Page 29 of Inked Adonis

My phone buzzes and I pull it from my pocket to read the text.

HOPE:how’d it go??? did you play nice???

NOVA:define ‘nice’

HOPE:oh god

NOVA:relax. i was a perfect angel

HOPE:and??

NOVA:and your VIP client is warm and fuzzy. Like… oh, idk… chlamydia.

HOPE:LMAO. but you’ll keep the job?

NOVA:yeah. i’ll keep the job.

I don’t tell her about the subtle threats. Or the way Katerina’s eyes reminded me of broken, bloody glass. Or how every instinct I have is screaming that this is a terrible idea.

Some things are better left unsaid.

10

SAMUIL

“Where are you off to in the middle of the day?”

I pull on my running shoes. “If you can’t put two and two together, man, I’m not gonna help you.”

Myles isn’t amused. He shifts his weight, blocking my office doorway. “You shouldn’t be running anywhere. You have a meeting with Danovic in ten minutes.”

“Had. Past tense.” I straighten, meeting his gaze. “And now, the Andropovs have him.”

For the second time in as many days, Myles plummets into the leatherback wing chair in front of my desk. “Fuck.”

Countless other men have slumped there just like him and cursed just like that. Usually, they were begging me for mercy of some kind or another.

But Myles isn’t like them. He’s been my right hand since our glory days at Dartmouth, back when we were still pretending to be normal college athletes instead of what we really are.

Monsters wearing designer suits.

“We knew this was coming,” I remind him.

“Doesn’t make it any less frustrating.” He runs his palms over his face. “Did he give you a reason?”

“Generic bullshit.‘The Andropovs are giving me an offer I can’t refuse.’‘I have to go where the money is.’Blah, blah, fucking blah.”

“That ungratefulsvoloch’. Like you haven’t made him millions in the last few years alone. Did you give him a counteroffer?”

“I don’t throw good money after bad bets.” I tighten my laces and stand up, stretching muscles that are already twitching for release. For violence. “Danovic made his choice. Now, he has to deal with the consequences. This bridge is burned.”

“What about his contacts?” Myles asks. “He came to the Litvinov Group with a full portfolio.”

I shrug. “Some of them will move with him; some won’t. I can’t control that.”

“You have that look in your eye, Sam. Also, you’re going running.” He grips the arms of the chair to brace himself. “Is this the end or have you decided, after years of saying otherwise, that you actually like running?”

“My father will be here in three days.”

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