Page 10 of Dancing With Desire

“You know Vivian,” he drawls. “She’s throwing herself into work.”

I arch a brow. “Because she’s such a hard worker,” I utter sarcastically.

“Actually, she’s stepping up well. I think she’s got things under control.”

“So, you’ll return home soon?”

He doesn’t quite meet my eye. “Soon.”

“Did he believe it?”asks Leo as he enters my office with Marshall.

“I think so,” I reply, watching through the window as my father gets into the waiting car and it pulls away. “He’s stepped up his security.”

“We noticed,” Marshall says.

“Boss, I put the feelers out to the other advisors amongst the families,” says Leo.

I turn to face him with a smirk. “Do you have a group chat or something?”

He laughs. “Your father is losing his grip.” This piques my interest and I lower into my seat, indicating for the two of them to sit also. “He hasn’t been home for some weeks,” he continues. “They’re questioning why he’s spending time here when it was agreed you’d run London alone.”

“That’s good, right?” I ask. “If they’re concerned, they’ll worry about their investments.”

“They already are. The fact he’s spending so much time with Vivian is common knowledge. They feel they’re being left out of the loop so your father can reap all the rewards himself.”

I smile. This works in my favour because everything we earn has to be run past the families and a cut agreed upon for a fair split. I ran my dealings past them just last month. “Interesting,” I mutter. “So, would now be a good time to approach them?”

Leo shakes his head. “No. Let’s keep planting seeds of doubt. They need to feel like they can’t trust him.” He pauses before adding, “And they can’t know about Victoria.”

“Why?”

“Because they’ll think that’s swaying your decision.”

“It is,” I snap.

“You know as well as I do, they won’t allow you to kill him over a non-connected outsider.”

“She’s connected to me,” I growl.

“And when you’re at the top, you can make that clear. But right now, we need to work this to our advantage. Trust me, Dmitry.” I give a stiff nod, even though my trust is wavering with just about everyone.

I dismiss him and pour Marshall a drink. “How is she?”

“Fine.” He takes a sip. “She knows you own the place.”

“How?”

“She’s not stupid, boss. You know that.”

A smile pulls at my lips. “But she still agreed to stay there.”

He nods. “She loves you, Dmitry. She’ll come around.”

“She should be here with me,” I say bitterly. “We need to fight this together.” I ball my fists. “And I fucking miss her,” I admit, instantly regretting showing my vulnerability.

I spent all those nights she was away craving her body, needing her touch. And now, all I want is to hold her and know she’s safe.

“A few nights without you will have her calling, I’m sure. She’s just angry at the world right now.”

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