Page 8 of Wicked Arrangement

“Currently, the porcelain is making its way from Russia to Poland. Once in Europe, our collection will make a pit stop in Spain before heading straight for Charleston aboard a trading vessel. We should be well within the two-month deadline,” I reply, pleased to be the bearer of good news.

“Excellent, always a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Volkov,” he replies, reaching out to shake my hand.

“And you, Mr. Gillihan.”

“Now, I imagine after the day you’ve had that you’re keen to get some rest, so I won’t keep you any longer—unless you wish to join me at the casino. I have business to deal with, but our hostesses can be very welcoming to valued guests,” he says with a wink.

“Another time, perhaps,” I reply. Under normal circumstances I may have been tempted, but, there’s only one woman that my cock seems interested in today and that’s Kimberly Walsh. Part of me hopes she calls in her favor soon, just so I get to see her again. I get the impression that Kimberly Walsh is the kind of woman who is in trouble more often than not, so I imagine I’ll be seeing her sooner rather than later.

Even so, I contemplate heading over to her apartment right now. It was easy to get her address from the hospital staff with a few hundred bucks. I’ve got my men already looking into her, I want to find out everything there is to know about Ms. Walsh. I don’t like to leave anything to chance, and I also don’t believe in coincidences. She might have saved my life, but there must be a reason why she crashed into it.

Despite the fact I want nothing more than to go over there and fuck her like she’s never been fucked before, my instincts say I should keep away and try to get Kimmy Walsh well and truly out of my mind. I know trouble when I see it. And that woman is a whole heap of trouble.

Chapter 6

Kimberly

Night shifts are the worst. Filled with drunks who want to grope you and shout abuse, or down-on-their-luck types who just want to come in for a coffee somewhere warm. It’s eight in the morning, and I’ve been working since eleven the night before. I’m ready to crawl into bed and forget the world.

The only upside to having the night shift is that I at least had time to meet up with a very hungover Amelia for dinner before I started. Thankfully, she was understanding and, as expected, found the whole sorry story amusing. She was of course, very interested in the handsome stranger I crashed into, and is now convinced that it’s our ‘meet cute’ that we will tell our kids one day. Sometimes I think Amelia lives in a fantasy world. As though a man like Yaroslav Volkov would be interested in a girl like me.

My dreams of crawling into bed for a peaceful undisturbed rest come to a grinding halt the moment I get to my apartment My brother is standing waiting at the door.

“Hey, baby sis, how you doing? I was in the area and thought I’d swing by,” he says nonchalantly. Noah doesn’t just pop by to say hi, if he’s here that only means one thing, he wants something.

“Hi Noah, what is it this time?” I ask with a weary sigh. I don’t have the energy to pretend.

“Hey, can’t a brother visit his family without having an ulterior motive?” he pouts, mock offended.

I roll my eyes, not bothering to reply. He moves to let me open the door, following close behind me. Abigail and Gran are sitting on the sofa watching the TV. Gran’s still in her pajamas, a cup of coffee on the table in front of her.

“Hey Kim, how was work?” Abigail says to me before acknowledging my brother with a curt, “Noah.”

There’s no love lost between my brother and Abigail. Abigail thinks he’s a lazy responsibility shirker and Noah can’t believe Abigail would want to help out of the kindness of her own heart and therefore that she must have some sinister reason for helping us.

“Same old, how’s she been?” I ask nodding in Gran’s direction.

“Good so far, she’s eaten breakfast and seems quite with it this morning,” Abigail beams.

“Noah!” Gran exclaims as he goes over to her, she doesn’t even acknowledge my arrival, but when Noah bothers to grace us with his presence it’s like we’ve had a visit from the queen.

Noah, loving being the golden boy, happily chats with Gran, showing off the brand-new pair of New Balance sneakers he has on. I grit my teeth, trying not to let it get to me that we’re struggling to make ends meet, while Noah is off living his best life and spending obscene amounts of cash on frivolous purchases. Gran holds Noah’s hand in hers, the skin now wrinkled and paper-thin. She’s listening to him intently and smiling at him like he’s the messiah. I do so much for her—havegiven up my dreams to care for her, and yet it’s me she forgets. Noah hasn’t seen her for months and yet now he finally comes, she lights up. I shouldn’t feel jealous, the fact she remembers my brother shows that she still has some of her old memories, but it’s just so unfair.

I see Abigail out, thanking her for staying over. I always feel guilty asking her to do overnights, be she assures me she’s fine with it. She barely sleeps anyway, and our couch is comfortable, she says. With Abigail gone, I head to the kitchen to make myself a coffee. I don’t offer to make one for Noah. Sod him. It’s me who will have to deal with Gran’s meltdown the moment he disappears again.

As I’m brewing the coffee, Noah comes into the kitchen.

“So, Kim, I have a favor to ask…” he says, his voice wheedling.

And there it is. As predicted, right on time, he’s asking for something. He’s barely been here five minutes. No doubt he’ll leave the moment he gets what he came for. Gran will be heartbroken.

“That didn’t take long. What do you want?” I ask warily, turning to face him.

“I need some cash,” he says, as though I have any to give.

He grabs a peach from the fruit bowl on the counter, biting into it and then grimacing before throwing it in the trash. I bite down my irritation at this casual disrespect, if he’d taken a moment to feel it before biting, he’d have realized it wasn’t ripe yet. I’d been hoping to make a peach cobbler as a treat for Gran. She still enjoys baking, it’s one of the few things that helpsbring her back to me. Now I’m going to be short on peaches and they’re not cheap.

“Me too,” I reply dryly.

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