Page 109 of Ivory Oath

My cock twitches, but Anatoly groans and waves his hands in front of him. “I’m glad you two made up, but I didn’t miss this. You all are uncomfortable.”

“Then leave.”

“I would, but I have news.” He smirks, knowing there’s no way I’ll kick him out now.

“I’ll leave.” Viviana blows me a kiss and then turns to Anatoly. “I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”

I watch my wife sway out of the room. When I look back at my brother, he’s shaking his head. “I repeat: un-com-for-ta-ble.”

“Say what you need to say. I have work to do.”

“Yes, you must be swamped, now that you took a ninety-minute lunch to fuck your wife in the office.” He narrowly dodges the pen I throw at him. “Relax, I’m done now. I’m happy for you. Really, I am. It’s nice to see you like this.”

I don’t ask what he means. Because I already know. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this. Maybe never.

“What news do you have?”

“The shipment will be here next week. It’s confirmed with the Chinese manufacturer.”

My pulse quickens with excitement. “Who knows?”

“The manufacturer, you, and me. And Raoul, obviously.”

“No one else?”

He nods. “No one else. And as far as Christos Drakos knows, the shipment is arriving in three weeks. I planted that false information with half a dozen different sources. If he hasn’t heard about it yet, he will soon.”

“Good. I don’t want him fucking up the deal.” I drum my fingers on the desk, thinking.

“We’ve covered our bases,” Anatoly tells me. “It’s going to be fine.”

I shrug. “Maybe. Or, while I’m distracted with this shipment, Christos is going to find a way to get revenge for the way I murdered his brother.”

“He hasn’t yet.”

“Exactly. That is why I’m worried. Why hasn’t he retaliated?”

“Because Damon’s weeping widow passed along your threat and Christos is doing the smart thing for the first time in his life and backing off?” Anatoly guesses.

I want that to be true, but I’m not alive today because I assume the best in people.

“Stay close to Viviana,” I tell him. “And Dante. I don’t want either of them out of your sight until I know what Christos is up to. Even when they’re in the mansion.”

Anatoly scratches the back of his head. “She’s already chafing at the leash you have her on, Mikhail. She’ll go crazy if I’m following her from room-to-room around the mansion all day.”

“But she’ll be alive.” I lean forward, lowering my voice. “You’re the only person I trust to watch them, Nat. It has to be you.”

Something I can’t read flickers across his face. Just for a second. Then he nods. “Of course. I’ll take care of them.”

Viviana wasn’t wrong: I smell like her.

It’s been an hour since she and Anatoly left, but I swear Raoul sniffs the air when he walks through my office door. He looks around like he expects someone else to be in the room.

“Viviana and Anatoly left?”

“You’re the one who followed them here,” I remind him. “You should know.”

Anatoly would have thrown a fit if I told him that I was asking Raoul to follow him and Viviana to and from my office. He would have taken it as an insult no matter how much practical sense it makes.

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