Page 6 of Devious Corruption

She’s found a family with him.

There’s that pang of envy again.

“I guess I have moved out then. I should probably tell Banderas.” She laughs.

“Already done.” Ivan’s voice wafts through the phone. “The game’s over, let’s go home.”

“You have to go.” I say for her.

“Yeah. I’ll see you at Nicolette’s party, right?”

“Definitely. And maybe you can come over next weekend, if Ivan will let you out of his sight for a few hours.” It’s been a few weeks since we’ve rotted on the couch with a movie marathon.

“Yes, that would be great! I gotta run, let me know when you get inside so I’m not worrying.”

“Will do.” I end the call and lean my head back against my door.

My stomach growls again, but I force myself to think of something else. Anything other than how hungry I am. Or how tired I am.

A yawn cuts through my attempt to ignore my fatigue. I check my phone for the time. It’s past eight already. By the time he gets here and leaves, I’ll just make a quick bite to eat then hit the sack.

The new set of turnstile racks I ordered to replace the broken set from this afternoon, should be arriving first thing in the morning. I’d like to get it all set up before we open.

My mind wanders into the to-do list I have for the morning. It’s a small store, but we’re lucky to be one of the few bookstores in the neighborhood. The chains moved further into the downtown area, leaving the outskirts still a viable option for a small shop like the Book Nook.

“Hey.” A deep voice interrupts the soft comfort of oblivion I’ve fallen into. “Hey, Maxine.” There it is again, louder. “You must be exhausted.”

Marion hisses, pulling me back to full consciousness. My heart leaps into overdrive, and I suck in a large breath as though I’ve been underwater.

“Hey, it’s okay. Just me.” The voice is replaced with a face.

I blink several times. I must have fallen asleep.

“Lev.” I have to wet my lips and try again sincethe first attempt died in my dry throat. I must have been sleeping with my mouth hanging open.

Great look, Max.

“Lev.”

Squatting before me with his dark eyebrows raised, and the same annoyingly annoyed glare I’ve come to expect from him, is Lev Yakovlev.

His pitch-black hair is casually styled, like he used his fingers instead of a comb when he got dressed this morning. His beard is neatly trimmed, more of a dark dusting across his square jaw.

He’s too good-looking. Handsome isn’t even the right word for it; that’s too sweet for the rugged beauty that he is. All of which is a strike against him. That makes three. The first being I’ve recently become friends with his younger sister, and the second being he works alongside Vee’s husband and the Russian mafia.

“My key!” Finally, my brain come back online, and I remember why he’s here, squatting in front of me at my apartment. “Did you bring it?”

He frowns. “I did.”

Getting to his feet, he puts out a hand. He probably expects me to grab onto it so he can pull me up.

“I’m fine.” I readjust my purse strap across my body, grab hold of Marion and shove up from the floor.

It’s less than graceful since my feet have fallen asleep while I was sitting with my legs folded for however long I napped. As I get to my feet, I swipe my thumb across mybottom lip in case there was any drooling happening while I was out.

“It’s not the end of the world to let me help you up,” he mutters while producing a key from his leather jacket.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ivan without a suit on. Maybe Lev isn’t as high ranking in their little criminal enterprise as Ivan. It doesn’t make him look any less dangerous or arrogant.