Chapter 9 Roman
ROMAN
Itold my uncle about Ivan Popov showing up at the hotel. He called a meeting with Sergei and Andre because of it. A new focus was put on the Popovs.
“Niko’s always going to be a problem for us,” Mikhail said at another meeting he’d called.
I hoped he didn’t notice how often I checked my watch. I was eager to get back to my building and help Amber with bathtime for the twins. It wouldn’t be a long trip. A system of tunnels beneath this block that we owned made for convenient closeness.
“But does he know about the twins?” Andre asked.
“And Amber,” Sergei added.
I looked up at him, nodding, but I didn’t miss how my uncle furrowed his brow.
“I thought she was just a nanny,” he stated.
Just? I censored myself and caught the wry laugh I almost let out. I doubted anyone could ever get away with calling Amber just anything.
She was sweet. Patient. Sneakily witty when she lowered her guard and felt comfortable to speak up. She was sly and sharp, quick-thinking.
She was good for me, and I wished that she could trust me more.
This attraction to her was wearing on my soul, but I knew I couldn’t push.
She was still too skittish. Noticing her actions gave me enough insight to suggest she’d suffered trauma before. No one responded to sudden noises or touches like that if they hadn’t endured something. Her past had conformed her, conditioned her to be this jumpy.
Loud noises made her breath hitch and freeze. If anyone other than me or Lorne got close enough to brush against her, she stiffened and her eyes narrowed.
Just a nanny?
I wished I could call my uncle out on that lie.
Amber had been more than the young woman I’d hired to help me raise my twins.
She was the ultimate temptation for me. Since I’d recognized her pain, her fear, I avoided intimidating her.
No matter how much my dick ached when she wore those short shorts at bedtime, showing off her long legs I wanted wrapped around my waist as I pounded into her pussy.
No matter how fast my heart raced when she’d brush against me in passing and rub the soft curves of her breasts over my chest.
And no matter how often she made me grunt with need at her innocent acts of licking her lips or just being herself.
“Just a nanny?” Sergei asked with a smirk. “Sure.”
Mikhail watched me closely.
“Are you suggesting Roman’s catching feelings for his nanny?” Andre asked. “Him, the one who told us he’s not ‘done yet’?” He laughed once. “Hey, I’m shocked you’ve managed to resist her so far, but let’s not turn this into a comedy hour. He’s not going to have feelings for any woman.”
Eat your words.
I wanted Amber. But I also respected her. Valued her. And I wanted to protect her.
Mikhail snapped out of it, shaking his head. “Never mind. What was I thinking?” He smirked. “As if you’ll ever commit to a woman.”
Dammit. I didn’t really care what they thought.
I was used to their teasing me like this.
But I didn’t care for it now. Not with Amber.
Would it be that farfetched if I could commit to her?
Start something with her? I cleared my throat.
“She’s very good with the twins,” I said instead. “I’d be lost without her.”
“She’s good with Maisie, too,” Sergei said, reminding me of how Amber had been over and had ended a Maisie meltdown faster than even Natalie could. “She must be one of those women who are just good with kids. A natural mother.”
Mother?
No.
Fuck no.
I wanted to cringe at the thought of her leaving this nanny job and having someone else’s kid. She fit with mine. With Emil and Henry.
And… me.
“I’ve been considering offering her more than just this job,” I admitted. At Andre’s teasing grin, I scowled. “A raise, I mean. And any other benefits.”
Mikhail snorted. “Other benefits? I think you’ll need to convince her to accept the ones you’ve offered her already. Anya was telling me the other day how she tried to get Amber to shop online with her and Amber made one excuse after another not to touch the wardrobe allowance you gave her.”
I rubbed next to my shoulder where a tense knot never left me. “Don’t remind me,” I growled.
“Maybe she’s just scrappy like that. Not materialistic.” Sergei shrugged. “Nat’s like that too. Feels like she needs to be frugal.”
We all had more money than we could ever spend in our lifetimes—or our children’s lifetimes. I wouldn’t criticize anyone for a different view on finances, though.
Next, we discussed the growing pressure from the Popovs about a “discrepancy” with turf borders.
It turned out that Ivan had been trying to reach me while I was on my paternity leave and felt like I was ignoring him.
Lorne had missed the messages because Ivan was calling the wrong damn number.
It wasn’t our fault. I wasn’t ignoring anyone during this adjustment into fatherhood.
And according to Mikhail, they could go fuck themselves.
There was nothing to legitimately negotiate.
Ivan Popov was just being his usual problematic self, trying to redraw territorial maps since we’d annihilated the Giovannis’ power and other crime families were trying to take advantage of the aftermath.
We weren’t expanding. Except with more legal endeavors in the hospitality industry, which I would still oversee. We weren’t giving up turf, either. The empire we managed was what several generations of Orlovs had ruled over.
I dismissed the matter of the Popovs as I returned home, though, just in time to help Amber with the baths.
Usually, it had the twins sleepy enough so that they could give me and Amber at least a few hours of downtime to just be.
She would read or watch a movie with me.
And I would catch up on emails or find something on TV we’d end up critiquing.
Emily and Henry were not tired after this bath, though, and we were both at our wit’s end by the time they caved. The twins fell asleep in the portable crib that we had out in the living room. Amber and I fell asleep out there as well, leaning against each other on the couch.
When a commercial changed to another—the TV muted—the brightness had me blinking my eyes open.
All was quiet and still.
Emily and Henry had rolled closer together and were still asleep.
And Amber had all her softness pressed up against me. At some point, I must have slumped over onto the armrest. And at some other point, she had snuggled under my arm. Her cheek rested on my chest and my hand stayed flat on the small of her back.
It was heaven.
It was hell.
Tortured to feel this much of her but still hold back from showing her how badly I wanted all of her.
Blessed to feel this much of her trust but still wishing she could get the courage to act on the desire simmering beneath the surface between us.
I shifted to ease the ache in my upper back, and that slight movement startled her.
She woke up with a gasp, but I put my finger to my lips to make her be quiet.
The TV clicked off then, with the timer ending. Cast in more darkness, we stayed still and flush together. Her green eyes locked on my face as she stared up at me. I was drowning under her attention, unable to look away for even a second.
“I don’t want to move,” I admitted in the quietest whisper possible.
A slow smile stretched over her lips. “Me neither.”
I smiled in reply, taking her word for it.
“I don't want them to wake up.”
She nodded, still smiling sleepily. Strands of her soft red hair fell down, partially curtaining her face. Without thinking about it, I reached up to brush it back. Cupping her face, I stroked my thumb over her cheek.
“Definitely don’t wake them up,” she whispered back, tilting her head as though seeking my touch.
“I’m not opposed to camping out here if it means they stay asleep.”
She nodded, lowering her gaze to my lips for a brief glance.
Oh, fuck…
Sexual tension built and grew, snapping between us in this quiet moment in the darkness. The keyword there was quiet, because both of the twins had made the whole night anything but that so far.
“I’m good with that too,” she admitted softly, shyly.
“You’re comfortable?” I asked.
She opened her lips but seemed to rethink what she was going to say at first. I wanted the uncensored version. Because whatever it was, it had her blushing. The faint light from the kitchen showed how her cheeks pinkened.
“There’s plenty of room on the couch,” she replied. “I can take the other side if I’m squishing you or—”
“How about this?” I gripped her and pulled her over me so her legs draped over mine. It put her core right over my dick that hardened by the second.
“I—” She glanced at my lips again, taunting me. I was trying to let her come to me. To show me and admit what she wanted. “Are you comfortable like this?” she asked breathily.
“Very comfortable,” I replied. “They’re asleep. I’ve got a sweet, gorgeous woman on top of me…” I cupped her face again as her emerald eyes burned with desire. “The only thing that could make this better is…”
She licked her lips, volleying her gaze between my mouth and my eyes. Searching my face. Showing me how awake she was now. Her heart raced at her pulse point, and I wondered if she was too nervous to take the initiative or if she didn’t know how to.
“What?” she asked. “What could make it better?”
“This.” I urged her down to me so I could taste her lips. She gasped a little in surprise at the contact, but as I brushed my mouth over hers again, adrenaline mixed with desire as I felt her kiss me back.
Again.
And again.
Angling her head over mine, she pressed herself against me as we made out. Her hands came up to frame my face, and she didn’t flinch when I dragged my fingers over her back, along her sides, and then on to her ass.
Liquid-hot lust coursed through my veins, making my entire body harden and tense with need. Her soft inhales spurred me on to hold her closer, to kiss her deeper, to prove to her how much I needed her as more than just my nanny.
“Roman.” She swallowed hard as she stared at me.
Her lips glistened, swollen from my kisses.
Her eyes sparkled, dazzling me with the mutual desire in them that she felt for me.
And under her shirt, her nipples beaded into hard points, pushing down against my chest. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
I nodded, smiling and loving how she smiled in reply. “But this is an even better one.” I rolled her onto her back on the couch, keeping her close and hovering over her.
Kissing her again, I dismissed how na?ve she was.
How inexperienced. Maybe she was a virgin.
It wouldn’t matter. I only cared that she was mine right now.
With me, under me, trusting me. She was mine to kiss and pleasure, and I fucking loved that I could show her how good it could be. No one else. Only me.
Her arms linked around my neck as she parted her legs. Making room for me to press against her, she arched her back and sighed as I sucked on her lower lip.
I never wanted this to end. Sinking into her embrace, plundering her mouth, and rubbing against that warmth between her legs…
This was what I’d been missing.
Literally my whole life.
It wasn’t the same as the exhilarating rush of getting a quick fuck. It wasn’t like the impatient urgency to come as soon as I could.
In her arms, with her greedy, needy kisses, I’d found peace. Bliss. The first hint of what could feel like a new forever.
I ripped my mouth from hers, staring down at her flushed face as she stroked her soft fingertips over my jaw.
Then Henry let out a single cry.
We froze, breathing hard.
He fussed again.
I cringed and she pouted.
Emily joined in with a softer cry.
I hung my head and groaned. Amber laughed lightly. The moment was over, though, because we both got up to tend to them.