Page 35 of Bratva's Vow
I scowled at the little imp. “Absolutely not.” I crossed the room and bent to kiss his temple. “Under no circumstances are you permitted to flirt with anyone. This dinner won’t be fun either. And I need to keep my focus. You are a distraction.”
He sighed and nodded, watching as I grabbed my cufflinks and fastened them with mechanical precision.
Wren slid off the bed and came to stand in front of me, helping to adjust the lapels of my blazer like he’d done it a hundred times before. His hands lingered, smoothing invisible wrinkles, his eyes trailing over my face like he was trying to memorize me.
“What is it?”
“Just thinking. If you lose your fortune, you could easily make it back.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, by playing one of those supervillains in a movie.”
I went rigid. “A supervillain?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, the ones who do despicable thingsbut everyone forgets because of how hot he is and all they can think about is what it’d be like to sleep with them.”
He had no clue how close he was to the truth.
“You watch too many movies.” I caught his wrist and reeled him in closer. “Stay home tonight. Don’t go anywhere while I’m not here.”
“Maxim…”
“Please.” I cupped the side of his face. “Just… please. Don’t leave the house. Don’t make me worry.”
He leaned into my touch, and for a second, I thought he might argue, but then he nodded. “Okay. I’ll stay in. If I’m hungry, I’ll order in.”
“No. I don’t want even a delivery person on this property when I’m not here.”
“But, babe?—”
“Nik is on call tonight. You need anything and I mean anything—even a toothpick—call him. He’ll expect it.”
“Always so paranoid.” He tipped his head, and I pressed a soft kiss to his nose. My phone buzzed.
“I’d rather be paranoid but know you’re all right.” I checked my phone. “That’s Sergei. He’s here.”
“I’ll walk you down?—”
“No.” I grabbed my keys from the dresser and met his gaze. “Just stay. I’ll call in to check up on you.”
I pretended not to see him rolling his eyes but forced myself to leave before I changed my mind, before I made an even bigger enemy out of Arkady by not showing up tonight after calling the meeting.
CHAPTER NINE
MAXIM
Sergei drove in silence, jaw tight, the faint flicker of the dash casting his profile in a hard glow. Two other vehicles tailed us. One up close, the other hanging back at a cautious distance. My men. Armed. Watchful. Ready.
We were heading into the kind of meeting that didn’t call for suits and speeches. This was the kind that smelled of gasoline and gunpowder.
The location was a gravel clearing near the docks. An abandoned construction site that had never quite turned into anything. Concrete slabs, rusted scaffolding, half-sunken shipping containers, and towering cranes that loomed like metal skeletons over a man-made graveyard.
Arkady was already there. Of course he was. He liked to arrive early to wait. Made him feel like he had the upper hand.
What he didn’t know was that a man who waited had already chosen to follow and could never lead.
I stepped out of the car and adjusted my blazer, the chill biting under my collar. Gravel crunched beneath my boots as I walked forward, Sergei flanking me to the left while Darius and Dezi hung back near the cars, on alert.
