Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Andrei
"Yes, boss. I'll handle it." Dmitri's usually expressionless face twitched at the corner. "Boss, I've never seen you this attentive with a woman before."
"Smart-ass. Get out." I rubbed my forehead. I just wanted to give Lilith the best experience.
Dmitri's efficiency was always top-notch. That evening, he sent photos. Everything in the gym was ready, the light-colored workout clothes and sneakers folded neatly on the shelf, completely out of place next to my equipment.
I forwarded the photos to Lilith. "They're waiting for their owner," I typed, adding a winking emoji.
Lilith: "Oh! Honey, you're so thoughtful. I was just wondering what to wear. Truth is, I haven't had much time for exercise before."
Lilith: "But these aren't the only things waiting for me at your place, right?" She added a devil emoji.
I smiled and typed back, "It's our place. And yes, I miss you like crazy."
Lilith: "I miss you too. See you this weekend." Heart emoji.
I wished Lilith would move in right now, but she still had to take care of Elena at the hospital. So I had to wait. Every second apart from her was torture.
The next day, Dmitri came to report as usual. Along with the financial statements, he had a map.
He spread it on my desk. "The Irish hit three of our shipments." He pointed to several spots circled in red pen. "Brooklyn docks twice, Queens once. All internal routes."
I looked at those red circles. "Those rats finally couldn't help themselves. What's the damage?"
"Half the goods stolen. Details are in the report. Boss, we need to settle this."
Dmitri already had his gun out on the table, murder in his eyes. My expression probably wasn't any better—half the goods meant a million-dollar loss. I frowned at the map. The red circles were all on the outer edges of my territory, nowhere near the core.
That meant two things. First, they definitely had inside intel. Second, they were testing my limits.
"Hold on. If we go after Declan before rooting out the traitor, the Italians will think we're expanding again. They'll lose their shit. We can't make more enemies right now." I thought for a moment. "But I'm not letting this slide. Send a warning to Declan's youngest. Have Sergei take two guys."
Declan was a headache. We'd been enemies for years. Seven years ago, I fought him for turf in Brooklyn. In the final shootout, I smashed his left eye socket with my gun.
Since then, he wore a black eyepatch, I gained territory, and we'd left each other alone.
"He stayed quiet for seven years. Why start trouble now?" Dmitri thought for two seconds. "He heard something. Can't keep the traitor thing secret forever. Oleg's gone, but his network isn't small."
Exactly my thinking. "Once we find the rat, we use this as an excuse to wipe out the Irish completely."
Dmitri nodded, then brought up something else. "Boss, Rebecca's sick. She nearly wrecked your engagement, got sick real convenient-like, right before our guys went to get her."
"Need me to—"
"No. Don't touch her. I owe Lev this."
Rebecca's brother Lev took a bullet for me in that Brooklyn firefight years ago. Dead before thirty. His last words were asking me to look after his sister.
That's why I treated Rebecca like family, tolerated her networking with the old guard, speaking out of turn at meetings, using my name to be the queen bee of this circle.
But this time, she'd gone too far. She hurt Lilith. Being sick wouldn't fix this. "Warn her. Tell her not to test my patience."
"Yes." Dmitri nodded and headed for the door, then turned back. "Oh, Miss Sanchez told me not to tell you she asked about your birthday."
I looked up at him.
"She's definitely planning a surprise." With that, Dmitri opened the door and left.
After the door closed, I sat alone in my study, dazed. Then I laughed. The little fool. She told Dmitri not to tell me. Did she not realize Dmitri worked for me?
Lilith arrived at eleven in the morning. I heard movement downstairs in the foyer. Dmitri spoke to her briefly, then her footsteps came up the stairs. I'd changed into workout clothes and was waiting in the gym.
She pushed the door open, scanning the room first, her gaze landing on the women's gear stacked in the corner.
"Baby, go change. Changing room's over there." I pointed to a small room.
"Okay." Lilith picked out a light blue set.
I walked to the equipment and started warming up. The second-floor windows faced the garden. Nice weather today—sunlight pressed through the glass, warming the entire floor.
Lilith came out in her workout clothes. The sports bra hugged her full breasts, the soft curves slightly compressed, but all I could think about was her unzipping it, her breasts springing free.
The leggings wrapped perfectly around her ass, every curve on display. I got so hot I stripped off my shirt.
"Your back..." Lilith walked over. She noticed. "God, how did you get so many scars?" Her brow furrowed tight, tears shining in those beautiful eyes. She carefully lifted her hand to touch me, but it trembled slightly. "Does it hurt?"
I glanced at my back in the mirror. I'd grown so used to those scars I forgot they existed—one long one from left shoulder to waist, a few shorter ones scattered on the right. Souvenirs from various knives and bullets over the years.
But I hadn't expected Lilith to feel sorry for me. Sweet fool. "Doesn't hurt." I pulled Lilith into my arms, smiling to comfort her. "Business stuff. All in the past. I'm fine."
"Really?"
"Yeah." I nodded. Lilith seemed relieved. She looked up from my embrace, her gaze suddenly stopping on my chest tattoo—guns and thorns wrapped around a lily, spreading down from my collarbone. "Such a beautiful tattoo! Is that a lily?"
I thought Lilith would be scared, but instead she looked amazed. "Yeah. My mother loved lilies." I said, "This is for her. She was a good mother. If she were still alive, Luca might've turned out human."
Mentioning Luca made me frown. I didn't want to kill Lilith's mood, so I led her to the treadmill.
"Speed control's on the left. Start running. I'll be right behind you, baby. Any problems, just tell me."
"Okay." Lilith's mood seemed unaffected by the grim topic—still excited.
I went to the weight bench, loaded 60kg on the bar, and started lifting. The whole time, I watched Lilith. She was running now, hair slightly messy, fine sweat trickling down her temples, mouth slightly open, breathing steadily. I stared at her so hard I didn't notice the barbell tilting.
The plate hit the edge of the rack with an untimely clang.
She turned her head. "What happened, Andrei?"
"Nothing. Keep going." I swallowed and put the bar back. She ran for nearly thirty minutes before finally stopping, then walked to the yoga mat to stretch. She extended one leg straight, bent forward to reach for it, her hair falling to hide half her face.
I put down the barbell and walked over, crouching beside her. "Share half the mat. I need to do pushups."
She scooted the mat toward herself. "Is this enough?"
"Perfect." Actually, that space was barely enough for me to lie sideways, but that was exactly what I needed. I wanted to be pressed close to her, sweat and hormones mixing together. Her face was flushed, tempting as hell.
I lay on the yoga mat and did a few pushups. Then Lilith scooted over a bit more. That wouldn't do.
"Climb on my back, princess." I adjusted my position. "I need the extra weight."
"Oh... I can't, I'm too heavy."
"Not at all. You'll see. Get on."
She was silent for a few seconds, then I felt her carefully climb on. Her weight settled on my back. She gripped my waist with her knees, palms pressed on my shoulder blades. When her full weight rested on me, I closed my eyes.
I could picture her exactly—she was definitely looking down, dark brown hair falling forward, half-hiding those eyes widened with nerves, her soft body covering me in a clumsy, reverent posture.
"Am I... am I heavy?" Her voice drifted down from above, tinged with uncertain nervousness.
"Of course not." As I spoke, I easily did several pushups with her on my back to prove my point.
She didn't know—this weight pressing on me wasn't a burden, but a sweet torture. The soft skin of her inner thighs pressed against my sides, heat penetrating through that thin layer of fabric, shockingly hot. I could feel the subtle trembling under her skin. My throat went dry.
With her skin against mine, my body was no longer my own. A deeper, more overwhelming hunger swept through me. I breathed greedily, desperate to brand this sensation into every cell.
At the twentieth rep, I felt her balance shift slightly. Then she slid off my back and landed solidly on the mat with a soft thud. I immediately flipped over. She lay on her back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Where'd you hit? Does it hurt?" I was worried about her.
"I'm fine..." She blinked. "I'm not hurt."
I checked her over—wrists, elbows—confirming no bruises before relaxing.
"Baby, let's try a safer position. Lie flat."
"Okay." I pushed myself up again, this time planting my hands on either side of her head, my legs outside hers, framing her underneath me. She looked up at me, something indescribable in her eyes.
I started again. Each time I lowered down, my nose came closer to hers, close enough to feel her warm breath. Her lips pressed together slightly, lashes fluttering gently, her gaze lingering on my face without moving away.
Eighth. Ninth. Tenth. I stopped at the lowest point and didn't push back up immediately. Her lips were right there. I lowered my head and kissed her. She froze for a second, then I felt her lips part slightly, mingling with my heavy breathing. I drew out her sweet tongue, drinking deeply.
I gripped her waist with my hand and pulled her up an inch. Her spine arched slightly, one hand somehow finding its way to the back of my neck. I moved my kisses from her lips to the side of her neck. Her breathing became uneven, fingers clutching my nape.
"Andrei, this is no way to work out properly."