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“I’ll return with hors d’oeuvres.” Lars bowed before he returned to the door.
“We don’t need any food, Lars,” Crow said. “Men just want to drink.”
London cleared her throat. “I’m not gonna turn down some homemade Italian cooking.”
Lars smiled like that made him happier than he’d been in a long time. “On the way.” He walked out.
Crow and Cane both stared at her, obviously not noticing her until then.
“My apologies,” Crow said. “Didn’t realize a lady was joining us. What can I get you, sweetheart?”
I didn’t hide my glare, offended he called my woman by such an endearment. “She’ll have scotch—like the rest of us.” I took a seat and tapped the cushion next to me, telling her exactly where I wanted her.
The second her ass was on the cushion, my hand moved to her thigh and I crossed her legs. I shouldn’t care if Crow and Cane found her attractive. She didn’t mean anything to me anyway.
But I did care.
Crow smiled before he opened the bottle. “My apologies.” He poured two glasses and handed them over.
I handed London hers even though she could have reached it herself. It was an unnecessary act of possession, but Crow and Cane weren’t typical criminals. They were both handsome and wealthy. “This is London. London, this is Crow.” I held up my glass and aimed in his direction. “And that’s Cane.”
Crow nodded in acknowledgment. He was the older brother with the winery, while Cane was in charge of their arms business. They laundered their money through their clean business, just the way I did with my scotch.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Cane’s eyes settled on her a little longer than I preferred.
I shouldn’t have brought her.
“Where’s Ariel?” Crow asked.
“Working.” I didn’t have to explain where my business partner was. I handled all the deals while she worked in the dark. That was how the arrangement went. Sometimes I brought her along. Sometimes I didn’t.
“I was hoping London was her replacement,” Cane said.
Cane wasn’t a fan of Ariel. Probably because she didn’t put up with his sleazy lines and sexist comments. “London is my personal property.” I wouldn’t call her my woman because that would imply she meant a great deal to me. But I wouldn’t use the word slave because London would have an outburst.
“Oh…even better.” Cane winked.
Crow glared at his brother before he turned to me. “Let’s talk business. That’s what we’re here for, right?”
I always preferred Crow. He got right to the point and didn’t ask too many questions. “Let’s.”
Cane left the room to take a call, and London walked to the large windows on the other side of the room to admire the view of the vineyards and the pool. It was just Crow and me for a brief time.
“How’s business?” I knew he would give me a rehearsed answer since we never revealed our secrets to one another.
“No complaints. You?”
I smiled. “No complaints.” I knew he had a blood feud with one of my clients, so I never mentioned his name while we were together. I considered myself to be a mutual businessman who didn’t have any emotional investment in my clients. They bought what I was selling, or they didn’t. End of story.
Crow nodded to London on the other side of the room. “Josephine is long gone, huh?”
I didn’t like to speak of that woman, but all of Western Europe knew of my engagement. I’d never been so humiliated in my life. She left me for a man with a better chance at the throne, spitting on my legacy and everything I had to offer. It probably wouldn’t have hurt so much if I’d never loved the bitch.
But I did.
The Russians destroyed my family, and that British cunt destroyed my name. Now I needed revenge on two fronts, and I would get it one way or another. I wouldn’t let anyone step on me ever again. I wouldn’t let anyone get close to my heart again. Whoever I married would only be a match of convenience, someone who could give me children to carry on my legacy.
But that was it.
“Yeah.” I masked my discomfort by taking a drink of my scotch. I’d been working with Crow for years, but I wouldn’t consider us to be friends. Good acquaintances, perhaps. People like us didn’t really have friends. “She came by a few weeks ago and said she made a mistake. Wanted another chance.”
“That’s some nerve…”
I wouldn’t take her back. I was over her the moment she turned her back on me. Every feeling I had disappeared instantly. My heart became calloused and black, and I lost any ability to feel any form of happiness.
Now I just wanted to blood.
“I’m glad she’s miserable.” It was a cold thing to say, but I really didn’t care.
“That makes two of us.” He clinked his glass against mine. “Your new plaything seems nice. I heard one of your clients crossed you…”
