Page 77 of Cruel Romeo

Lev’s words were clear. This is an emergency. I have to go there now and deal with this. But the pull to stay here is stronger than I’d anticipated.

If I set the phone down, I could slide back into bed. Wake Sima up with a kiss. Feel her sleep-soft mouth part for me, her warm body wrap around mine, until she’s moaning just like before. I could slip back inside her with a single thrust. I bet she’s still wet from earlier, sticky in all the right places. I could make her stickier. Feel her clench around me as she whimpers into my mouth, make her cum on my cock. Fuck her until she makes me forget the weight of Lev’s call, the responsibilities that wait for me outside that door. Until she makes me forget I’m thepakhan.

But I can never forget that. Not for long.

By the time I’m at the warehouse, I can still see Sima’s sleeping figure in my head. Bare skin, warm body, that adoring look she gave me last night after I’d fucked the sense out of her. Being here, in the cold stink of piss and torture, is the last thing I want.

The men are already there. Lev is off to the side, speaking in hushed tones to Mikhael. No Ivan this time, but a bunch of middle-ranking soldiers that I remember tasking with the job of escorting the truck safely to its destination.

The driver is tied to a chair in the middle of the room, looking like he’s ready to piss himself. Again, judging by the dark stain on his pants.

I crouch in front of him. “Talk.”

The driver swallows hard. “I-I swear I don’t know anything!”

“Wrong fucking answer.”

My fist connects with his face. The crunch of bone echoes sharply in the air.

The chair staggers before righting itself again. Whatever remaining piss the man had been holding on to, he isn’t holding on to it anymore.

I ignore the sharp smell of ammonia and grab him by the lapel. “You had one job. One. And now an entire shipment is gone.”

“I d-don’t know?—”

“You ran,” I snarl. “That means you fucking know something.”

“They s-stole it!” he blurts out finally. “I swear it’s the truth!”

That grabs my attention. “Who?”

“I don’t know!” He starts sobbing like a toddler. “I was j-just stopping to take a piss, and then I saw the headlights light up again behind me. Someone was inside.”

I stare him down. “You left the keys in the ignition.” It’s not a question.

“I’m s-sorry,” he chokes. “I didn’t think?—”

“No.” I whip out my gun. “You didn’t.”

Then I put a bullet between his eyes.

The chair topples backwards, hits the floor hard. The driver’s lifeless eyes keep staring ahead into nothingness.

Mikhael speaks up first. “This is what happens when you put a fucking idiot in charge,” he scoffs, loud enough just for me and Lev to hear. He spits on the driver’s dead body. “Another win for you, cuz. Guess you took ‘fucking around and finding out’ pretty goddamn literally, huh?”

“Careful,” I grit.

Instead of backing off, he takes a sniff at me. “Christ. You could have taken a shower before coming here. You reek of pussy,pakhan.”

My patience snaps.

Within seconds, I’ve got Mikhael against the wall, my gun digging in the hollow of his throat.

“Whoa,” he says. “Wait, c’mon! I was just?—”

“Joking?” I press harder. The metal is still hot from the shot Ifired—Mikhael can’t keep the grimace off his face. “Come on.Finish that joke. We’re all waiting for the punchline.”

Sweat beads at Mikhael’s temple. “You can’t,” he blurts. “I’m your cousin.”