Page 103 of Deceitful Vows

He mouths,What the fuck?to me before he moves closer to Zak’s bedside.

As he drinks in Zak’s undisputed Dokovic features, I signal for the two guards I placed at Zakhar’s door to stand down. Mikhail isn’t a threat to Zakhar any more than I am.

I can’t issue the same guarantee for anyone else currently residing under my roof.

38

ZOYA

My heart whines when I push a bundle of cash to the other side of my desk instead of stuffing it into my purse. The funds I handed a pharmacist this morning were almost in comparison to the stack of cash Mars is clutching close to her chest, but it doesn’t alter the facts.

Not a single note belongs to me, so I can’t accept them.

Mars earned those tips. I merely tallied them, lodged them for tax purposes, and then distributed them to their rightful owner.

After adding the funds I’d refused into the bundle I just handed her, Mars moans like she hates money. “The bartenders get a share of our tips, so why shouldn’t you?”

Not looking up, I reply, “Because the bartenders offer a service. I do not.”

“You could.”

Now, I look up.

“Don’t give me that look.” Mars purses her lips in a way I plan to replicate when I’m not exhausted from working nights after spending my days with Nikita’s grandparents.

Nikita will never admit it, but we were close to losing Grampies during his last downward spiral. One bad case of pneumonia saw his medication bill doubling, and Nikita’s savings returned to what it was six months ago.

Without a proper breathing machine, Grampies’s condition will continue worsening, which in turn means he will need more medication.

It is a cruel cycle I don’t see us winning anytime soon, but I refuse to give up. Grampies was the first man who was ever kind to me, so I can’t turn my back on him like my family did me.

Mars burns off any wetness attempting to fill my eyes before it can make me look stupid. “I’ve seen the way the patrons stare when Trace takes too long to refill your drink. You could earn triple what you do now and work far less hours.”

“Don’t remind me.”

The salaries at Le Rogue are amazing. My position is the highest paid job I’ve held since college. My paycheck allows me to contribute to the rent, which my new building supervisor assures me I don’t owe since I’m supposedly months in advance, and some of Grampies’s ongoing medical expenses, but I doubt that will remain the case when Mr. Fakher’s accounting error is unearthed.

It is only a matter of time before I’ll owe thousands in backdated rent. I could lessen the anxiety keeping me awake at all hours of the night by being honest with the building sup and organizing a payment plan, but sometimes the best lessons are the ones you teach yourself.

That’s how I’m seeing my time at Le Rogue—as a lesson.

Nothing in life comes free…

And when you lay with an adulterer, you could end up surrounded by them.

I don’t think any of the Le Rogue regulars are single and ready to mingle. Not even ten percent of the patrons bother hiding their wedding rings, yet they’re still one step higher on the morality chart than Andrik.

They keep their extramarital activities away from their home base. They don’t flaunt it in the driveway of their mega-mansions for their wives to possibly see, or in a sex club with hundreds of guests only feet away.

“That dick must have been good,” Mars murmurs, pulling me from my thoughts. “Because you, my dear sexy friend, could haveanydick you want, but you seem unwilling to let go of the last dick you had.”

“I wasn’t thinking about dick.”

Shepfftsme before slumping onto the chair opposite me like she’s wearing more clothing than she is. One wrong knee slip and I’ll seeeverything. “I’m surrounded by unvoiced desires for hours every night. I can read thoughts when it comes to what people are craving, and you, baby girl, are stuck on your ex.”

“He isn’t an ex,” I choke out with a laugh, hopeful it will hide my angst.

I’ve only known Mars for a week, yet she can already read me like a book. “So there is someone?”

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