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“You want me to find her husband?” Konstantin asks, yanking me out of my reverie.
“I am her husband,” I say sharply.
He holds up his hands. “Ex-husband. Pardon me.”
“He’s not her ex-anything. Their marriage was fraudulent. I’m the only husband she’s ever had.”
Konstantin raises his eyebrows, and I immediately regret the fiery possessiveness in my words. I’d rather not have my cousin making assumptions about my feelings where Paige is concerned.
The woman is certainly attractive. But lust and love are not the same thing.
And while I’m willing to give in where my lust for her is concerned, I will never compromise on the latter.
Love just gets you killed.
“Do you have reason to believe he’s going to be a problem?” Konstantin asks. “I mean, she hasn’t seen or heard from him in a while, right?”
“No, but I want to cover my bases. The man embezzled from his own company, dried their joint accounts, and disappeared on his woman. I need to know who I’m dealing with if he ever shows up again.”
“I’ll get right on it,” he says.
“Good. Have the documents been drawn up for the last of the mergers?”
“It’s all in the works. Almost done.”
I nod. “Let me know as soon as they come through. Ivanov is going to lose his shit once he realizes we’ve bought out half his kingdom from right under him.”
Konstantin smiles. “I can taste the victory already.”
“Then put your tongue back inside your mouth,” I tell him. “We haven’t won until that fucker is choking beneath the heel of my boot.”
“Just save me a front row seat,” he says with the same fervor that burns inside me. As much of a clown as he so often is, there is a killer beneath that smirk. A killer who saw my brother die unjustly, just like I did. A killer who will never forget that day.
Then he clears his throat, a telltale sign that he’s about to bring up something I’d rather avoid talking about. “Your mother called me last night. She asked about you.”
I keep my expression uninterested. “And what did you tell her?”
“Don’t worry: I kept your pretty little secret,” Konstantin says grudgingly. “But I didn’t like it.”
I wave a hand at him. “I’ll tell them eventually.”
“When?” he presses, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “After your first child is born? Or are you aiming to give your mother a heart attack by introducing her to her eighteen-year-old grandchild?”
I roll my eyes. “I’ve forgotten how dramatic you can be.”
“Liar. You never forget anything.”
The dog tag around my neck settles into the hollow of my chest like a metal reminder of his words.Don’t I fucking know it?
“She’s worried about you, brother,” Konstantin continues emphatically. “She thinks you’re consumed with revenge. She thinks it’s taking over your life.”
“I’m not having this conversation again,” I sigh.
“Great—then call her!” Konstantin cries out. “Better yet, go see her. Cyrille and Ilya would love seeing you, too.”
I smirk. “Did you intentionally leave out Nikita?”
He chuckles under his breath. “Yes. She might be slightly less enthused. Matter of fact, she might rip your balls off.”
