It turned out, I was wrong. I thought I was going to have to face Marek. It sent a rush of uncertainty through me every time I thought of it. But I would take a deep breath and I knew we needed to face it. We needed to talk about it. Not ignore each other completely.
Marek went the extra mile though. Not just ignoring me but he wasn’t around at all. I got up on Tuesday to an empty penthouse. Zann was sitting out front of the vault door on his phone, according to the camera. Marek had already left for work and the only way I knew he had been back was the leftovers I had in the fridge were gone.
I really didn’t want to text him or call him over this. Aleksei showed up later in the afternoon to relieve Zann. He, however, sat out in the hallway and didn’t come in. I’m assuming that was part of his punishment but it felt like a bit of punishment for me too.
Stalking around the penthouse, it took a bit for me to decide what to do with
Startling awake, I sat up in bed and looked around. There was a soft light coming through the window but the rain still fell outside. Marek was already gone and the clock showed six in the morning. It had been a long time since I slept in that late. Getting up, I pulled the blankets back up to the top of the bed. Walking out, I was surprised to see Marek sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and his tablet.“Morning.”“You’re still here?” My mouth ran away with me before I realized what I said.His eyebrow rose and he looked like he was holding back a chuckle. “I don’t have any meetings this morning. It was a race against time for a bit so it should even out before the next week.”I nodded, pulling the shirt I was wearing down as walked down the stairs.“I need to speak with you in regards to something coming up.”My lips pursed and I nodded again. “Let me…put on so
“I looked like a fucking princess, Aleksei. I’m not wearing this. I might not care about my reputation but this is awful.” I turned to look in the mirror behind me. “There are literal butterflies coming off this dress. Who in gods name would wear this?”Aleksei behind me was chuckling. “I mean, lots of girls. Everyone wants to be a princess, Rosaria.”“Yeah, until they actually become a princess. Then they regret ever wanting it in the first place.”“You have a unique perspective on the printsessa title. Wouldn’t you want Marek to treat you like a princess?”Turning, I glared at him. “No. Never. Not fucking once. Not even in bed.”His eyes widened before he threw his head back and laughed. “Alright, alright. Get that monstrosity off. I have a different place we need to go. This is not going to work if we keep going to these kinds of places.&r
The first dress Irina put me in was already an improvement. It was black and made of satin. It was an A-line off the shoulder and had a slit so far up the leg that I’d have to make sure I didn’t flash anyone. There was a dip down the back and Irina helped me tighten it so that it fit a little better. Opening up the curtain, I stepped out and for the first time, Aleksei’s mouth dropped open.“Holy shit. Now that’s more like it. Marek would lose his mind. That’s way better. Much more you.”I smiled, blushing a bit at the compliment. “I like this one. It is definitely way better and I feel more comfortable in it. More…me…”Behind me, Irina clicked her tongue. “Then no. If you only like this one, milyy, then it is not the one for you. Come, come. This gets me closer to you.”Nodding, I picked it up from the side an
The door shut immediately and I let my forehead fall to Marek’s. “I’m sorry, I don’t know…I just…”“Never apologize, Ria. The only one who should apologize is Aleksei.” Marek lifted my head up. “Not for that.”“Okay.” I let my voice come out as a hushed whisper.Kissing him again, Marek this time picked me up, moving to the couch where he sat down. My legs were now straddling him and I wrapped my arms around him. One of his hands was splayed across my back while the other crept up and his fingers wove into my hair. I’d never felt so absolutely lost in someone. Marek held me together and was my undoing all at the same time.We continued to kiss until we needed to take a breath. Both of our chests were heaving as we smiled. Marek brushed my cheek and I leaned into his touch. I sat back on his thighs as I tried to take a moment.“I think I’m officially ad
*** Marek’s POV ***I’d been stressing about the charity ball for the entire week. At first, I thought Lec and Aleksei should come as Ria’s guards but Lec said that he didn’t feel comfortable doing the event. I was worried that he had an issue with Ria but he assured me it wasn’t Ria. He said he wanted to make sure she was safe and he didn’t feel like he would have his head in the game somewhere like the charity ball. While I appreciated his honesty, it left a hole in my security.I finally decided to bring Keenan out from his training. Since he was going to be Ria’s personal guard, his training was in Moscow. I had to fly him in for the event but he at least would get some hands on training with Aleksei to shadow. Ria would feel more comfortable with him as well.Still, even with that, I was on edge. Her father being there and possibly Enzo made my skin crawl. I didn’t want them to touch her or even
The charity organization went all out this year. The gallery itself had high ceilings and they used the entire space to turn into a garden paradise. It was worthy of the richness that now was walking around the rooms. Ria stepped closer to me and I squeezed her arm gently. My heart rate had picked up though as I scanned over the crowd, categorizing everyone into the potential threats against her.I would say about sixty percent of the people here were just the rich and famous. Movie stars, business gurus, old money, all the people who shinned in the light. Though, most of them knew the rest of the forty percent. We were the underworld. Rolling in money they was done both legally and illegally. That forty percent was the threat. They were the ones we needed to make sure they protected Ria against her father’s wrath.“I see Vor.”I followed her motion and found Juri with Felicity, Kaz, and Sachi. Leading Ria over, I squeezed Juri’s shoulder
I glared at my second. Aleksei was a bit of a jokester and more often than not he had a smile on his face no matter the situation. It balanced my perpetual frown that was etched onto my face for years. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled. Not even Aleksei’s greatest jokes would make me crack a smirk. An eyebrow raise but nothing would get me to smile; not anymore. For once though, he wasn’t smiling. We were in the middle of an arms deal with the Colombians. The last thing I wanted was to be interrupted. There were three other brothers they could contact that wouldn’t be finishing up a deal to handle something.“Why are you telling me this and not contacting my brothers?”Aleksei rubbed his palms against his pants. “Juri is in Russia right now, Kazmer is in Florida handling a different deal with the new port opening up, and Lev is arms deep in baby shit since the twins came home. It’s up to you, pakhan.”My lip curled. Aleksei knew better than to call me that. I was not ou
We arrived at the strip club in about ninety minutes thanks to Aleksei’s driving. Sometimes, I had to force myself not to kiss the ground when he drove. God damn maniac. My uncle drove for a bit in the off-road racing circuit. Unfortunately, he taught all my cousins how to drive like that no matter where they were. It was great when we needed to deliver something fast but being a passenger was asking to step beyond the pearly white gates.The bouncer out front opened the door for us as we walked into the club. The music was loud, smoke hung from the ceiling like cloudy day, and the smell of booze had turned sour. I stayed out of these shitholes. I preferred the business side, our larger corporations than the seedy bars, clubs, diners, and other places that were dotted around our territory. Sure, I still managed them but I didn’t need to do that in person.Walking through to the back house, I nodded to the ladies getting ready and snapped at Aleksei as he started to veer off in their di