only just begun. We’re doing what we can to protect ourselves, but it’s going to get worse.”
“We need to strike back.”
I had to tread carefully. This was exactly what I was here to prevent. “Fighting costs us more in the long run. I’ve got it handled.”
“I’m starting to regret sending you instead of Sergei.”
“Demetrius left us in a bad position. You knew it would take time to turn this around.”
“Don’t make excuses. You’ve had plenty of time.”
“I’ll call if there are any other updates.”
I tossed the phone on the desk and rubbed my face. Jesus, when did my life become such a shit show?
I spent the next few weeks avoiding Mila, but I stopped sleeping at the office. I didn’t want to give her any reason to accuse me of having an affair. I wasn’t sleeping around on her, so I showed up every night in my bed, even if it was only for a few hours.
I also made sure never to run into her. She was usually fast asleep by the time I got home and was never awake when I left. But I left deliberate signs that I had been home.
The best part of my day, although I’d admit it to no one, was reading the dailies that her security team wrote every shift.
Mila baked cupcakes for Anton’s birthday.
Mila hates math and tried to bribe Oleg to do her homework.
Mila got 87% on her science test, so she ordered pizza for everyone to celebrate.
Mila asked Oleg to tutor her in math.
We drove Mila to three different pet stores so she could buy the guard dog the perfect toy that she saw online.
Mila got a B on her math test, so we took her out for pizza to celebrate.
Every single note gave me a tiny glimpse into her world, and most of it amused me. She didn’t deserve any of this life, and I was doing my best to shield her from the worst of it, because at some point, if I did my job, her life as she knew it would blow up beyond recognition.
It was late on a Tuesday night, and I had come home to eat and crash. I sat at my desk, doing month closing, and I could feel Mila before I saw her.
She stood like a ghost in the doorway of my office. She wore soft cashmere pants and an oversized sweater. Her hair was long and soft around her makeup free face.
“What are you doing up?” I looked at her, trying to pretend I wasn’t soaking up every detail of her, right down to toenails, which were painted a soft pink.
“I haven’t seen you around.” She inched into the office, looking around.
“Work’s been busy.”
She nodded and crossed her hands in front of her. “I made some friends at school.”
Selena and Tanya. I had already run small background checks on both girls. “Oh, yeah?”
“It’s Selena’s birthday on Saturday, and she’s having a party downtown at a bar.”
“Where?”
“It’s called the Viper.”
Which was a notorious nightclub in the heart of Vancouver. I frowned. “And?”
She licked her lips nervously. “I want to go to the party without security.”
“Absolutely not.”
She immediately got mad and stepped dramatically into the office. “That’s not fair.”
“I’m not trying to be unfair. I’m trying to keep you safe.”
She rolled her eyes, and my dick responded with a hard jerk. “No offense to them, but they don’t really blend in.”
“They’re not supposed to.”
“I’d look stupid.”
“For what, having detail on you?”
“My friends take the bus. And they don’t know I’m married or that we live in a house.” She waved her hands around. “Or have a chef and security.”
“They don’t know you’re married?”
She flushed. “This isn’t a real marriage.”
“It’s as legal as anyone else’s marriage.”
“You know what I mean.” She looked uncomfortable. “It’s not like we’re really married.”
And yet I still felt the weight and responsibility of keeping my wife safe. “It’s fine.”
“So can I ditch Anton and Oleg?”
“No.”
“Axel!”
“They’ll come into the club but sit at a different table. You don’t have to talk to them, but you’ll stay in their line of sight at all times. They’ll stay out of your way if you obey.”
She thought about it for a moment. “Tell them to pretend they don’t know me.”
“You can tell them yourself.”
She paused. “Do you think that will hurt their feelings?”
I had to work not to smile. “No. I think they’ll be okay with it.”
It was late, and I was still at the office going over some numbers.
“Boss.” Maksim appeared at the door. “Someone named Giselle is here to see you? She said she was just dropping by.”
When Giselle met me in person, it always meant she had confidential information to share. “Send her in.”
She walked in confidently, carrying a laptop and a coffee cup.
I stood up and motioned for her to sit across from me. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
She looked around with curiosity. “I hope it’s okay I dropped by.”
“Of course.”
She leaned back in her chair and studied me. “Mila was lovely.”
“She is.”
“Younger than I thought she would be.”
I looked back at her impassively.
She laughed. “Oh don’t be like that. We all need to find as much pleasure as we can in this line of work.”
For some reason it was important that Giselle knew that Mila wasn’t getting played that way. “I keep my lines cleaner than most.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Are you telling me…”
I smoothly cut her off. “I appreciate your help keeping my shipments out of Volkov hands.”
Her smile was a bit too knowing for my liking. “That’s why I’m here actually. I’ve managed to find where they’re storing your stolen items.”
That surprised me. “They haven’t offloaded them yet?”
“With everything they’ve stolen, they have an oversupply issue.” She opened her notebook and wrote something on the paper. “This is the address. You didn’t get it from me.”
I stared down at the paper in disbelief. “Is there any way this will put you at risk?”
She flashed a smile at me. “Not even close. I’m exceptionally careful.”
My mind raced. If this worked, I could recover our losses and deflect pressure from Grisha to retaliate. “I appreciate this.”
She leaned forward. “Want to hear the best part of this news?”
“There’s more?”
She nodded at the paper. “That may or may not also be holding all the stolen Italian inventory.”
My smile broke wide. “If I get their stuff back, they’ll become our allies for life.”
“That’s the point, right?” She drained her coffee and tossed the paper cup in my trash. “I should go. I have a date.”
“Let me walk you out.”
I followed her down to her car. I opened the car door and watched her get in. Then I leaned down and spoke quietly, with respect. “You’re making a difference, you know that?”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Thanks.”
I shut the door and watched as her vehicle pulled away.
It was late and the house was dark when I got home. Anton and Oleg were long gone, and only the security guard was there, monitoring the perimeter with his dog.
I walked straight to the kitchen, filled a glass with ice and then poured myself a straight vodka.