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I look up at him with bright wide eyes. “Can we see each other again sometime?”
He slips a card into my hand and then uses his other hand to hold my chin, tilting it up. He leans forward slowly, and I can smell his earthy aftershave and the beer he’s been drinking. Our lips meet, and I know instantly that this is fate.
My eyes flutter closed as he wraps his arm around me and pulls me against him, kissing me deeply.
When we part, he chuckles. “Call me if you want to see me again.”
I’m still dazed by the kiss, so I awkwardly wave goodbye. When I return to the girls, they all squeal and tease, but I’m so excited.
Evgenii is simply perfect.
Present Day
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice Dominic had ordered the full breakfast for both of us. I sip my lukewarm coffee and pull a face. “Sorry. I was distracted.”
“I noticed,” he teased, picking up his cutlery and tucking into his food.
I start to cut up my sausages and bacon, then set my knife and fork down and look at Dominic seriously. “I’m going to tell you something. Hear me out.”
“Is this about the bid?” he asks, his hand pausing its trip to his mouth.
I nod. “Kind of. I want to scope out what the competition is bidding to make sure we win, and I think I’m going to have to do a bit of digging.”
“We’ve got people who do that for us,” he says, finally eating his waiting egg and sausage.
“Yes, but I prefer to dig into it myself. There are things that other people won’t know to look for.”
“Okay, so how are you going to do that?” he asks.
“By spending some time with who will probably be our biggest competition,” I say casually.
Dominic frowns. His forehead furrows when he does this. Then he sighs. “Are you talking about the Volkovs?”
“Evgenii is the one making the bid. We have a connection that I can use to Sorvino’s advantage. I could find out what he’s planning, slip him false information about what I’m thinking, and then, before Ivan Volkov knows it, we own Staten Island.” I grin, nodding with a sense of finality as though this is the best plan ever because, well, it is.
Dominic shakes his head as he talks around his food, “That isn’t a good idea, Shirls. You remember what happened the last time you got mixed up with the Russians. Alessandro will not like this idea at all.”
“I’m not a naive little girl anymore, Dom. This time I know what I’m dealing with and who I’m dealing with. You know I would never do anything to betray our family,” I insist, trying to keep it professional and my emotion out of it.
We finish our food, and Dominic wipes his mouth on a napkin. “Shirls, I trust you more than anyone else. You know that. You are family. You have always been since that day we came and got you. But I don’t want you to get hurt by doing something you might not be able to handle.”
I nod as though I agree with him, then finish my coffee. “I acknowledge your fears, but I’ve got this, Dom. Watch, you won’t believe how I play the little Russian playboy at his own game. Trust me, okay?”
Dominic sighs and nods. “I do. If you need me, just call.”
I smile warmly, and we get up, stopping to say goodbye to Kira as we leave the bistro. I have many happy memories here and one or two not-so-happy ones.
Dominic drives us back to the estate, and as soon as I’m inside, I go to my makeshift office on the second floor. I scroll through my blocked contacts and see Evgenii’s name. I hope that his number hasn’t changed. I unblock him. Long ago, I cleared all messages from him as I just wanted to forget he existed, and now I’m willingly putting myself back in his crosshairs.
He has no idea what he’s in for.
Chapter 4 - Evgenii
I glance at my watch, my meeting took longer than needed, but the young wanna-be CEO of the startup was very chatty.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out, surprised at the name on the screen.
Shirley McCannister.
