Cruel Paradise - A Mafia Romance Chapter 56

“I can’t believe you made a sign!” I laugh as Phoebe thrusts her homemade JOSH THE BOSS poster into the air as I approach with Caroline and Rae each holding a hand.

“Of course I did. This is a big deal. The rhyme scheme is questionable, but we’re gonna overlook that, mmkay?” She puts the sign down so she can squeeze the girls. “Where’s our main man?”

I glance around to find that Josh isn’t right behind me like I’d thought. “He was right here just a second ago.” I inch a little closer to Phoebe while the girls start wobbling her posterboard and giggling at the sound it makes. “Ben didn’t come and I think Josh is a little down because of it.”

“Down?” Phoebe interrupts. “He doesn’t look down to me.”

I follow her gaze to the end of the bleachers where Josh is standing with a huge smile on his face.

“What is he…?”

I gasp when I realize who he’s smiling at.

Phoebe grabs my arm so tightly it’s actually painful. “Oh my God! Is that who I think it is?”

“Pheebs, excuse me for a second.”

I leave her with the girls and walk over to Ruslan, trying to look a hell of a lot more composed than I actually feel. His and Josh’s heads are close together. Josh says something, Ruslan laughs, they exchange a fist bump, and then Josh joins his teammates on the court to start running through layup lines and warmup drills.

“Ruslan?” I gape at him, still not totally convinced that he’s real.

He just nods. “Hey.”

That’s it. That’s all he gives me. Hey. So damn casual. “What are you, uh—whatcha doing here?” I’m going for “easy, breezy, Cover Girl” vibes, but I think I end up sounding constipated. “Josh invited me.”

“And you came?”

He shrugs. “I had some free time.”

I glance over at Phoebe, who wags her eyebrows at me and starts doing her weird shoulder dance that she uses as nonverbal encouragement. I turn my back on her, hoping that Ruslan doesn’t notice.

“I really appreciate you showing up, but you don’t have to stay. I’ll talk to Josh and—”

“I’m not going anywhere.” His eyes gleam under the bright lights. “He didn’t force me to show up; he asked if I would and I made a promise to him. So I’m here and I’m staying for the whole game.”

He lifts a hand and waves. I twist around to see Josh stepping up to the hoop to make his layup. It’s obvious he wants Ruslan to watch him. It’s also obvious that he’s nervous. He fumbles the ball a few times and it almost gets away from him.

“Deep breath, Josh,” Ruslan rumbles, giving him a loud clap.

Josh nods, takes a deep breath, and shoots.

“YES!” I scream when the ball goes in, my enthusiasm wildly out of proportion to how uneventful warmup drills are in the overall context of things.

Josh side-eyes me with an embarrassed glance, his cheeks going red. I frown and clamp my lips shut. “How did I end up being the embarrassing aunt and how did you turn out to be the cool—”

I stop short when I realize I don’t know what the hell he is at the moment. Makes sense, really—how should I know what Ruslan is to the kids, when I’m not even sure what he is to me?

What I do know is that Josh’s mood has picked up considerably. He’s racing around the court with a huge smile on his face, looking like a real eight-year-old for a change. It’s enough to make me grateful that Ruslan is here in the first place.

Like I needed another reason…

I gesture for Ruslan to follow me. “Well, come on then. Family and friends section is this way.” As we approach, the girls finally look up from Phoebe’s poster long enough to notice Ruslan. Both of them start squealing loudly as they make a run for him.

“Shut up,” I mutter the moment I’m standing next to Phoebe.

She’s grinning from ear to ear. “I didn’t say anything.”

Ruslan approaches with Caroline and Reagan hanging off him like human accessories. “Phoebe, this is my boss, Ruslan Oryolov. Ruslan, this is—”

“The best friend,” she interrupts, sticking her hand out to him. “Phoebe Lawrence.”

Ruslan gives her his full wattage smile. It actually annoys me—not because Phoebe doesn’t deserve it, but because I think I deserve it, too.

Would it kill him to smile at me like that every once in a while?

We find a good spot on the bleachers and I try to shoot Phoebe a warning glare as she rattles off rapid-fire questions at Ruslan.

“How did you start Bane Corp.? How long have you been CEO? Do you ever take time off? Do you have an active social life?”

Her questions go on and on. But I have to give it to Ruslan: he never falters, never betrays irritation or impatience. He sits there, balancing Reagan on one knee and Caroline on the other, and answers every last one of Phoebe’s questions.

The only time she lets up is when the game starts and Josh gets possession of the ball. Phoebe holds up her sign, the girls screech, and Ruslan claps loudly.

At some point, in the middle of the game, Phoebe leans towards me. “Okay,” she says softly. “I approve.”

I’m genuinely surprised. Phoebe’s not usually so easily won. Especially when it comes to my boyfriends.

Not that Ruslan is anything of the sort.

“That’s it, Josh! Well done!” Ruslan exclaims.

It’s hard to miss Josh’s beaming smile as he runs past us. My gaze slides over to Ruslan’s sharp profile. He’s half-covered by Reagan’s curtain of hair and Caroline is busy playing with his watch clasp.

I know he’s not a “good guy” by any stretch of the imagination. But maybe, just maybe…

He’s a good man.

39

EMMA

I’m in a happy feelings daze. I’m not quite sure how we went from the basketball game at school to Connie’s Creamery, but here we are.

Ruslan is at the counter with the kids, helping them settle on flavors, while Phoebe and I slide into the window table under a sign that reads Relationship Status: Ice Cream.

Phoebe shoots me a suggestive smirk. “This is a trippy day.”

“You’re telling me.” Glancing towards Ruslan and the kids, it strikes me that Reagan still hasn’t let go of Ruslan’s hand. She’s been surgically attached to him since we left the basketball game. “I can’t believe he’s here.”

“He’s obviously here because he wants to be. It was his idea to come here for celebratory sweets.

The man might be a genius..”

I bite my bottom lip. “He’s good with them, isn’t he?”

“Extremely. Who’d have thought, huh?”

“Yeah.” I shake my head with disbelief. “Who’d have thought?”

A few minutes later, Ruslan and his three new appendages join us at the table. Ruslan has to pull up a chair to make enough room for everyone.

I gesture for Reagan to come to me. “Rae, honey, you can sit on my lap.”

She shakes her head. “I’ll sit on Ruslan’s lap,” she insists, climbing aboard without bothering to ask permission.

Phoebe suppresses a giggle. “Can’t believe you expected her to choose you over a hot guy.”

I poke her in the ribs with my elbow, not that it does a damn bit of good. She just keeps on giggling.

Ruslan spends almost a full hour with Reagan on his knee. He doesn’t seem at all fazed when Caroline drips her cone on his pants. Or when Reagan spills her glass of water across the table. Or when Phoebe resumes her interrogation of him.

I don’t say much. I have this weird churning feeling in my stomach that I can’t quite put a finger on.

But since no one’s paying any attention to me, I decide to explore it a little.