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“What about our lord high commissioner?” Kirill asks, putting his hands together. “Do we need to approach Hiram Allens?”
“No. He’s a last-minute play, ifand only if things go wrong and we need some extra pull. As long as I have Jessica eating out of the palm of my hand, convincing Hiram to help us with damage control is going to be a cinch.”
“I applaud your confidence.”
Something in my second’s tone catches my attention. “What exactly are you nervous about?”
Kirill rolls his eyes. “Oh, I don’t know—how about the fact that you’ve been stringing Jessica Allens along for a long ass time now? How can you be so sure she’ll jump when you tell her to jump?”
I smirk. “Because that’s how badly she wants me.”
“Except that you’re sleeping with your pretty little secretary.”
My fingers curl around the corners of the armrests. “Exclusivity was never part of my agreement with Jessica.”
“But it is with Emma, is it not?” I glare at Kirill, who just smiles sheepishly. “What can I say? I like reading the fine print.”
“It was necessary,” I growl. “I wasn’t about to let her fuck around with other men while she’s sleeping with me.”
“Makes sense.” He points a finger at me. “Whatdoesn’tmake sense is the fact that you’re going to her kids’ basketball games and taking them out for ice cream and fixing her beatdown old car.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter under my breath. “I knew it was a mistake telling you all that.”
Kirill laughs. “You have feelings for her.”
If he were anyone else, I’d be firstly denying it and second, throwing him out of my office. Instead, I nod. “I feelsomethingfor her,” I admit grudgingly. “I just… don’t know what.”
“Maybe you don’t need to know. Right now, it’s just sex and fun right?”
“Right.”
“Then don’t overthink it. Just keep things the way they are for as long as they feel good. Why put a label on it?”
I nod. Kirill’s right. I need to stay in the present and focus on what I’m getting out of my association with Emma right now. The future is blurry and that’s okay with me. I don’t need her to be anything other than my secretary and my after-hours plaything.
Kirill and I go over the numbers for the current round of trial sessions that Sergey is carrying out. They’re the most expensive sessions we’ve run, given the tight deadline I placed on them, but I’m sure it’s a decision that will pay off.
Based on all the preliminary feedback we’ve received, Venera is going to sell out the moment it hits the market. Which means I’m going to recover my cost in record time.
I’m feeling fuckinggoodwhen I slip into the back of the SUV after the meeting.
“Where to, boss?” Boris asks from the driver’s seat.
“The Madison Avenue penthouse today, Boris.”
A little peace and quiet is what I need right now. And when that’s my goal, the thirty-fifth floor of my place on Madison serves as my safe place.
From the chaos of beingpahkan.
From the stress of being CEO.
From the pressures of my personal life.
We’re halfway there when my mood begins to shift. I still want peace and quiet. I still want refuge. But somehow, the thought of going to my silent, spartan penthouse in Midtown isn’t cutting it for me.
“Boris, change of plans. Drop me off in Hell’s Kitchen.”
I catch Boris’s confused expression in the rearview mirror. “Hell’s Kitchen, sir?”
