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“Thank you, but I’d like another Dom next time, please.”
“No can do, Ley. I won’t tell Ryan anything. I signed an NDA. We have a contract that I’ll adhere to.” I hold the smirk back because I knew she was going to pull this shit with me.
She looks up at me with hope in her eyes, and I realize she doesn’t want to leave me either, but then her eyes cloud over again. “There has to be another whipmaster. I was told there were three or four of you.”
“I’m the only one who can do what you want with the contracts. It’s why I was chosen. Also, none of the whipmasters are looking for this kind of relationship. They want full contracts.” I watch as she raises an eyebrow, and I know I have her. I raise my pierced brow and watch her. “They’ll want sex.” I lean forward ever so slowly. “Are you willing to do that, beautiful Ley?”
“No.”
“Then you’re stuck with me. I’ll see you next week.”
I move to the private bathroom attached to my suite and turn when I reach the doorway. She stops and turns back to me, and I can’t hide the smile.
Three
RIDLEY
The phone rings on my desk, and I reach out for it. I look at the caller ID and smile. I’ve missed him. Both Grayson and I are the illegitimate children of our father. Only Andrei is his actual heir. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t raised as children of the Bratva after both of our mothers died. Both from drugs, which is something that both Grayson and I abhor. We can’t stand people who are addicts. We know they aren’t the only ones who suffer. Their family and loved ones endure the pain too. It’s why I was keeping an extra close eye on Jas for Ryan. Her brother was so addicted to drugs and owed his dealer so much money, he would have sold his siblings for it. I know how addicts think. My own mother would leave me alone all the time to hook for more money. She didn’t care about getting food. She only cared about getting her fix. When I was recovering and on several pain meds, I could have easily slid into addiction, but I wouldn’t do that to Franci.
“Well, well, well, big brother, you’re awake early. What is it, like six in the morning there?” I chuckle. “Or have you not gone to sleep at all?” Knowing Gray, that’s what happened. He got with some dancer or entertainer and was up all night.
“Enough, Ley. I need your help.” His words stop me, and for a moment I think it’s serious, but Gray is only serious about his business, and he wouldn’t come to me for that. He has Alek to help him.
“Stop right there.” I hold in the laughter this time. “Did the almighty Grayson Aldridge just say he needs my lowly help? Don’t you have guys for that?” The chuckle comes out no matter how hard I try to keep it in. Gray really does have men that could do shit. Okay, maybe they can’t kill like I can, but they could torture and work in the grey. On that note, I know that Andrei would do anything for him. He’d do the same for me, but I don’t give him that chance. I miss him and wish he’d call, but I don’t go see him anymore.
“Yes,” he growls, and I realize he’s serious. I need him to calm down first, so I have to make him laugh.
“Say it.” When we were kids, we used to do this.
“The almighty, powerful, and sexy?—”
“Yuck, no, not that last part. I can’t imagine that. You’ve scarred me for life.” I stop him. He’s my brother and in no way sexy to me.
“Let me finish or I won’t.”
“Fine.” I huff.
“The almighty, powerful, and sexy Grayson Aldridge needs the talented, beautiful, and humble Ridley Andreason’s help.” Neither of us have our father’s name, but at least Gray has a guy’s name. My mom gave me the fucked-up name Ridley. It caused me to be tougher growing up because the girls would bully me over it, and the boys thought they could push me around when Gray or Andrei weren’t around. However, I also had my brothers’ friends, Alek, Dmitri, and Mikhail, who would jump in and fight for me. The good thing was I learned from each of them new techniques in fighting.
“Okay, what do you got for me? I’m not coming out west. I know Babushka wants me to, but I’m not. I can send some of my guys.” I can’t go back there. I really don’t want to direct the people after me to the city with the second most cameras and surveillance in the United States.
“No, my case is there on the East Coast. She lives in Eastport, Rhode Island. I need a full detail on her with protection at a distance. Where she doesn’t know. Her name is Erika Arnold.”
Fuck.
“No can do,” I say and wait. I know he expects me to give up more info. There was a time when I couldn’t hold out, but now I keep so much from him. He huffs over the line. There is something about Erika that bothers him.
“Come on, Ley. It’s an easy follow and trace. She could be in danger because she’s my wife.”
“Your what?” I exclaim as I dig into her file more. “Fuck me.” I shake my head before I lay it on my desk. I can’t believe my luck.
“No, thank you.” He tries to get me to laugh, but I don’t. This complicates things so much more than the fact Ryan asked me to protect her. She’s also Leif’s sister.
“Look, Gray, I can’t. But I can tell you she has a full detail already. And that’s too much for me to say. I have NDAs for a reason.” I won’t give up Ryan like that. He told me she’s Jas’s best friend and there is something going on that she needs protection from.
“Who hired her a full detail?” I can hear the jealousy in his tone. I want to give him more to put him at ease, but my hands are tied here. “I want his name and how long she’s had this detail.”
“I can’t give you that. But don’t be jealous. The guy is already married.”
