And then he whirled around and ran out of the room, leaving me to pick up the pieces of my shattered self.
CHAPTER FORTY: MAKSIM
After my talk with Hudson, I went down to the club site to see how the clean up was coming along. I needed something to focus on to get my mind off of seeing Sarah tomorrow.
Somehow, I managed to keep focused for the next couple of hours. I was just heading back to my office when my phone rang. At the name on the screen, I immediately answered. “Sammy?”
My heart sank when I was greeted with sobs. “Sammy, what’s wrong?”
“Sarah and I had a fight.”
“Oh buddy, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m mad at her for being mad at you.”
I exhaled a ragged breath as I searched to find the right words. “Like I said the other night, Sarah is right to be mad at me. I don’t want to tell you what it was because that’s between her and me. But just know, I did something really mean to her. It’s going to take her some time to get over it. So just be nice to her right now, okay?”
Silence echoed over the line. “Can you come over?”
I knew that I shouldn't, but I couldn’t tell him no. Not now after he’d fought with Sarah to defend me. “Yeah, I can. Give me about an hour, okay?”
“Thanks, Maks.”
“No problem, buddy.”
Vasily met my gaze in the rear-view mirror. “Change of plans, boss?”
Nodding, I said, “I need to grab some things from my office first.” When I glanced out the window to gauge where we were, I realized we were close to Irish territory and the bakery Sammy loved.
“First, let’s make a pitstop at O’Brien’s.”
“Isn’t that an–”
“Yeah, it’s an Irish b-bakery, but I’ve been given clearance.”
“If you say so.”
“I’ll call ahead, so it’ll b-be ready.”
“Is this Joyce?”
“Yes. Why?”
“It’s Maksim Korolov.”
A pause came over the line. “Oh, uh, hello, Mr. Korolov.”
“I’d like a dozen of your red velvet cupcakes.”
Once again, there was silence. “Um, sure. We have those for you.”
My skin prickled slightly at her behavior, but then it hit me. Sarah had seen Sammy today, so she’d probably been in thebakery. Joyce knew we’d broken up, so it was awkward for her to talk to me.
“Good. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“They’ll be ready.”
“See you then.”
