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LORENZO
Ileft the club and went straight to the airport, taking a separate flight home than the rest of them. Sienna left a few days ago, so it was supposed to be Sasha, Dom, Krishna, and me on Mischa’s jet, but there was no way I could sit on a plane with any of them.
I’m already going to deck my brother the second I see him. Being in a small, enclosed space miles above the ground would not have worked out well for us. It was better I came home early. I nabbed a packet of over-the-counter sleeping aid from the gift shop in the airport and downed them as I was walking on the plane.
I’d only been asleep half an hour at best when one of the dancers phoned me telling me what happened and that she was concerned for Sasha because my brother dragged my wife off the stage with all the patrons witnessing the act.
Why she decided to make her debut is anyone’s guess. Maybe that was her intent when she sucked me off in my office and told me to go home to get some sleep, acting like the good little wife she is not. I should have known the other shoe was going to drop. It always does. And then I walk in to find my brother ordering her to put on the ring I bought three years ago.
I never had the balls to give it to her or ask her to marry me the right way. I still didn’t gift it to her when we said I do almost a year to the day from when I bought the ring. Watching her putting it on last night, seeing her wear it, was as exhilarating as it was crushing to my soul.
She didn’t slide the ring on her finger because she wanted to or because she was proud to be my wife. No, she did it because my brother ordered her to. They can both fuck right the fuck off with that bullshit.
What happened last night is the very reason I wasn’t ready to present the ring to her. She’s not all in with me, with us, in the right way. I don’t want a wife that doesn’t want me fully and wholeheartedly. I might be a master over her body, but I’m clearly a failure at her heart and mind. Until I have all of her, I didn’t want my ring on a finger that didn’t want it there.
I’m seething for the hundredth time since late last night when the doorbell chimes. After the plane touched down, I took a cab to my father’s. I didn’t go back to the New Orleans home to retrieve any of my packed bags. I literally went straight to the airport and lucked out with a flight that would be boarding in half an hour. I got home ten hours ago, took a shower, and then crashed in my bed. I’ve only been up long enough to brush my teeth and make myself a cup of coffee.
I’m half temped to add booze to it but forego that option to answer the front door. I’ve gone that route for years and it’s done nothing for me, so what’s the point?
When I swing the door open, Mischa Nikolayev stands before me. He isn’t the giant his son is, I think, when I’m looking at his blue gaze at eye level.
“Lorenzo,” he greets me, no ounce of malice or disdain to be found in his tone.
“Your daughter and son aren’t back yet. My father will be in his office, or he’s not here either, but you’re welcome to come in.” I open the door wider and step back. “Should I assume you know where his office is or do I need to show you?”
“I do and you don’t. Tony is with lawyers handling your rotten grandfather’s estate. My plane landed ten minutes ago; the others will be along shortly. I got here early on purpose. You and I need to talk, son.” He pats me on the shoulder before stepping around me.
If he were going to kill me, I supposed he would have done it two years ago. That or this is the longest Mob execution in the history of the world. Not contemplating that further, I follow him into Dad’s living room.
“Is this where we have a heart-to-heart and you tell me I’m not worthy of your daughter?” I ask when he finally turns around to face me, his expression giving nothing away.
“Ren. I can call you Ren, right? You didn’t ask for Sasha’s hand in marriage the proper way, so we’re way past fake pleasantries. I’m going to call you Ren, okay? It’s not a question, just nod in agreement, son.”
I tip my chin up but remain closed lipped.
“Good deal.” He smiles, but it’s calculated. His eyebrow arches on one side, making sure I know it. “If anyone else would have pulled that shit with my daughter, I would have put a bullet between their eyes. I still aim to, but lucky for you, that round doesn’t have your name on it. We’ll get to that topic shortly because I’m impressed by you, Ren. That doesn’t happen often.”
“Yeah, why is that?” I find myself curious.
“Because it’s something I would have done.” A chuckle tumbles from his lips that are encased by a full beard mixed with dirty blond and graying hairs. “But Sasha needs to know the truth behind how you got her to agree to marry you. I’d say go find a cup for your balls, but she’s more the type that goes for your eyeballs than the crown jewels. Good luck with that. She’s all yours.”
“Did you take out Ivan Sokolov? Is that the secret Sasha has been guarding?”
“So my daughter can follow directions when she wants to.” He makes a hmph sound, before shaking his head. “I did, and I’ve been searching for his bastard of a son ever since.”
“What did that twisted fuck do?” I met Dimitri Sokolov once. Strangest encounter I’ve ever had. Something made me think it wasn’t by chance, but when nothing came of it, I put it out of my mind. It was about a year ago. I’d just left Sasha’s apartment from crashing there the night before and crossed the street to grab a coffee from a popular chain that caters to the caffeine addicts. Before I pulled the door open, someone spoke. He had a deep voice with an accent, but it was his comment that made me pause. Birds left uncaged tend to escape through open windows. I make sure my birds stay secured.
I thought he was high. When I glanced at the man, he was staring at me while sipping from a small paper cup with the café’s logo on it. He was dressed in a five-piece suit, an expensive one at that. I didn’t comment back. While I was standing in the line, it dawned on me who he was, but when I walked back out after getting my coffee, he was gone.
Dimitri Sokolov has a reputation for squeezing the life out of a woman as he’s fucking her. I like rough sex. I even like making Sasha bleed or her making me bleed, but make no mistake, I’m nothing like that man. I’d never hurt my woman on that level. If I didn’t know Domenico was going easy on her last night, I’d have searched for him instead of getting on a plane. His face still has a date with my knuckles, but once that’s done, then it’s over. Retribution will be paid.
“He’s been stalking your wife for the better part of a decade, with us none the wiser.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t fret, Ren. I’m not mad at you. I missed it too. But then again, my daughter has become an excellent liar since she’s been shagging you.” Mischa’s eyes darken, losing every bit of the humor I’ve seen since he arrived. “I like you more than I ever thought I would. Did you know your father saved my life once?”
“No.”
“My kids would have never been born if it hadn’t been for Antonio being in the right place at the right time, if he had taken out one of his own instead of saving me. That alone puts me in his debt, but it’s a debt I paid many, many years ago. Make no mistake, Lorenzo. Just because I like you now doesn’t mean that can’t change in the future. There are only two women in this world that own me, and I’m giving you one of them. Don’t make me not like you, Ren. People I don’t like end up dead.” He snaps his fingers. “Just like that.”
