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72: He liked her
Camilla didn’t tell Alek the exact details of the conversation with Papa because she hadn’t decided what to do. Leaving Alek should make her happy. It was her end goal. Her attempts at pregnancy was in line with it. Papa had given her a better option, a glorious alternative. Yet she didn’t want to take it.
What if she told Alek about Papa’s proposal, and he asked her to leave? No, he wouldn’t. The man liked her. That much was true. But she wasn’t sure he liked her enough to want her to stay here with him. What about her? What did she feel?
Her fingers wove through his hair. Very rarely did she wake up before him, but today was an exception. He was a quiet sleeper, a quiet man, who seemed to grow talkative around her. She liked it, but she wanted more from him. His secrets. His fears. Many, many things about him.
Alek moaned, and her nipples roused. She was naked from yesterday’s attempted sex. When she felt h
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The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 73: Bible, Cam (I)
Maksim spied the time. Today was going too slow. He had a date with Camilla. A sadistic chuckle almost escaped him. Fine, he called it a date. So what? She was his wife, not a random girl he was fucking.The knob jiggled, and his office door opened. Vanya entered. Their relationship had moved from I want to murder you, Vanya, to, what the fuck do you want, since Camilla’s arrival. He had only been nice to his half-brother for Camilla’s sake, but that had become easier to do in the last days. Not enough to want Vanya around him but enough to tolerate and not kick him out of his office for not knocking first.“What’s up?”Vanya offered him a smile that lacked its usual exuberance. Another patient of his had better not died because Maksim still was unable to offer any sympathies.“I’m leaving. I have to return to work.”Maksim leaned back in his chair, his fingertips touching. He
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 74: Bible, Cam (II)
“Uh-oh,” came from the other end of the phone.“Yeah. Because Cam lost the baby,” Maksim said. Christian muttered apologies he ignored as soon as they came. He should have trusted his friend enough to tell him there was no child, but it had already happened. No use bringing it up now. “If I tell her, she might want to leave. She likes me, but does she like me enough to stay?”“Then get her pregnant. You’re the man.”Maksim groaned. “Look, that wasn’t why I called you. I’m going to do something silly very soon. When that happens, you might need to watch her for me. I trust only you.”Christian whistled. “I’m up for it, bro.”“Thanks. I’ll let you know when I have more info.” Closing his eyes, Maksim said, “Hopefully it never gets to that point.”His friend re-echoed his sentiments, and the call ended. He hadn’t d
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 75: Bright, hopeful eyes
Days had passed since the river date. They hadn’t had any new ones, and Maksim was afraid to ask his wife to another. He loved to think their relationship hadn’t changed much after it. Camilla was still treating him as good as she always did. Her patience with him was frightening. On some days, like today, he wondered if it was patience or something more. Something sinister.As he fixed his tie before leaving for a meeting at the club, he pored through their older conversations in his mind. Even in his imagination, Camilla was still an angel. An angry angel, but still one. Something dropped on his lap. Her scent announced her presence first before he looked up.“What’s on your mind?” Camilla asked. He caught his worried reflection in the mirror before she blocked the view. Standing between his legs, she nudged his hand from the tie and knotted it. “Talk to me, Alek.”“Our last date,” he replied.&n
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 76: My handsome husband
The softness of Camilla’s voice convinced Maksim she wouldn’t hold this against him if he kept the answer to himself. But he wanted to share this information with her. She deserved to know what world she was in. That urge gnawed at his skin.“The don,” Maksim finally replied.“A don?” she said, her nose wrinkling. The word had been used in some of her books, but she had read it without a thought. Her novels might be wrong about a few things, but they were right about the title of dons or mob bosses. “What’s a don?”Maksim laughed. “You curious thing.” He kissed her, straightening up to deepen the kiss. “A don is the head of a mafia family. In this case, Papa is the head of the sinners men. The Kalashnikov’s family. For us, we refer to our dons as the grand sinners. The Sinner Men is the Russian faction of the mafia in Sin City. Some call it the bratva. Just as the Japanese call t
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 77: Accessible shirts
Camilla was lying to her husband. She had to tell Alek what Papa wanted from her. If he let her go, oh well. Maybe it would hurt, but she wouldn’t have to carry a child she might never see again. She would do so today. That thought kept her sane as she cleaned up. She had delayed doing that since their other visits to the hammock.Alek was opening up to her. Opening up might not be the word he would use to describe the actions of the past few days, but she had to reciprocate the gesture. How could he trust her if she was lying to him?What if he wanted to know why she never told him? The answer was simple. For the same reason she called him babe. Which was?A bang from outside paused that thought. Camilla went to the door and cracked it open. Ivan was outside, with shopping bags in each of his hands. She stepped back to let him in. They couldn’t be for her. Alek would rather die than let another man shop for her. In the past, Doris
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 78: Your bastard
Three words. Maksim fucked up. He knew that the moment Camilla spun the laptop for him to see those pictures. How did they get here? While receiving that phone call, he had fantasised about bending her over his desk. He might have asked Ivan to get him some shirts so she could touch him however and whenever she liked, but it looked better on her. She could have them all. If he wanted her to still look at him with a heartfelt smile, he had to fix this.“You’re wasting my time, Alek,” she said.“No explanation would be good enough for why I did it,” he began. Her fists clenched at her sides. And she exhaled. “I’m sorry.”At the time, his reasons had made sense. It was one way to kill two birds. One, end their ongoing silent treatment. Two, confirm that she was to be trusted. If she came to him with the problem, both issues would have been solved. But that only happened when they were on better t
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 79: Wow
Camilla was asleep or pretending to be when Maksim came back to the room last night. Yesterday, the same thing happened.Today, he left before she woke up to prevent any awkwardness. On his return now, she was on the bed, the cover pulled to her chin. The blue bedsheet was her choice. They had gotten used to alternating between bright colours for her and dull colours for him. Was she asleep already?Maksim glanced at the thick envelope in his hands. The frames had come today. He knew Camilla would love them, but he was scared to show them to her, so she wouldn’t misinterpret the gesture. Kicking off his shoes, he sank into the bed and touched her. Her head lolled to the side.“Hey,” he said.“Hi.”That was all. No kisses, no excited smiles to see him. They were talking. He would ask a question and she would answer, but it wasn’t the same. He missed the bubbly, talkative wife who wanted to know all of him. Every single, unnec
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 80: Why did it matter?
There were pictures of Calvin standing alone. One of him and Hana staring at each other in total adoration. Even KJ wasn’t exempted. Faye too. The only people missing in the frames Alek gave Camilla were her parents. How could he do stuff like this and claim not to like her?Camilla couldn’t understand it. She had stopped trying to. These days, she stared at the frames she had lined on the window of her library. Visiting the hammock when he wasn’t ready to bare himself to her felt wrong. So, she stayed away. She didn’t know if he went there anymore. She didn’t ask him deep questions. Didn’t want to fall for him only to get her heart broken. She was guarding her heart, though it was too late. Talking to him made her feel so alive.“Why can’t you admit to liking me?” she asked no one in particular. “I like you too.”Throwing her legs over the arm of the couch, she tucked a pillow behind her he
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