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That hit me like a brick to the side of the head, and yes, I’d actually had the misfortune to experience that.
“Let her in,” I barked, then turned to Aleksei. “We’ll finish discussing this later. Maybe much later.”
He looked at Reina, then back at me with an eye roll, but left, probably glad not to have to get in a fight with me for now. I waved Reina over, unable to take my eyes off her as she came toward me. For whatever reason, she’d stuck with me, unlike any other woman before or since as I’d tried to erase the taste and smell of her, and I was happy to see her again.
But something was clearly wrong since tears still clung to her lashes despite being allowed to come in. As soon as she reached me, I took her arm to pull her into a hug, but her body went stiff and she wavered on her feet. Yes, there was definitely something wrong. I kept my grip on her arm and led her to the nearest velvet couch at the edges of the empty dance floor. The place I first set eyes on her.
“What is it, Reina?” I asked roughly. “You can tell me anything,” I said in a softer voice. “Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.”
For a split second, she gave me the hint of a smile, but it disappeared just as fast. “I’m pregnant,” she blurted, searching my face.
I could read every thought in those eyes, and I didn’t doubt for a second that she was telling me the truth or that the baby she carried was mine. I stood, making her choke back a sob, but I wasn’t leaving. Instead, I picked her up and whisked her to my office where we could have privacy. She held herself stiffly in my arms, but I held on tight and she finally relaxed a bit against me. I almost didn’t want to let her go, but we had much to discuss, so I plopped her down on the couch in my office and shut the door.
“You don’t have to worry about a thing, Reina. I’m delighted by this news.” I found I wasn’t just offering her empty reassurance. I meant it. At forty-four it was well past time I got myself an heir, and here was one attached to a mother I didn’t mind the thought of spending the rest of my life with. I didn’t mind it at all. “Everything will be fine.”
“I don’t even know your last name,” she said, sitting on the edge of the couch with her hands clasped tightly between her knees.
“That’s easy enough to remedy.” I held out my hand, trying to tease her back to the confident girl who first caught my eye. “Ivan Morozov. Pleased to meet you.”
Her already colorless cheeks went deathly pale. She was nervous before but now she was fearful. So, she’d heard the name, knew what it meant. I shouldn’t have been shocked. Anyone who lived in this city for any amount of time and paid attention at all would learn of us. It probably wouldn’t have been amiss to be fearful, either.
Finally, she lifted her head and met my eyes with hers again. “Do you… do you do more than just own this club?”
She’d given me honesty, of that I would have bet my life. I knew I had to give her nothing less than the same. “I am the head of the Bratva. The Russian brotherhood.”
“The mafia?” she squeaked. But her eyes still stayed firmly on mine. She was brave, I had to give her that.
I nodded. “On top of owning this club, which is completely legitimate, we run various other businesses you may or may not want more information about. I don’t allow drugs in this place—”
“But you allow drugs.” She raised her chin, which only trembled a little.
“Gambling, security, real estate ventures. My empire is vast, Reina. I’m the king in this city.” I sat beside her and took her hand, which lay limp in mine. “And you’ll be my queen.”
She sat silently, mulling it over, and suddenly gasped, ripping her hand away. “That first night—” She paused, her cheeks flooding with color. Was she remembering the way I pleasured her? Because I was remembering it as she slowly licked her lower lip and turned to me with wide eyes. “I complained about my old coworker—”
“Jimmy Talbot,” I said.
“It was you,” she wailed. “Did you order that attack?”
“That night I told you to ask for whatever you wanted, and I’d make it happen,” I reminded her.
She shook her head hard enough to dislodge the small clip in her hair. She let it hang from her blonde strands as she stared at me. “I never asked for that!”
I slipped the wayward locks behind her ear and placed my hand on her chest, palm over her rapidly beating heart. “I could tell you were asking with this,” I said. “I knew what you really wanted.” Her breath came quicker, and my hand slowly drifted lower to cup her through her thin top. My own breathing was getting harder to control as she leaned toward me. We were as attracted to each other as that first night, but even more powerfully, if that was possible. “I know what you really want now, Reina. Let me give it to you.”
Her eyes closed briefly and I tilted to take her mouth. She jumped up and scurried to the door, yanking it open.
“I can’t do this,” she said. “I can’t handle this. Just let me go.”
She turned and slammed out into the hall. I listened to her footsteps getting further away, her sobs tearing me apart. I stayed seated in my office, staring at the doorway. She could think I was letting her go for now. But Reina was mine. She carried my heir. She’d accept the life I had planned, one way or the other.
Chapter 7 - Reina
I fled from the club, disgusted with myself for how close I came to crawling into his lap and letting him have his way with me. That was exactly what got me into this predicament in the first place.
Head of a crime syndicate? I only skimmed the headlines every day and even I knew about the Morozov family. After practically running from the club, my legs gave out about ten blocks away. I sat down on a bench, staring at the last of the beach stragglers. The sound of the ocean normally soothed away whatever cares I had, but these current cares refused to be soothed. A storm was brewing far out at sea and it would probably open up on me if I sat there for too long, but I couldn’t move.
I shakily searched Ivan’s name on my phone, finding article after article. What was true and what was hysterical clickbait? I had no way of knowing, but I read it all.
