Chapter 12
ANTON
Liliana is still next to me in bed. Naked and warm.
Dead asleep. I can’t tell if she’s lingering from sheer exhaustion, given how many times I made her come last night, or if she’s figured out she has no chance of walking away from me.
Yesterday, she got it in her head that she could sneak out of bed while I was still waking up.
Not this time.
Eyes closed, lips slightly parted, body lax, she is out.
I want to wake her with another orgasm, but common sense wins out.
Or rather, as I roll over carefully to the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand, reality returns.
I slump back and scroll through the messages that came in last night.
Most are forwarded from Viktor. Even he knows I can’t shut out everything.
It’s a delicate line to walk, blocking most of the junk and minor noise while making sure I’m never in the dark about anything that matters.
But he does it. After so many years working with me, he knows what’s urgent and what isn’t.
All the ripples of drama and anger from Roman’s stupidity matter.
I don’t want to return to the city just because Elena wants me there. I hate that going back so fast will make it look like I’m caving to her demands.
But I sit up and plan to leave anyway.
The Roncellis need to be addressed.
A couple of the other guys on the street have voiced concerns about more retaliation coming from what Roman said and how the Roncellis—and other enemies—interpreted his words.
I rub a hand over my face, dreading having to be the adult in this situation. Always the adult. The only one, most of the time. It grates on me, because my son is supposed to be a fucking adult too. Elena spoiling him caused this, and now I loathe that I’m the one who has to clean it up.
Without waking Liliana, I get dressed and watch her sleep. She doesn’t stir, resting there and looking like an angel, even though I know full well how naughty she is with me between the sheets.
I sigh, regretting that this has to be the end of the escape she gave me.
I have too many pressing matters to tend to in the city. Yet another headache from my son to tolerate. And my own annoyance to swallow down before I face my ex.
Without looking back, I turn and exit the room. I already have my phone in hand, texting Viktor. He’s been up for at least an hour by now, no doubt.
I will be ready to leave in a few minutes.
The updates came in last night that the roads are clear now, or most of them. It’s enough to get me back to normal fast.
Work.
That’s my norm.
Whether I like it or not, that’s what I’m used to. Attending meetings, strategizing takeovers, managing negotiations, and analyzing reports. Work is my life. This Bratva is my life. It’s not the wealth or power that I pride myself on. It’s how much success I can achieve while I’m at the helm.
Will Miss Baranova be accompanying us?
I scoff as I head down the stairs, ignoring the tug of memory as I pass the step where I first got a taste of Liliana’s sweet lips. It happened here, on this staircase, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to give this spot some other meaning.
I reply to Viktor. No. She will not. Arrange accommodations for her.
That’s all I need to say about it. He won’t wait for further instructions. He’ll set up a driver for her and handle her car and the damage from when she skidded on the ice. It’s not the first time he’s made arrangements for a woman the morning after, and it won’t be the last.
Another cringe pulls on my face at that thought. Thinking of another woman—any other woman—irks me. It’s too soon.
“Fuck,” I whisper to myself as I prepare to go to the garage. I really need to get back to the city and deep into work. Liliana’s already on my mind too much.
When Viktor joins me in the car, a replacement since the one Liliana hit still needs repairs, I’m confident she’ll fade from the forefront of my mind. She’ll be surprised to have a ride.
No, she’ll be offended.
I smile as Viktor pulls away.
I still can’t claim to know everything about this spectacular woman my son let slip through his fumbling fingers. I know how sweet her pussy is and how loud her cries get when she comes. But I also know how stubbornly independent she is.
She isn’t like other young people her age, expecting an easy way through life. She isn’t waiting for a handout like Roman does.
As we ride back to the city, I can’t help imagining her reaction when she wakes and finds me gone, a driver left in my place to take her home. Then later, her car returned to her fully repaired, free of charge.
I suppose she can see it as a payment. The price of giving even a little bit of herself to me.
Two nights of a torrid tryst.
It sounds fair to me.
What’s not fair is how fast I realize distance alone isn’t enough to scrub her from my mind.
After Viktor and I get to my building, I can’t shake the memory of the shower with her. Later, while I wait to speak with one of the Roncellis’ men, I can’t stop replaying how she gasped and trembled under my touch.
All day long, she’s there. Her sexy voice, the sight of her soft, curvy body bare and ripe for the taking. I can’t forget about her, and by the time evening comes, I wonder how much longer I’ll be stuck in this loop of obsessing about her.
It’s only a direct call from Roman that finally breaks me out of thinking back on the short time I had with his ex.
“Look, it’s not my fault,” he says, calling to double-check that I’ve smoothed over the mess he made by running his mouth about an agreement my rivals were never supposed to hear about.
“How the fuck isn’t it?” I don’t yell. It’s a shock I can’t raise my voice at him.
His sheer stupidity and crude ignorance incite me.
My blood boils, but shouting at him won’t cause anything good.
“How the fuck isn’t this your fault?” I’m not clear on how he can even think that.
“You opened your mouth when you shouldn’t have. ”
“But—”
“Did anyone threaten you into saying anything?” I bite out.
“Not, like, no—”
“Did one of them put a motherfucking gun to your head and force you to say a single thing?”
“No. I mean, well—”
“Then whose fault is this supposed to be?” I grit my teeth, noting the tension in my temples. It’s a familiar condition whenever I have to communicate with Roman.
“Yours.”
I turn my head, swiveling it like a robot, until I face Viktor. My assistant sits in the chair toward the right of my desk in my main office. With this call on speaker, he hears it all.
The subtle what-the-fuck surprise in his expression says it all.
“It’s your fault,” Roman says. “Because I’m your son. You know?”
I drag my hand over my face.
“Because I’m the Sokolov heir, people notice me and know how important I am. They know that I have information people would kill to get their hands on. So due to my connection to you, I’m automatically targeted.”
“Targeted?” I scoff. “The hell you are. You don’t have any actual responsibilities to do anything.”
“That’s not true,” he protests.
“Yes, it fucking is. Your inability to keep your mouth shut when it comes to intel that you weren’t ever supposed to have in the first place proves why I can’t trust you at all. Ever.”
I’m fucked.
“Yeah, well, I can’t trust you either.”
“Earn my fucking trust, you worthless punk,” I growl.
“Oh, sure. How? I can’t even trust you to be around when I happen to need some help.” He grunts. “When all this came down on me, you weren’t even in the city—”
“When you happen to need help? I clean up your fucking messes all the time. Don’t act like this is a rare occasion. And no one is to blame for this incident but you. Nothing came down on you. You caused this problem.”
“But—”
I disconnect the call, physically unable to stand hearing his voice for another second. His excuses grate on my nerves.
Viktor gets up to head out of the office for a moment, and I let my head fall back against the rest on my chair. All the good feelings of being with Liliana seem so far away. So long ago.
But when Viktor comes back into my office with Elena striding in behind him, I wince and wish I could leave and find my sweet Liliana again.
“Where were you?”
No hello. No greeting. Just a demand, like she has any right to issue it. She crosses her arms over her coat so jerkily that her stiff blonde bob swings wildly over her shoulders.
“Where were you, Anton?” She huffs, flinging her arms out like she’s exasperated. “Where were you when your family needed you?”
I clench my jaw, wishing I could banish her from my life for good. It’s only because of Roman I haven’t cut all ties with her yet. But now, cutting all ties with both of them sounds like heaven.
“I don’t answer to you,” I say coolly.
She almost smiles, as if she’s handling a stubborn child and not her powerful ex. “Anton, it just doesn’t make sense. You were nowhere to be found when your fam—”
“You are not family,” I remind her.
“When your son needed you,” she amends.
I don’t want to get into this. It peeves me that my son needs me instead of how I should be needing him and his servitude.
“Roman is a grown man.” I stand. “When is he going to act like one?”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re too harsh on him.”
I stride past her, out of patience for her plastic face and her wheedling, whiny tone.
“Wait. What—Where are you going? Anton, I just got here.”
“I didn’t invite you to come speak with me, about Roman or anything else. I have a meeting to get to.”
She growls behind me, clearly frustrated. “That’s all you ever do! Work and work and—Anton. Can’t we talk? For a minute?”
I blank my expression as I stride through the hallway. Catching the eye of one of the guards, I give him a look. That’s all it takes. An order without a word.
He gets it, stepping in to intervene and steer Elena away from me as I walk in the other direction.
Her protests fall on deaf ears.
Viktor is at my side again, handing me a file with documents about the deal I’ll be talking to some city councilmen about in a matter of minutes.
I let out a heavy exhale, shifting gears to be on and working.
Putting distance between Elena and me is a start to quell my anger, but only thoughts of Liliana truly appease me as I resume my full duties of pakhan once again.