10
ROMAN
Another night in the can… and I’m no closer to regarding Ember asjusta manager than I was a week ago.
I thought I’d be over it by now. I thought I’d be content with getting a rise out of her by throwing a flirty gesture every now and then. But I’m not. Not at all. Maybe it’s the ten-year hiatus from anything real messing with me.
In my quiet moments, I imagine my tongue on her clit again or I think about being inside her, her hands in my hair, her moans in my ear. Tonight, anytime she walked out onto the floor for one reason or another, my eyes were on her. She’s an addictive beauty.
The worst thing about all of it is that I know she’s right. What happened last week shouldn’t have happened at all. Not because of anything having to do with the job, but more because…
She’s not from my world. There’s a light that shines all around her, from within her. It’s the kind of thing you see in everyday people at the supermarket or just out in the wild. She’s shopping centers on Saturdays and grocery stores on Sundays. One day,she’ll be driving a minivan with a bunch of kids. Her husband will be some balding man with a dad bod who religiously watches football every week.
There’s nothing wrong with being that. In a lot of ways, I wish I were that. But it’s like she’s from another planet when I compare it to my existence.
The bottom line is Bratva don’t usually date women outside their circle, and for good reason. We tend to drag people like her into the darkness with us.
The car stops, bringing me out of my thoughts. My driver puts the car in park and gets out to open my door. I’m home.
I get out of the car and suddenly, I can feel the late hour in my bones. It’s three in the morning. In three hours, Sasha will be up and expecting breakfast. I’ve been making it my business to make sure that food is ready for her when she comes down in the morning.
“Good night, Mr. Orlov,” my driver says as I pass him by. I acknowledge him with a nod and make my way up the stairs and into my house. I close the door behind me and take two steps forward… and I hear it.
It’s a thump from somewhere upstairs. I freeze and look over at the staircase. A few seconds later, another thump, followed by a scuffling noise. Sasha is probably asleep at this hour. What the hell am I hearing?
I walk up the stairs, my hand on my gun. In my mind, I keep thinking about my brother’s warning about Sergei Durov. At the time, I brushed it off, but it’s been in the back of my mind since he mentioned it. Some potential somebody coming for me is always somewhere in my periphery.
I hear the sound again as I reach the landing. I turn my head as I realize it’s coming from near Sasha’s room. Shit…
I creep forward, being careful not to step on any of the loosened boards under my feet. The closer I get to Sasha’s room, the more noise I’m hearing. Rustling, lots of movement… and the muffled sound of low talking. I pull the gun out of my holster.
I get to the door and fling it open, turning the light on. It takes about half a second for my brain to process what I’m seeing. The blankets, lumps underneath, two pairs of feet at the foot of the bed.
Two heads pop up. My daughter, her curls mussed and her eyes wide… and a boy with hair so short his scalp is visible.
They look at me with terror and freeze. It’s like a moment in time has been stopped just so that my mind can catch up.
My teenage daughter has a fucking boy in her bed.
“Dad,” she says, “I can expl?—”
And I’m moving. I stalk around the bed and grab the boy by the back of the neck, yanking him out and throwing him to the floor. Sasha screams as I aim my gun at his head.
“M–Mr. Orlov!” the boy cries out. He’s not wearing anything but a pair of boxer shorts. I should blast his brains all over the carpet.
“Daddy!” I feel the weight of her body as she grabs my shoulders. “Please, don’t kill him!”
It takes me a second for my senses to come back. Looking at this kid, shaking in his shoes, his bottom lip quivering and tears in his eyes. He can’t be too much older than Sasha is. Skinny birdchest, and thin legs and arms. The longer I look at him, the more like a baby he appears to me.
I holster my gun. “Get the fuck out of here.” He stares, shaking like a leaf on my daughter’s bedroom floor. “NOW!”
He jumps up and scrambles to his feet, grabbing his clothes as he runs out of the room. “Paulie, wait!” Sasha says. I turn just in time to see her jump off the bed to run after him. I intercept her, grabbing her by the arm and pushing her onto the bed. A second later, I hear the door open and shut somewhere downstairs. I’ll bet his feet didn’t touch the floor from here to the front door.
“Dad, why did you do that? Now he’s never going to talk to me again!”
“GOOD!” I bark. She jumps and her mouth snaps shut. Her big brown eyes stare up at me fearfully. “You were up here in bed with a boy, Sasha! Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Daddy, I know how it looks, but… but I love?—”
