“I don’t know if I’m the right person to handle this.”
“You are.” I lean into her, getting her attention and locking eyes with her. “You’ve got this. Fundamentally, it’s no different from balancing the books in the club.”
She turns her eyes to Ivan. “And… and you want me to work with your Obi… um…”
“Obshchak,” I say. “Yes. You’ll be working closely with Ivan. He maintains the funds of the Bratva. He’s the one I report a lot of these numbers to at the end of the month. You keep the books balanced here and he keeps them balanced in the back.”
He raises his eyebrows, his mouth turning into something resembling a smile. “Obshchakis my title in the Kostromo,” he says. “It’s basically the treasurer.”
She glances down at his forearms which are just as heavily tattooed as the rest of us, juxtaposed against the finely starched dress shirt he’s wearing and the thin, wire-rimmed glasses settled on his thin nose. I can’t imagine what she must be thinking.
“How long have you been handling the books?” she asks him.
“Since the last Pakhan,” he says casually. “Started as a debt of my father’s. I was tasked to be the one to settle it up. And since then, I’ve been on the Kostroma payroll, so to speak.”
“Okay,” she says, her voice shaking a little with nerves. “Um… I think I’m going to need some time to absorb this.”
“Ivan. Leave us alone for a few minutes, please.”
Ivan glances down at the ledger protectively, then nods and steps out of the room.
“Is it too much?” I ask her. She doesn’t respond. She just sits and stares at the ledger, her fingers tracing the pen marks. “It’s important to me that you be a part of my world. You need to understand how the machine runs to understand my role in it.”
She looks up at me with those eyes, icy blue and warm all at once. “I just need a moment to… to get my head around this, I guess. In a million years, I never thought I’d actually be on this side of things. I don’t know what to say, really.”
Uh-oh. Did I miscalculate? She looks away and takes a deep breath. “You are all right with doing this. You do understand that the money that I’ve made from this club has gone toward the Bratva. All this time. That’s what’s been happening.”
“I know,” she says softly. She tilts her head curiously. “This is important to you, that I’m completely aware of all of this?”
I smile in spite of the hammering in my chest. “Baby girl,” I say, and I see her eyes focus on me. “You’re more than just my lover. It has to be that way if you’re going to be with me because… well, I don’t really do anything halfway. My intentions with you and this relationship are serious. I want you at my side. Every step of the way.”
Her eyes water and she looks away from me, back down to the ledger. For a second, I think I’ve fucked this up. I can almost hear her next words being that this isnotwhat she wants. Then, to my surprise, she says, “Okay. I’m in.”
I take her arm and pull her to her feet, kissing her deeply. She wraps her arms around my neck. Her hands are in my hair. I have to break the kiss to quiet the monster in my slacks.
“Your lips are like wine,” I whisper as I lean my forehead against hers. “But I can’t afford to get drunk just yet.”
“Right,” she says with a smile. “We’ve got work to do.”
“That we do.” I call Ivan back into the room. It begins.
I sit back and have a drink while Ivan shows her the details of how the money flows from our business interests to our coffers. Every time I look over at them, I see Ember leaning into every word with rapt interest. It’s like she’s absorbing every word that he says.
Ivan, ever the worker bee. Always following my orders even when I can see he doesn’t approve. The rules of Bratva life that he was taught were under the strict policy of trust no one,especiallyyour woman. They’re usually the first to dime you out.
To that end, he’s cold with her at first, talking to her about the numbers with a vague pointing of his fingers. She doesn’t let him get away with it, though. Every thing that he doesn’t fully explain, she asks for clarification. Every moment of hesitation that he displays, she presses him on it. She plays him with the ferocity of a true Bratva queen. It’s like she’s made for this.
She was right. It is strange how she got to this point. The daughter of a cop is now under my wing in the daytime and in my bed at night.
And I have so much more to show her.
Her thighs shakeagainst the sides of my face as she comes. I’m holding her by the hips, my mouth sucking on her clit. “Oh,fuck!” she cries out, a fistful of my hair in her hands.
I finally release her and she goes limp on the bed. I sit up and admire her lithe figure under the moonlight from my bedroom window. Her skin glistens in the blue light, making her look almost surreal. Like a nymph who’s found her way into my sheets.
I run my hands over her thighs and she flinches. “Wait,” she says breathlessly. “Give, give me a second.”
We’ve been at it for a few hours now, and honestly, I could go for a few more. I can’t seem to get enough of her. I push her legs over to the side and give her a playful slap on her damp, sweat-covered ass. She squeaks and giggles, rolling over on her stomach.
