Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
AXEL
My body was stiff. I felt like I had just run a marathon. Even my dick was sore. But beneath all that, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Happiness.
I stared at Mila, sleeping so quietly she almost looked like a doll.
I had never been more intoxicated by a woman than I was with my wife.
I didn’t know how we had gotten to this point, since I had spent all my energy avoiding exactly this scenario, but even though I had completely fucked up, I couldn’t feel bad about it in this moment.
Something in me had snapped last night. My last futile attempts at controlling myself had failed, and I had allowed myself to literally feast on Mila.
I rubbed my face with one hand. I had never before wanted to control someone’s pleasure more than I had last night.
Mila had been so utterly vulnerable with me, opening her body to me, sharing her pleasure, while I did everything I’d dreamed of doing with her.
Something happened to me when she was so breathless, begging and pleading for her releases.
Every apology I couldn’t say out loud, I said with a kiss.
Everything I couldn’t say with words I said by worshipping her body.
And every time she came with my name on her lips, it felt like atonement.
My phone vibrated repeatedly in my hand, but I didn’t have it in me to even look at the messages and calls pouring in.
Mila woke and gave me a sleepy smile. “You know it’s creepy to watch people sleep.”
“It’s even creepier to look like you’re not alive when you’re deep asleep.” I leaned over her and gave her a kiss. The scent of her triggered a wave of lust so strong I almost threw my phone across the room.
Instead I restrained myself, allowing myself only one more chaste kiss. It took everything in me not to deepen that kiss until I was deep inside her again.
“What time is it?” She looked flushed and happy when I pulled back.
“Just after seven.”
“Did you get any sleep?” She blushed, looking younger in the morning light.
“I got a few hours. How are you?”
She smirked at me. “Stiff.”
And she was probably sore too. I needed to learn some fucking restraint. But I teased anyway. “You’re lucky I have a busy day.”
She stared at me with wonder and an openness I wasn’t used to. “Will you be home for dinner?”
I would do whatever it took to get home to my young wife tonight for dinner. “Absolutely. What time?”
“Is seven too early?”
Seven meant that in twelve hours, I had a reason to be back here and near her. “It’s perfect.” I stood up, and could feel how stiff my quads, core and hip flexors were after last night. Even though it hurt to bend over, I still leaned down to give my wife another kiss. “You’re addictive.”
She gave a giggle that went straight to my dick. “Have a good day.”
If willpower were a sport, I’d be operating at Olympian levels. No one could understand the discipline it took to walk away from her.
But I did. And I started my day mostly so I could come back to her.
When I walked into work I found Maksim and Sergei standing in the bay.
I did a double take.
Sergei?
What the hell?
As I approached the group, I took in the dynamic between the two. Sergei was red in the face and glaring at Maksim, who stood there with his arms crossed.
I looked between the two men. “Sergei, this is a surprise. What are you doing here?”
He moved his head to the side and spit on the cement floor. “Came here to tighten up this shit show.”
“I see,” I said calmly. “Maksim, would you mind joining me for a moment?”
Maksim nodded, not taking his glare off Sergei.
We stepped aside.
“When did he arrive?”
Maksim was vibrating with emotion. “I just got here. He was already here, and I found him trying to snoop in your office. Two of our guys weren’t letting him in. He wasn’t happy about it.”
The timing of his arrival couldn’t be worse. “Did he say what he was doing here?”
“Same thing he told you. He’s here to sort things out. I was just telling him that no one was allowed in your office and to wait downstairs. He didn’t agree, and that’s when you walked in.”
I dialed Grisha’s number, but it went directly to voicemail. I took a long calming breath.
“What do you want us to do, boss?”
“Be clear with everyone that all of Sergei’s requests have to be approved by either you or me. He’s no one’s boss.” I looked back at Sergei, who stood in the middle of the bay with his arms crossed and a sour look on his face. “I’ll deal with Sergei.”
“You need backup?”
I nodded.
Together we walked back to Sergei. I spoke to him in Russian. “Welcome to Canada, Sergei.”
He scowled but didn’t do more than grunt at me.
“I appreciate any and all help from home, but I’ll need confirmation from Grisha on what role he wants you to take. Until then, I’m the boss here, and every decision is filtered through either me or Maksim. You have no authority over any of our staff, is that clear?”
He spat on the floor again. “Not much of a greeting for someone who’ll soon be your boss.”
It would be a cold day in hell when I took my orders from Sergei.
“If and when that happens, I’ll be happy to step back and give you the reins, but until then, I won’t entertain you meddling in my business decisions.”
He grunted. “Where do I sleep?”
“Accommodations are your own responsibility.”
He shook his head. “Talk to Grisha. You’ll see.”
I gave him a grim smile. “Of course.”
Maksim and I stood silently, watching as Sergei walked out of the large bay doors and disappeared from sight.
“What an asshole.” Maksim scowled. “You want me to have someone follow him?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. What’s on the schedule for today?”
He looked at his phone. “We have a meeting at eleven with our accountant to verify our ledgers. You have two phone meetings with our suppliers, and I need you to review and sign off on the security footage for insurance purposes.”
My eyes were tired, and it wasn’t even eight in the morning. “Talk to the guys and tell them to watch their six. I’m going upstairs to do some work. Meet me in my office in an hour.”
“You got it, boss.”
I left two messages with Grisha throughout the day, but he never called me back. It was midway through the afternoon, and I was on schedule to get home in time for dinner, when I got a text from Yuri.
Yuri: Emergency meeting with Giselle at 5 PM. Mandatory. Will text address.
Me: Busy. Need to be in person?
Yuri: Mandatory
I looked at my watch. I was pushing it by meeting up with Giselle, but I could probably swing it if I left right away.
I stepped into the small restaurant, and the owner discreetly showed me to the back. Giselle was in a private room. At the end of the table was her government laptop, which was already logged into a secure meeting with Yuri.
He peered at me through the computer screen.
I looked between the two of them. “What’s going on?”
Giselle stood up and ushered me to sit down. “We heard that Sergei has arrived in Vancouver.”
“He arrived this morning.”
Yuri spoke. “The Volkov family has taken his arrival as a threat. They’re gearing up for war.”
I looked with disbelief between Giselle and Yuri. “Why are they moving so quickly on this? He just arrived this morning.”
“There has been an increase in attacks between Grisha and the Volkovs over Moscow in the last few weeks. No fatalities, but it’s been enough of an escalation that sending Sergei to Canada meant only one thing.”
Grisha hadn’t mentioned any of this to me. “Grisha has been threatening to send Sergei to Canada for a while, but I’ve always been able to dissuade him.”
Giselle sounded genuinely distressed. “This is the very thing we’ve been working to prevent. A turf war between these two families will inevitably result in civilian fatalities.”
“We need to know what Grisha’s planning,” Yuri urged.
“Grisha’s been hiding from me all day. Sergei has already told me he’s in charge.” I looked between Yuri and Giselle. “You both need to prepare for the event that Grisha calls me back to Moscow and leaves Sergei in charge.”
Giselle looked more than alarmed. “We can’t let that happen.”
My phone buzzed with a text.
Maksim: You need to come back to the office immediately. Situation unfolding.
Me: On my way
“I have a work emergency. I have to go.”
Giselle spoke in a rushed tone. “You should know that my superiors are ready to do everything they can to shut these two organizations down.”
“I can’t guarantee we’ll get a full conviction on everything you’re looking for if we rush this,” Yuri told her.
She shrugged helplessly. “We understand that, but our priority is keeping our citizens safe.”
I was pissed that I was going to be late for dinner with Mila. I made a mental note to text her. It was half past six when I walked into the bay. “Does someone want to tell me where Maksim is?”
“In the back offices.”
I found him talking to two men who were standing on guard in front of one of the offices.
He looked relieved when he saw me. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“What happened?”
“Arkady was on the south end of our property, doing inventory and someone beat him up.”
I let out a long, slow breath. “How bad?”
“Knocked him out. And his arm was so badly broken he’s now at the hospital, awaiting surgery.” He stepped closer. “Sergei was the one who happened to be there. He stopped the guy, but he got away.”
That statement made my blood run cold. “Where’s Sergei now?”
“He’s doing his own personal inventory on our artillery and asking how to get supplies to make bombs.”
“Shit.” I rubbed my tired face with one hand. “I need to talk to Grisha.”
“You also need to go to the hospital. Arkady made you his medical guardian and he’s under our insurance, so they’ve been asking for you.”
I cursed as I realized that even if I left now, I’d still be late for dinner with Mila. I needed to call her. “It has to be me?”
“That’s what they told me, and you should know the police are there. They want to take Arkady’s statement.”
“Has he made one?”