Page 35 of Bound By You

I watchthe love of my life walk out of the conference room, and I lose my shit; I swipe everything off the table in front of me in a rage.

My father looks ready to grab hold of me in a hug but won't because it's a sign of weakness with the Family heads in the room. I look at Basil and point my finger at him like there isn't a dead body on the floor next to him. Damn him for bringing this shit up right now when I'm trying to win my girl back.

"You need to get your fucking priorities straight, old man. The shit you just spewed was out of line; you're listening to a cokehead instead of getting everyone's side of the story, and you wonder why she doesn't want anything to fucking do with you?" His face goes red as Sergi stands to leave.

He looks at me and Damian and says, "As you heard, I have an ice cream date with my favorite cousin." I raise my brow; that was a nice little dig toward Basil because of Selene. He looks at his uncle, shit, his uncle, by marriage, but still, I chuckle a little,and he glares at me, reading my mind, then sneers at Basil, "If I stay any longer, I won't be held accountable for my actions."

Then he storms out. Basil sighs, running a hand through his hair, and says, "Selene wouldn't lie; she has no reason to, either."

I let out a dark chuckle and state, "No reason except the source of her income; I take it she told you about when she came looking for me at the club two months ago, then? When I fucked her ass in the alleyway, trying to punish Phoebe for leaving me, not realizing at the time she was the cause for my girl leaving in the first place?" He pales. "You knew we were fucking. I told you it's the reason Phoebe left, but clearly, Selene told you it was false, so itmusthave been, right? Do I need to show you proof?

You were supposed to be watching her like a hawk to gain proof of her working with Christian, but now I think you were living in coocoo land and decided to bury your head in the sand."

Basil jumps up from his seat and says, "How fucking dare you talk to me like this? I am the fuckingNonos!"

I shout back, my patience gone, "Then fucking act like it!"

He growls in frustration and leaves. I sit and bang my head on the table, while the other men stay silent.

My brother is the first to speak. "It'll be alright, Al."

I chuckle darkly and lift my head. "She wouldn't even fucking look at me as she walked out, so how in the hell am I going to get her to forgive me before eleven months are up? I’ve only just got her to hold my fucking hand, doubt even that’ll happen ever again now." I sigh, get up, and wave my hand, leaving the room and heading for my office, feeling fucking pissed and defeated. I won't see her tonight because she's decided to stay at her uncle's while in New York this week instead of my penthouse. If I stay at her ranch, it's with Ares in the spare bedroom.

I shut the door behind me and sit at my desk, sighing. I have plenty of legitimate paperwork to do, so that's what I will do. Hopefully, it'll clear my head.

A few hours later, I’ve made a dent in the paperwork, when my work phone rings. I know my secretary is not here today. I knew Phoebe was coming in, and I doubt she would have taken it very well seeing her here, too. I'm pretty sure if she knows about me making Candy my mistress, then she knows about the evening fuckfests I have with Bethany, Selene, and Mindy a couple of times a month. I really need to fire Bethany.

"Alexandr speaking."

"Hey baby, I've finally caught you. Where have you been? I have been trying to reach you, but one of the men made me leave my hotel room." Candy's whiny voice comes through the line, and I sigh. For fuck's sake, I can't catch a break. I run my hand through my hair before I realize I need to take out my frustrations, and I smile. A plan is forming. A plan that I didn't know at the time would cause me the most unbearable pain.

"Sorry, babe, I've been busy. And as for the hotel room, I decided to make something more permanent for you; it was supposed to be a surprise, but I found a nice three-story brownstone for us. What do you think?" She squeals on the other end of the phone, making me move the handset away from my ear. Why the fuck did I make her my mistress again? Oh yeah, to punish my girl for something I forced her to do.

"Oh, baby, that sounds amazing. Can we go see it today?" I chuckle. She sounds so eager; she probably thinks I'm the stupidest guy going. Well, to be fair, I used to be until Phoebe opened my fucking eyes.

"I can't today, babe; I have to go out of town again tonight, so it'll have to be next week."

She sighs. "I miss you when you're gone, and we haven't seen each other in a month. Can I still use your office while you are out of town? The guards wouldn't let me the last few times, and you know how I like taking a nap in between my sets." Shewhines, and I smile, hook, line, and sinker. "Of course, gorgeous. I'll see you in a week, okay?"

She sighs happily. "Okay, baby, I love you so much."

I try not to gag, and hang up, then text the men at the club, granting her access to my office. I should expect a call in around, say, three minutes from my brother, asking what the fuck, and I smile; he'll love to be involved in this.

Two minutes and thirty-eight seconds later, instead of my phone ringing, my brother barges into my office, his face red from rage. I smirk and lean back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.

"That's impressive, brother; I expected a phone call." He growls at me, narrowing his eyes.

"What the fuck are you doing, Al? You have one setback and go to your mistress again, granting her access to your office, where she was stealing from us. Do you want to lose your woman and your fucking job?" I chuckle, making his face even more red.

"I have already ensured all paperwork and passwords are locked in the safe under the floorboards, a safe that only you, Sergi, Dad, and I know about. I thought we could finally get rid of a problem. Youaremy little brother." His eyes light up, his frown turns into a devious smirk, and I smile.

"Want to get some frustrations out tonight, do we, big brother?"

I chuckle, damn right, I fucking do.

"She should be fucking her drug dealer at roughly 9 PM, after they try to get into my draws and wall safe, so we have…." I look at the clock on the wall; it's nearly 5PM “…four hours."

He smiles. "Enough time to finish some meetings. I'll message Sofia so she knows I'll be late and that I'll be at the club. I don't want her hormones going haywire on me again, though if it were the other way around, there would have been blood spilled, so I do understand."

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