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What did bother me was watching Kira wilt when my phone rang. Standing in the shadows of the kitchen hallway, I watched her sadly serve herself a slice of the damn quiche she was so pleased with and take a morose, lonely bite.
I couldn’t register what Ivan was saying and for the first time, I didn’t care. Not at all. “This is going to have to wait, Ivan,” I said.
I ended the call and turned off my phone, heading back into the kitchen and sitting down across from her. Her eyes sparkled as she hurried to serve me a slice.
“Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted with a sheepish grin. “I hung up on him.”
“Was that a good idea?”
I took a big bite of the dinner we cooked together and shrugged while I chewed. It was slightly rubbery and the cheese wasn’t fully melted, but it was honestly the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten. “I don’t really care,” I said after I swallowed, digging in for another bite. “I want to have dinner with my wife.”
I liked her blush as she reached for the wine I already opened and poured us each a glass. There was a touch of worry across her brow and I promised it wasn’t anywhere near as important as Ivan tried to make out. And quite frankly I was sick of watching my words around her. What would it hurt to tell her what was going on?
“There’s a shipment coming in for your father that’s part of the marriage contract,” I said.
She perked up, her fork pausing mid bite. “What is it? I’m curious to know what I’m worth.”
I clinked my glass to hers and took a deep swallow. “You’re priceless,” I assured her, hating that there actually was a price involved in our marriage contract. “But I honestly don’t know what’s in the shipment. I don’t need to know, and I don’t want to know. It’s called plausible deniability and it keeps me out of trouble more times than you can guess.”
“No, I’d guess it’s probably a lot.”
I snickered. “Anyway, your father’s people are helping out with some problems we’re having up in Boston.”
“Did he call people over from Moscow for that?”
“I think they were already up there,” I said, enjoying the freedom of hashing out the family business to someone besides my obsessive brothers.
“I’m surprised he got such a foothold in America since I left. He always wanted to come over here.”
“Yeah, well he got his wish.” I reached over and squeezed her hand, knowing she hated any discussion of her father. “This is amazing.”
She smirked. “It’s really not, but thanks. Next time I’ll grate the cheese finer.”
Her eyes were still heavy with worry so I told her something that I was fairly sure wasn’t a big secret, and she’d find out soon enough anyway. “He’s going to be moving up to Boston permanently. He’ll be out of your hair and he can grow his empire up there, keep an eye on our rivals, and basically not cause any of us any trouble anymore.”
I expected this to be good news to her but she grew agitated. “When? When is he going up north?”
“Probably right after he can get that shipment dispersed,” I said, wondering what had her so upset.
“When is that?”
“That’s one of those things it would be better not to know,” I told her.
She kept her eyes glued to her plate as she gnawed on her lip, finally looking up at me with a radiant smile. “Thanks for actually talking to me.”
“Of course. I enjoyed this whole day with you, Kira. Really.”
She stood, pushing her chair back as she leaned across the table, kissing me deeply enough to have my cock rising to the occasion. I slid my fingers into her hair, loosening her ponytail as I nudged my tongue between her lips. When she pulled away, she almost looked sad. I traced my finger down her jaw.
“You don’t have to worry about your father,” I told her. “You’re mine now. If you don’t want him to visit you anymore, I’ll make that happen. Whatever you want.”
She rested her palm on my cheek, her eyes searching mine, but unreadable. She was a mystery I longed to solve.
“I only want you right now,” she said.
Her mouth covered mine again as she leaned further across the table. I reached to push the hair that fell across her check behind her shoulder, trailing my fingers down her back.
