Lev squints. "More than usual. Yeah."
Dimitri shrugs, uninterested in my personal problems. "Ivanov's face will always get him pussy, but that won’t matter if we end up dead. I only need his brain to work. Are we here to go over everything or did I waste my time?"
"My brain works fine, Dimitri."
Just not last night.
Or this morning.
We spend the next hour going over logistics. I'm focused, getting right down to business.
The meeting ends and I'm left alone. I have to go back and face her, deal with how badly I hurt her heart as she put it.
I can’t go back so soon. If I do, I’ll take one look at her and start saying sorry. I'll take it all back, undoing everything I set out to do. Not just the things I said this morning. Everything. How I’ve lived my life, no relationships, no weaknesses. I refuse to do that.
I get in my car, shift into gear and drive aimlessly until I end up on Tverskaya Street. Alexei was right about me. I do look like shit, but it’s not my face. It’s me, everything about me. What I am. What I do and what I’m about to do.
I park in front of a three-story townhouse that’s been here since Imperial Russia. Nobility once lived here. Now it serves a different purpose. High-end escorts. When I need to fuck, it’s here or another place near the river. I don’t touch regular women. I don’t want or need any woman claiming I’m her baby’s father.
I enter the building and take the elevator to the third floor. A glass door with a small bell mounted beside it blocks the entrance. I stop, then press it before I can back out.
A woman I recognize answers. She sees me through the glass and opens the door, her face lighting up.
"Roman Ivanov. We haven't seen you in a while."
"I've been busy."
"Of course,” she says smoothly. “A man like you. I can only imagine."
She pours a courtesy shot of vodka. I down it in one swallow. The burn does nothing to settle the knot in my chest.
This is a mistake.
I should leave.
I can’t. I’m here and I’m committed. I need to make sure Nala didn't fuck me up completely.
"What are you in the mood for?” she asks. “We have two new girls that joined last week."
"Anyone. I don't care."
She smile fades. "Are you sure? Normally you're very specific about your preferences."
I grit my teeth. "Not today."
Her smile snaps back into place. "As you wish."
She makes a call, speaking quietly into the phone then hanging up. "Polina's one of our new girls. She’s twenty-four, a dancer and very eager to please. She’s also highly skilled. She'll be with you in ten minutes."
I wait in the private sitting area, eyeing the door, when a tall, leggy brunette appears. Polina.
She greets me with a sexy smile, does the usual introduction then leads me down the hallway to one of the private bedrooms.
I have to do this.
Polina turns to me, flashes another sultry grin before reaching behind her back for the zipper of her dress. She peels it down slowly with practiced ease from doing this all day. The dress falls. She’s naked underneath. Her body is thin and athletic with firm breasts. She twirls in a slow seductive manner, giving me the full view of her ass, before spinning back around to face me.
My cock doesn't even twitch.
