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She’s making them laugh. Kevin even places a hand on his face to cover his burst of laughter. They seem to be swooning, which is good. This may even be the best part of the plan. She’s a miracle worker.
“Um ...” Adrian pauses, and so do I, as Kevin reaches down to place his hand across Sloane’s stomach. “You didn’t ...?”
“I—no, she would have told me.”
She would have told me if she were carrying my child. If she had a brain,anybrain at all, she wouldn’t keep something like that from me.
“Then she’s a fucking genius,” Adrian grits out. “She’s making sure Giovanni has nothing above you.”
The world around me moves in slow motion. The Valentino brothers are family men. Family means everything to them. I assume she found that out without me even needing to tell her.
“She is something else,” I admit, gulping down a bitter taste of disappointment that I don’t care to acknowledge. “I’m going over there.” I brush past him and many other people as I approach Sloane.
“It’s very early, so there isn’t much to feel yet,” she snickers, and I want to crumble under the weight of my panic.
“Well, if it isn’t the man himself.” Jared pulls me in and pats my back. “Congratulations, brother.”
Brother. A term they don’t use lightly.
“Thanks, man. It’s a great feeling, it truly is.”
“Hi, my love,” Sloane says, standing on her tiptoes to reach my cheek. “Play along,” she whispers softly in my ear.
There’s a lump in my throat when I hear it was just a plan to deceive the people standing in front of me.This is what I wanted. Why am I feeling upset right now?
I’ve never wanted kids, but it feels like Sloane is taking away something I could have. A future where I’m not all alone. Someone to come home to and hold. The sound of pure joy from the ones who surround me. It’s as if Sloane could show me the light at the end of the tunnel, but she’d never stick by my side. I’ve hurt her too much.
Or maybe she could forgive me.
I’ve never wanted anyone else by my side since Kirill died, butdamndoes it feel so fucking good to have Sloane by my side.
“Mikhail, you’re creating one hell of a name for yourself,” Kevin chimes in.
I roll up the sleeves of my shirt. “It’s been a long time coming, but it’s worth it. The assets have proven to be worth it as well,” I explain.
“Eric told us before we got here what you’ve done. You turned a two-million-dollar revenue into eighty-five. I’ve never seen that done before, especially with a building like this.”
He’s talking about the club. I don’t do much with it besides tell other people how to run it while I’m not here.
“It’s the location. Many in the city thrive at night.”
“It’s not just the location—don’t sell yourself short. You’ve turned it into something I’ve only seen in Vegas. It’s a good thing a place such as yours is out there.”
I smile. “Vegas was my inspiration. I made some pretty great memories there a couple years ago.”
“Mikhail, could you turn this building into something like Sky Lounge?”
I run my hands through my hair as I think through my answer. Is it possible? “Those weren’t the plans I had for this, but I could work with the idea. You’d have to tear out a lot of the walls. Apartments could be made from the office floors above as well. Rent those out for extra profit.”
“See?” Kevin downs his glass. “This is exactly what I’m looking for. I’m tired of having this building empty. I want to do something risky with it. You’ve got to lose something to gain something, am I right?”
“Sounds like music to my ears.” I nod.
“As for the cut, we’d like thirty percent of the club’s income.”
“Twenty,” I bite back as Sloane grabs onto my hand tightly. She’s trying to tell me to quit, but I won’t. It’ll take millions to get this place fixed up, and I’m not selling myself short.
“Twenty and we get a floor of apartments for our pesky teenagers. And you don’t card them. They’re nearly of age—there isn’t much of an issue there.”
