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My afternoon on thebeach had proved fruitful; a plan finally came to me regarding my bride. I’d returned to the villa with a sense of peace. And now, in the light of the setting sun, we were enjoying a family dinner—the first one we’d held since arriving.
We were served four excellent courses, eaten in almost complete silence. If Iryna had brought a guest, it might have lessened the tension. Instead, the three of us sat around a cozy spread and awkwardly dragged out the time. My sister was indulging in a bottle of red, but Talia and I barely sipped the wines paired with each course. My wife’s hesitancy to indulge in alcohol fascinated me. It was hard to tell if it was a genuine dislike or more akin to my own aversion to the loss of control that resulted from imbibing the substance.
I focused on her mouth, remembering the feel of it sliding up and down my dick. Lust warmed my blood.I wonder what it would take to get her to do it again.
“I’ve thought of something for you to do, Talia. It’s something I very much could use help with.” My abrupt statements caused Talia to jump slightly. She covered the move by shifting in her seat and turning to face me. But I’d caught it, and it had the beast in me stirring to have such control over her.
“You mean work? Back in California?” Talia clarified.
“Yes.”
“What is it?” she asked, tongue darting out to wet her lips.
I tracked the movement, blood heating at the memory of that tongue. When I lifted my gaze, I lost time as I waded through the draw of her midnight eyes. There was an innocence in her features, but I wasn’t deceived. I knew she schemed my downfall.
But I was the puppeteer, the master of her strings. She would move where I willed, and during those movements, we would discover who she really was. Right now, she was little more than a caged creature, needing exposure to the real world. This job would be her first taste of it. It was a test as well as an opportunity, one that also ensured I would wrest control from her father.
I still needed to smoke him from his lair and put a bullet between his eyes.All in good time.
“I wish to host a dinner for some of my business associates for Ita Shipping Corp. and their wives.” Iryna stiffened at my comment, but I ignored it, continuing, “We arrive in California tomorrow, which will still be Tuesday. Will you have sufficient time to organize the dinner for Saturday night?”
“So, we are leaving,” Talia drawled, cutting a look at Iryna.
“You never said,” Iryna breathed, pale cheeks reddening with her ill-concealed wrath.
I noted how Talia watched my sister, cool and calculated. It was exactly the response I was hoping for. “No, this dinner is last-minute. There have been requests to meet my bride,” I clarified.
“They could have met me at the wedding reception,” Talia retorted.
“Yes, they could have, but most of them didn’t trust your father enough to come.” My smooth response caused the rustic beauty to purse her lips. I tacked on, “It’s time you started fulfilling some of your wifely duties.”
Both Talia and I observed the pissed off look Iryna flashed at me. I made a mental apology to my sister for using her like this, but I would explain it to her later. As Talia looked between us, it was clear the wheels were shifting in her mind. I held fast, trusting in the plan.
“What is involved?” Talia folded her hands in her lap.
“Plan a decadent meal, with some form of after-dinner entertainment that can be feasibly set up at my villa.” I gestured at my sister. “Iryna typically organizes these events, but since she’ll be out of town this weekend, I find myself in need of assistance, and you seem the perfect candidate.”
My sister opened her mouth, then closed it. There was an explosion hovering right beneath the surface, but at a hard look from me, Iryna paused.
The discomfiture my request had created in my sibling was not lost on Talia. I caught her spark of greed, followed closely by a grin of satisfaction. “I would love to help you, husband. Thank you for asking me,” she damn near purred.
Gotcha.With that triumph confirmed, I rose. “I’m going to the ocean for a swim. I’ll see you both in the morning. The car leaves at six for the airport. Good night.”
I walked away from the table and, as I predicted, there was a beat of silence before the sound of slapping shoes followed me. I made it to the gate that led down to the beach before Iryna caught up to me.
“What the hell was that?” she panted, now beet red. “There was no dinner on the books. And if you needed one so suddenly, I could change my meeting in Seattle—”
I held up my hand, cutting Iryna off. In the silence, I looked behind us, but there was not a whisper of another person around. Lowering my voice, I said, “She needs to be kept busy.”
Iryna blinked at me. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Three reasons. I need to keep an eye on her, but I also need to direct her days and give her purpose.”
Iryna arched a brow. “So, this is a scheme? You could have told me.”
“My apologies, but I needed your resentment. Talia needs to see us as a weak point to pick at. Now she’ll go over and above to serve my needs, thinking it will win favor in my eyes so I’ll let my guard down around her.” I lifted a clenched fist, encouraging my sister to give me the limited affection she could tolerate.
Iryna bumped her knuckles into mine. “Well then, I need to be extra pissy that she’s doing my work?”
