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For the most part, that was a good thing.
But as I waited for Andrei to come back with the records of the address we’d been chasing for three days, the artwork did nothing to curb my growing frustrations.
I was handling the overall problem. The Irish mob boss had already received three corpses, and he’d have an influx more with each day he didn’t call off the hit. I had been a great enemy to Ciara’s father, but this man was more than that now. He’d receive every ounce of my wrath until he realized that having a hit on my wife was a poor decision.
For now, I would make sure that Damien wasn’t a danger to her.
“Can I come in?”
I shot my gaze to the doorway and found Nadia hovering there. The hallway outside the office was dark, telling me that the sun had already set or was currently setting. I’d drawn my blinds for the day, needing to concentrate fully on the task at hand, not the crashing waves that tended to draw and hold my attention.
“What do you need?” I asked tersely.
“To talk.”
I looked her up and down and found that she didn’t wear her usual work attire. She wore high leather boots and an outfit that I would attribute to club attire more than anything. “I have a meeting with Damien and Andrei soon,” I told her. “You need to make it quick.”
She strode forward more quickly, sitting on the couch at my side without invitation. I was friendly with both her and the guys who worked at my side, but never friendly enough to insinuate they could sit at my side and recline on my couch as if they owned it. She’d never been bold enough to do so, and when she leaned forward, smiling at me, I didn’t know what to say.
“Do you have something to say?” I pushed, the warning in my tone reaching my ears.
“I do,” she commented. “It’s really important actually. I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few months and haven’t really known how to say anything to you. You’re always so busy keeping us safe, and I don’t want to jeopardize that—”
“Get to the point,” I demanded.
“You consider us friends, right?” she asked.
“I don’t have friends,” I replied. “I have employees whom I trust.”
“That must be a sad existence,” she mused, shaking her head and looking at the ground.
“I have all I need.” I had no idea where she was going with this, but I didn’t have time for her games. She did her job well, and she was loyal, so I gave her more headway than I gave most people. It was why I allowed her to come and sit on the couch beside me, and it was the reason I didn’t immediately stop her when she leaned in closer.
“I don’t think you do,” she said, shaking her head. “Sometimes, it’s really easy not to know what you need until you’re faced with options.”
“If you’re going to speak in fucking riddles, go and talk to someone else,” I told her.
“Okay.” She sat up straighter, and before I could stop her—before I could say anything—she flung a leg over my lap and leaned into me, her face close enough to mine that I could easily close the gap if I so much as flinched forward. “I’ve worked hard for you for years. I’ve been more loyal than anyone, and I’ve made my interest clear for a long time. Or, I thought I had. Now that Ciara is around, you don’t even spare me a glance anymore, and I need you to know that I am doing all I can. I am trying so hard to be the person you want me to be, but when you don’t even look at me, I can’t show you what you’re missing.”
Andrei and Damien told me that she wanted me and had felt like their usual shit-talking. It hadn’t felt real until right now—until she sat in my lap and told me how she felt about me. I should have seen the fucking signs.
I should have kept her further away.
“Nadia, I have never been interested in you,” I told her. I stood and flipped our positions, leaving her sprawled on the couch as I hovered over her, fuming from the position she’d just put me in. I pointed into her face. “And if you ever fucking insinuate that I leave my girl again, you can pack your bags. I’m not interested.”
“But Viktor,” she cried, reaching a hand up and stroking my face.
I grabbed her wrist and squeezed hard enough that there would be a bruise tomorrow. She winced, but I didn’t care. “The only reason I am not killing you for your insolence is your loyalty up until now. Don’t fucking touch me.” I pushed myself upright and walked across the room, running a hand through my hair as I whipped back toward her. “Get the fuck out. I don’t want to see you until you get your shit sorted out. I have a wife and a son who are here, and if you make them feel uncomfortable because of this shit you’re feeling, you can pack your bagspermanently.”
She shook her head, pulling her lip between her teeth as she listened to what I told her. The way she tugged her lip between her teeth looked like a dreadful mimicry of the way Ciara did that same gesture. Seeing her do it disgusted me. I had made my intentions clear with Ciara, and Nadia wouldn’t come between us. Not after all the years we’d spent apart.
I wouldn’t lose my woman again.
“Get the fuck out,” I repeated. “Think really fucking hard about why you’re staying here because if anything like this happens in front of Ciara, you’re going to eat a fucking bullet.”
She must have seen the rage that seeped into every pore of my being, as she stepped back and out of the room, hurt and fear filling every crevice of her face. “I just thought—” she cut herself off and shook her head. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right. I’m sorry for overstepping this boundary, Boss. It won’t happen again.”
She turned and rushed from the room, slamming the door behind her. I could see the hurt that flashed across her face, and I wondered what she had thought would happen from doing this. She had to know she was being ridiculous, yet something had driven her to do this anyways. I wondered if she and Ciara had a conversation that had spurred this. I’d talk to Ciara once Andrei made it with the news—once I decided what I’d do with Damien once I received the information about the address. Whether or not the address was linked to him, we needed to have a conversation.
