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Now, it was my turn to groan. As endearing as it was that Roman wanted to spend time with me, I couldn’t stand playing golf. No amount of love for my husband could get me to want to wither away in the hot Florida sunshine while my father spent interminable hours lining up his shots.
“I’ll be waiting for you when you get home,” I said, playfully reaching to squeeze his firm ass cheek.
He grinned and returned the favor and for a second we both forgot everything, getting lost in a sloppy kiss. When he pulled away, he looked a little dazed, but I was sure I did, too, and couldn’t stop grinning.
“Can’t wait to get rid of me all of a sudden?” he teased, grabbing up his gym bag with his golf clothes in it and hurrying toward the bedroom door.
“Just thinking about later,” I assured him, tracing my finger along the neckline of my nightgown.
He narrowed his eyes at me and looked torn. I finally shooed him down the stairs, waving over the balustrade as he left. “Don’t tire yourself out too much,” I called.
“I could have two broken legs and still get it up for you, baby,” he called back, sending me into a fit of giggles.
Seriously, how was I so happy? Also, what would I do with myself the rest of the morning? I’d already decided to spend the afternoon going back to the jewelry store where I’d asked the owner to put aside a watch Roman had been admiring. I was going to go back and have it engraved so it would be ready for our one-month anniversary. It was a silly thing to celebrate, and I still wasn’t sure what to have put on it, but I knew it had to be perfect, because that was when I was going to tell Roman how I felt.
Because by now I was certain what I felt for him. I hoped he’d say it back to me, but if it was still too soon for him, I could tell by the way he acted that he was very, very close. It was enough for me for now, and we had a whole lifetime together. Plenty of time for him to make the same realization that I did.
Well, why not go to the jeweler early? They might be able to brainstorm something romantic to have engraved on the back of the watch, and then I could spend the rest of the morning shopping for some new lingerie that Roman hadn’t seen yet.
I could probably stop by a few of my father’s businesses, too, just to pop my head in and say hello since no one had seen me since the wedding. Many of our associates were almost as close as family, and I wanted to stay in touch with them. Being in our line of work was dangerous, and you never knew who you might never see again if something popped off with another family.
I shuddered as I got dressed in a casual skirt and breezy tank top. I didn’t want to think about losing anyone when I’d been so giddy only a few minutes before. I didn’t want my bubble of happiness to burst. It took me nearly half an hour to find the car keys, and I refused to be the kind of annoying wife who bothered her husband in meetings for something like that.
I was just about to give up and call for a ride when I found them in the last kitchen drawer I pulled open. Grabbing them, I headed toward the garage, humming one of the songs that had played at our wedding and trying to shake off the tension from the annoying search.
Before I reached the garage, a loud, banging noise rang out, deafening me. Seconds later, it seemed like the ceiling was caving in all around me. Before I could drop the keys and my purse to reach up to protect my head, something huge crashed toward me. Oh my God, the ceiling was actually caving in.
“Roman!” I screamed, the very first thought in my panicked state.
A wooden beam struck me in the shoulder, forcing me to my knees. There was so much noise I couldn’t hear my own shouts. More rubble crumbled all around me, clouds of dust choking off my cries for help. Something heavy hit me in the head, causing a burst of intense pain, but only for a second.
Then everything went dark.
Chapter 17 - Roman
I was so wrapped up in spy life that I almost forgot my own business even existed. The business my brother and I had worked tooth and nail to build, sacrificing our blood, sweat, and yes, even some tears, to get it off the ground.
And when my new client started freaking out about his multi-million dollar investment and demanded a meeting on my day off, I thought about telling him to go fuck himself for a minute. Was I so wrapped up in Karine, and wanting to spend the morning with her so desperately that I was willing to let a quarter of a billion dollars go? Sergei would kill me, and very painfully, so I sucked it up and got ready to go to work.
Karine was so cute, not wanting to let me go, but she understood and even seemed to admire how passionate I was about the firm. The last couple of weeks hadn’t been hell. In fact, they were much closer to heaven than I could have hoped, and if this ruse turned into a long game, I had to admit I wouldn’t be miserable.
The only problem was, that the more time I spent with Karine, the less I wanted to make her miserable. I no longer wanted to crush her heart and spirit. I had mistaken her shyness and reserve for coldness, but now I could see she was actually a very sweet and giving person.
A bloodthirsty mafia daughter, loyal to a fault, fiercely loving to those close to her. Nothing like I’d imagined. From our long talk sessions in bed every night, I learned that her privileged upbringing hadn’t been all roses and sunshine, since she’d lost her mother at only thirteen. I could barely handle the grief when our mom passed away when we were thirty-five so I couldn’t imagine how tough that would have been.
Feliks gave her every physical comfort but wasn’t big on affection and had impossibly high expectations of her, which she tried as hard as she could to always meet. She’d seen things while being raised in the Bratva that made me shudder, but none of it ever broke her.
Before I knew it, I was at my Miami apartment, still being used as an office since I didn’t want to spend any extra time looking for a building. Too wrapped up in Karine. Just like now, when I’d spent the whole drive to the beach mooning over her when I should have been going over the selling points of the investment to calm my new client down.
I really needed to get my head back in the game. My own game, not the one to bring down the Drygas. As much as I wanted to prove myself to Oleg and be part of his life, I didn’t want to destroy my own empire either.
Parking the car in my designated spot, I took a second to go over the specs, rifling through the contract to see what might have given the client pause. My phone rang, and since only a few contacts were allowed past the ‘do not disturb’ setting when I was about to head into a big meeting, I checked to see who it was.
The number for our home security company flashed on the screen, and I answered it.
“Sir, we’re getting multiple alarms going off at your property,” the security employee said in a somewhat bored, clipped voice.
No reason to panic, since sometimes the cameras went haywire when the trees blocked them, or maybe Karine had forgotten to turn off the window sensors when she wanted to get some fresh air. That’s what I told myself, anyway.
