Page 27 of Ruthless Serenade

"Personal?" I ask, surprised by the sudden change of topic. Pavel doesn’t talk to me about personal matters unless it’s something important.

"You heard me." He’s intently keeping his eyes on me.

I stare at him for a second then nod. "Go on."

"You've been sour lately, boss. Not yourself."

I take a sip of my whiskey. "Just dealing with some shit, Pavel. Eva and I separated, and then I ran into Mindy."

Pavel stares at me. "Mindy? Your old chief accountant? Where?"

"New York High. She was there on a date."

Pavel frowns, his disapproval evident on his face. "I thought you were done with her, boss. That was a long fucking time ago."

I shake my head. "Not that simple, Pavel."

"How is it not simple?" Pavel gestures with his arms. "You kicked her out because she betrayed you, remember? You need a good woman by your side. It’s not like you’re getting any younger, boss. If you keep this up, you’ll die as a miserable old man loaded with cash."

If I didn’t know Pavel for a fucking lifetime, I would punch him in the face for his comment. But deep down, I know he’s right. He knows me just as well as I know him and I fucking hate that he can see through me.

"You’ll be by my deathbed,mudak." I grumble "I can get rid of any woman, but not you."

He smirks. "You got that right, boss. But don’t try to change the subject. What’s going on?"

"What do you want me to say?" I grumble, taking another sip of my whiskey. "That I thought I had Mindy once, but I fucked it up?"

"Youfucked it up? I thought she did, boss," Pavel corrects me. "Or Maurice."

The mention of Maurice’s name makes me clench my jaw. I haven’t seen that idiot for seven years and I don’t even know if he’s alive or dead. Went fucking AWOL on all of us. If I knowhim well, he’s probably dead, face down in a ditch somewhere. Whatever the case, the memory of my half-brother still fucking stings.

I fall into silence. Pavel stares at me for a while, then walks closer and gives me a friendly pat on the back. "Only you can know what’s best for you,pakhan. But if you do, I suggest you go after it. Because one day you’ll wake up lying on your deathbed wishing you did."

I remain silent. I just continue to sip my whiskey without uttering a single word. But there’s a fucking war brewing inside me and Pavel knows it. He’s known me since we were teenagers and I know I can’t hide my deepest darkest shit from him.

Pavel finishes his drink and gives me a side-eye. "Well, I better get going and check on the wife at the hospital." He pats his pocket where he put the cash. "Thanks for the bonus, boss. Means a lot," he says, shutting the door behind him and leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.

Shortly after Pavel leaves, I decide to call it a day. I’ve been feeling distracted since morning and I know there’s no point in staying at the office when my focus is off. So, I exit the building, hop into my Escalade, and make a spontaneous decision to go to the closest Walmart to pick up a few things.

Shopping is a mundane task, and it is usually taken care of by my housekeepers. But for whatever reason, today is different. Today, I want to get out of my usual environment. I want to feel like a normal person, for once. An average Joe, just buying shit at Walmart. I’m always either the Bratva boss, the owner of Global Media, or someone’s worst nightmare. Maron Korolev is anythingbutaverage. Except for today. I don’t know what thefuck is happening in my head, but I can’t be bothered to push it down right now.

At Walmart, I’m strolling through the aisles with the biggest fucking trolley I could find. I grab the fanciest drinks, luxury foods, and top-notch produce like I'm some kind of kingpin. As I look at my overflowing cart, I wonder who the fuck am I going to share all this with.

Driven by instinct, I pull out my phone to call my brother, Timofey, and ask him if he or my mother needs anything.

"What do you want?" he answers the phone.

"Wow, real friendly greeting there," I reply sarcastically.

"Not in the mood for formalities,bratok. I just saw Mom and she asked me the same fucking question 527 times."

"Speaking of Mom. Do you or her need anything from Walmart?"

"Are you in Walmart? What the fuck are you doing there, Maron?"

"Ever heard of grocery shopping?" I ask, gritting my teeth, knowing what’s coming my way.

"Grocery shopping? You?" Timofey bursts out laughing, not even trying to hide his amusement.

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