Chapter Thirty-four
Dmitri Konstantinov
I arrived at the office,convinced work would distract me. I committed to it as if it actually mattered. Files covered the table, papers spread everywhere as I forced myself into numbers, shipments, accounts, and contracts. None of it worked. The numbers kept blurring together, and every line I read somehow circled back to things unrelated to business.
I pressed the intercom while staring at the papers, flipping through them with growing irritation.
Akim knocked once before stepping inside. I grabbed the nearest file and threw it at his feet. “Does that look like what I asked for?” He stayed quiet, the same way he has been since I arrived. I leaned back in my chair. “Get me the right file and get out of my face.”
He picked it up and left without a word.
I reached for the Singapore file next and skimmed through the figures. Halfway through, I threw it across the room and pressed my fingers against my forehead.
Everyone in this building apparently decided to becomeincompetent today.
I needed a drink.
I pushed away from the desk and crossed to the liquor table near the window. After pouring myself a glass, I took a slow sip and stared out at the city while the sun sank lower across the skyline. I arrived here hours ago and accomplished nothing except fixing mistakes made by people I paid specifically to avoid making mistakes.
The quality of talent left in this world was genuinely appalling.
The door opened without a knock, and I turned. Roman walked in as if he owned part of the building. His gaze swept across the office before settling on me. That smirk was still sitting on his face, irritatingly comfortable.
“What are you doing here?” I asked because there was no logical reason for Roman to be inside DK Holdings looking so pleased with himself.
“Looks like you’re having a tough day.” He dropped into the chair. “Anyway, I was leaving.”
“And you came here to announce it?”
“No,” he leaned forward slightly. “I came to ask what your plan is with Grace. Iker gives you Zachary, and then what? You hand the kids over?”
The grip around my glass tightened. Apparently, everyone within a thirty-mile radius decided to test the limits of my patience today. Roman was leading that effort by a very wide margin.
“Get out,” I said, using what little restraint I still had left.
He raised both hands lazily. “Shouldn’t someone worry about their friend?”
Friend?
The woman he made laugh all morning in my house. The same woman whose face lit up whenever she said his name. That was his friend.
I gave him three seconds before the glass met his forehead, and I actually started counting.
Roman read the room, which made him the first intelligent person I’d dealt with all day, and pushed himself to his feet.
“Alright,” He adjusted his jacket. “You know where to find me if you need to reach her mother.” He reached the door before glancing back. “Stop pretending I’m not closer to her than you are.”
The glass left my hand before the sentence settled. Roman moved aside just in time. The glass slammed against the wall beside the door and shattered across the floor.
He scoffed under his breath and walked out.
Closer to her?
He knew her. So what?
I fucked her against my desk this morning, and she said my name, not Roman’s. Whatever he thought closeness meant, I was already ahead of it. I could give her anything she wanted. She saw her father after years because of me. She was more comfortable at the mansion than she would ever be. And she was….scared.
That was the word that landed and stayed. Inna wasn’t comfortable the way she was with Roman. She was scared the way people are when they face things that could hurt them, which I showed. The only things I gave her consistently were reasons to cry.
