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With a heavy sigh, I do as he asks.
My heart clangs against my ribcage at the intensity in those dark amber flames. My devil. My husband. My favorite nightmare.
“You are myonly.” He repeats.
I quirk a brow. “I…” I blink, trying to understand what he’s trying to say. “You were a-oomph!” The car comes to a screeching halt in front of the courthouse, and I hit my head against Niko’s headrest. “Niko!”
“Sorry, Boss lady. Guy came out of nowhere to cross the street.”
Maksim’s biting his lip, shoulders silently shaking with laughter. “We’ll talk more when you get home. Also, the next time you choose to not wear a seatbelt, not only will I place you over my knee and spank you, but I’ll advise Niko to brake harder.”
“You’re being an arse, Maksim. I’ll fly out of the windshield. Then you’ll have no wife.” He growls at this, and I grin. “I take it you aren’t going back to Eden?”
He shakes his head. “No, I took care of what I had to do today. Besides, I want to be home when my wife gets home. I’ve grown rather fond of her, you know,” he says with a terrible English accent. Forgetting my head – and the cars behind us honking – I grin at him, but it feels false.
Was he a virgin before he met me?How?He’s… he’s almost thirty-four.Which reminds me, I need to plan his birthday party. That’s what a good wife would do, isn’t it?
He presses his perfect lips to mine and opens the door and gets out. Then, he helps me down, kissing me once more just as I feel Parker’s presence behind me.
“I’ve grown rather fond of my husband, too,” I admit out loud.
Dark eyes search mine, as if he’s trying to detect a lie, and he hums. “I’ll see you at home.”
Home.
It may not feel like the mansion, but it’s starting to feel likesomewhere I belong.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maksim.
I stepped into the penthouse with Niko hot on my heels.
The meeting with Kallum and Daze had gone as I suspected it would - neither of them had hard drugs being sent to either of my other establishments. Only Eden.
Instead of waiting for the new shipment of SokoloVodka to reach Eden, I met them at our dock, where the shipments went straight there to be transported to our personal warehouse. A warehouse that was not only heavily guarded, but where the other capos also kept their goods as well. The warehouse is under a shell company name, so none of us can ever be pointed as the owner. Just some company overseas, that would once again, lead anyone on a path to nowhere.
No name, no body, no problem.
Except now there was - thanks to Aleksi.
And this Brodsky, first name Andrei, was a problem.
We cracked open the copious amount of crates, and all together found different kinds of drugs. X, molly, cocaine, and opium in different forms. Tabs, powder. It was enough to send me to prison for life and serve two life sentences.
We stopped any and all shipments coming from Russia, until I could get to the bottom of why Brodsky was targeting us. Or find a way to get him into the floor beneath Eden. Niko and the others are working diligently on that. Seems the sex workers not from Eden but on the streets of New York, see even more than the ones on the inside. And a lot of them are fed up with their pimps. They’ve begun divulging more and more information for extra cash. So far, five have become incredible informants.
I barely have a chance to close the door to the penthouse before my phone starts chiming with an incoming call. I sigh heavily and pluck it out of my jacket pocket, seeing My Wife's picture pop up.
"Hello?" I ask, finally taking the goddamn jacket off. This June was becoming a hot one. I was not looking forward to the summer.
"Maksim, are you home now?"
"Yes."
"Perfect. We just got back into the Escalade, and we're on our way."
"You had to call me to tell me?"