Cruel Paradise - A Mafia Romance Chapter 58

“Got it covered. A sizable ‘donation’ was made to the relevant authorities yesterday. I spoke to

Sergeant Mathison myself. On the night of the launch, he and his men will be looking the other way.” “Good.”

“What about our lord high commissioner?” Kirill asks, putting his hands together. “Do we need to approach Hiram Allens?”

“No. He’s a last-minute play, if and only if things go wrong and we need some extra pull. As long as I have Jessica eating out of the palm of my hand, convincing Hiram to help us with damage control is going to be a cinch.”

“I applaud your confidence.”

Something in my second’s tone catches my attention. “What exactly are you nervous about?”

Kirill rolls his eyes. “Oh, I don’t know—how about the fact that you’ve been stringing Jessica Allens along for a long ass time now? How can you be so sure she’ll jump when you tell her to jump?”

I smirk. “Because that’s how badly she wants me.”

“Except that you’re sleeping with your pretty little secretary.”

My fingers curl around the corners of the armrests. “Exclusivity was never part of my agreement with

Jessica.”

“But it is with Emma, is it not?” I glare at Kirill, who just smiles sheepishly. “What can I say? I like reading the fine print.”

“It was necessary,” I growl. “I wasn’t about to let her fuck around with other men while she’s sleeping with me.”

“Makes sense.” He points a finger at me. “What doesn’t make sense is the fact that you’re going to her kids’ basketball games and taking them out for ice cream and fixing her beatdown old car.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter under my breath. “I knew it was a mistake telling you all that.”

Kirill laughs. “You have feelings for her.”

If he were anyone else, I’d be firstly denying it and second, throwing him out of my office. Instead, I nod. “I feel something for her,” I admit grudgingly. “I just… don’t know what.”

“Maybe you don’t need to know. Right now, it’s just sex and fun right?”

“Right.”

“Then don’t overthink it. Just keep things the way they are for as long as they feel good. Why put a label on it?”

I nod. Kirill’s right. I need to stay in the present and focus on what I’m getting out of my association with Emma right now. The future is blurry and that’s okay with me. I don’t need her to be anything other than my secretary and my after-hours plaything.

Kirill and I go over the numbers for the current round of trial sessions that Sergey is carrying out. They’re the most expensive sessions we’ve run, given the tight deadline I placed on them, but I’m sure it’s a decision that will pay off.

Based on all the preliminary feedback we’ve received, Venera is going to sell out the moment it hits the market. Which means I’m going to recover my cost in record time.

I’m feeling fucking good when I slip into the back of the SUV after the meeting.

“Where to, boss?” Boris asks from the driver’s seat.

“The Madison Avenue penthouse today, Boris.”

A little peace and quiet is what I need right now. And when that’s my goal, the thirty-fifth floor of my place on Madison serves as my safe place.

From the chaos of being pahkan.

From the stress of being CEO.

From the pressures of my personal life.

We’re halfway there when my mood begins to shift. I still want peace and quiet. I still want refuge. But somehow, the thought of going to my silent, spartan penthouse in Midtown isn’t cutting it for me.

“Boris, change of plans. Drop me off in Hell’s Kitchen.”

I catch Boris’s confused expression in the rearview mirror. “Hell’s Kitchen, sir?” “Yes.”

He changes course as I grab my phone and pull up the picture that Emma sent me last week, the day I’d given her the Mercedes.

She looked so damn happy, smiling at me through the blurry corner of the picture. It’s amazing that she can smile so big when, most of the time, she’s pushing a giant boulder up a hill.

Maybe that’s why I’m so determined to fix that stupid car of hers. And buy her kids pizza and ice cream and new shoes. I just want to make her life a little easier.

Is that really why? asks a pesky voice in my head. Is that why you just changed destinations? For her?

Or for yourself?

I swipe out of the picture and put my phone away as unease spreads through me. I had wanted to be alone tonight. I had wanted peace and quiet. Part of me still does. But another part of me—a part that’s growing louder and louder by the day…

Wants Emma Carson instead.

41

RUSLAN

I hope the kids are still awake.

That’s the third shocking thought that I’ve had in the last half an hour. This shit is getting out of hand. I ought to put a stop to it before it spirals even further.

But apparently, that concern isn’t enough to stop me from darkening their doorstep at eight-thirty in the evening.

Emma looks stunned when she opens the door and comes face to face with me. “Ruslan?”

I can hear squeals coming from one of the rooms in the back of the apartment. So the little monsters are still awake. I wish that didn’t put such a goofy smile on my face.

Cut that shit out, I snarl at myself.

“Busy?”

She glances back over her shoulder. The living room looks like a disaster zone. It’s covered in clothes and toys and scraps of cardboard and glitter.

“Always.” She manages a smile as she turns back to me. “Did I, uh… forget something at the office?”

I shake my head. “No, I just thought I’d take another look at the car.”

Her eyes scan my navy blue suit. “I’m not sure you can be a grease monkey in Tom Ford.”

“You can do anything in Tom Ford.”

Her laugh is drowned out as the girls come squealing into the living room, some imaginary monster hot on their heels.

The imaginary monster turns out to be Josh. All three kids stop short when they see me.

Then—chaos.

“Ruslan! Ruslan! Ruslan!” Caroline cries, throwing herself at my waist and nearly kneeing me in the balls.

“Did you bring us pizza?” Reagan asks as she pulls on the corner of my suit jacket.

“Caroline! Reagan! Give Ruslan some room to breathe, for God’s sake.”