Page 47 of Shâhzâdeh

I was apparently making a tour of my friends because I was sitting in Liam’s office in the Merrick Distillery’s Carolina Falls headquarters. I needed to speak to him about the information I’d found out about Vanya’s past.

“I know who keeps doing zhis shit to Vanya.”

Liam’s eyes zeroed in on me, scanning my features before he responded. His eye twitched and his fingers fluttered like he wanted to grip his knife. “Who?”

“No guesses?”

“Nay in the mood for guesses. My wife’s friend is worried. Which means my wife is worried. And a worried Frankie makes Liam a murderous boy.” He didn’t sound at all worried and the grin on his face showed he was happily looking to fuck someone up for messing with his wife’s peace.

“Liam, you say zhat as zhough murder isn’t your favorite zhing to do.”

He held up three fingers with a grin on his face. “Third favorite. My wife is always first and loving my babies is my second.”

“Which is a natural result of engaging in your favorite zhing to do.”

He grinned brightly at my reasoning nodded as he spoke. “Aye, isnae life beautiful? Cyclical in its perfection.”

I shook my head but could knew my advice would fall on deaf ears. “Let zhe girl breathe zhis year, Li. She just had a baby.”

“Aye,lastyear. I willnae overwhelm her, but yoo ken Francesca doesnae do anything she doesnae want.” Liam bounced his light brown brows suggestively.

Knowing Frankie he wasn’t lying. “True.”

He rapped his hands on his desk to get me back on track. “So, what is the issue with her friend?”

“Her ex is harassing her.”

“I thought yoo ‘ad Sho and Quentin ‘andled ‘im.” I knew he was about to talk shit, but I had to be honest. Couldn’t have him thinking my men were slacking on the job.

“I did but it was a no kill order.”

“Yoor first mistake.” Bhaltair chimed in from his seat next to me and I could only smile.

“Apparently. But how does one get someone as skittish as Vanya to agree to somezing she doesn’t want to do? You forget her past but I have not. Because I care about her emotions. She should have what she wants at least once in zhis lifetime. I feel as zhough I’m yet anozer person taking away the choices that she gets to make.”

Having Vanya as my wife seemed like destiny. But her hesitation made me feel as though I were slowly backing her into a corner.

“It’s a choice to make but it’s one I’m almost positive she would ‘ave, anyway. Liam might nae tell yoo what ‘im and Frankie say, but the girl likes yoo. She just doesnae want to.” Since he found love with Yacouba’s sister-in-law he’d been wishing love on everyone. That seemed to be the natural order for all of us, though. One by one we were happily falling like dominoes.

“And I should respect zhat. Zhat she doesn’t want to be bozered.”

“Where the fook is our friend at? When yoo go soft, Xerx?” Liam was frowning at me like he expected me to come out swinging.

“‘E’s nay soft, ‘e’s concerned for ‘is love. Big difference.” Bhaltair’s ass was sitting there spouting knowledge like a man who’d been married for decades instead of a few months.

“My concern for her doesn’t negate zhe fact zhat she zhinks I’m crazy.” I looked around and waited on one of my friends to refute my statement to make me feel better, but these fools were just staring back at me with blank faces. “Damn, t’at’s w’at we doing?”

“Xerx, ain’t nan muthafucka in this office wrapped too tight. You act like you and the two Scots over here don’t come to fights with ceremonial swords and shit. Me and Ori the only sane ones in this bitch.” Ori had hopped his ass on my flight and Cou refused to be left out of this impromptu get together. They were sitting at the table near Liam’s desk listening to our banter.

“You. Who kidnapped your wife from her engagement party to somebody else?” He really was playing around calling himself sane. Couba’s sneer was laughable because he looked like he was pissed about David all over again.

“She wasn’t finna marry that fuck nigga.”

Liam tried to stifle his laugh but he couldn’t hold it in. “She definitely canna now since she killed ‘im.”

We all cracked up laughing and I could remember when Cou put us up on game that we needed to keep an eye out for David. Me, Quentin and Sho had eyes on him but Jasmine swooped in for the kill before we could get it. We kept quiet about it until he brought it up. We ensured she didn’t get caught by stripping away any trace of her ever being there.

“Damn right she did. And you saying that like your girl ain’t keep a man alive so you could watch him get eaten by ants.” He turned to look at Bhaltair next. “And yours didn’t bust a bitch’s implants before setting her on fire.Alive.”

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