Page 74 of Devious Corruption

He drops the washcloth on the dresser and grabs for his own clothes that are pooled on the floor.

“Your brothers aren’t going to answer you. Vee is probably busy, and why would you call your boss?”

“I’m supposed to work on Monday. I need to talk to him about my schedule—maybe I can get his niece to cover at least the mornings. It’s going to be harder for me to get there from here.” I sigh. “If I stay here.”

Calmly, he walks over to me, sliding his hands on either side of my face until he’s holding me steady. He inhales so deeply, I think he’s sucking all the air from the room. After a count of maybe ten, he lets out his breath then brings his gaze back to mine.

“Ivan is going to leave tomorrow afternoon. We’ll go over in the morning so you can talk with Vee,” his voice is firm but soft. This might be his attemptat a compromise.

“And work?” Might as well press my luck.

His jaw ticks, and I’m a little worried his teeth might actually crack if this keeps up.

“We’ll talk about work later.”

“Why later?”

“Because if we talk about it now, you’ll argue with me. You’ll say something that will earn you a trip over my knee.”

“You can’t keep saying things like that.”

“Because you like it?” His eyebrows raise.

“No!” I’m such a fucking liar.

“We’ll talk about that later, too.”

“About what?”

“Are you having trouble keeping up with me?” He cocks his head.

“No, but you keep saying we’ll talk about things later.”

“The list is getting a little long.” He nods. “I might need to start writing things down.”

“Are you…are you trying to be funny?”

“No.” He breaths out again. “I’m trying not fight with you. So I’m being accommodating. We’ll discuss work later. We’ll see Vee and Ivan tomorrow morning. And in the meantime, you stay out of trouble.”

“I think I can manage that.” It’s the least I can do, really.

“Good.”

“Can I ask a question, though?”

“One.” He releases me and folds his arms over his chest like he’s armored up for a battle.

“Why are you doing all this? I mean…keeping me here. Doing what we just did. You hate me.”

He drops his hands to his sides.

“I’m never said I hated you, Max. You’ve always just assumed it.”

With that, he walks out of the room. Leaving me with more questions and confusion.

My phone dances from where I left it on table in the sitting room, so I hurry in to grab it. Just a social media notification, so I swipe it away.

The vacuum cleaner leans against the wall where Lev placed it. Grabbing it, I hit the power button and get back to work. If I’m going to be staying here, the least I can do is be useful.