I pinch my thighs, the memory of his mouth on me that night flashing through me. The way he looked afterward, like he hadn’t wanted to stop.
“But it will take the full thirty days before you get it,” he goes on. “My brother Konstantin is very strict about the rules.”
Crap. I don’t have thirty days. I bite back the panic and try to act casual.
“And you will be staying here until we figure out where you’ll live.” His fingers climb higher, gliding up my neck.
“Okay…”
“But I do need something from you.”
“What’s that?”
“My last nanny quit, and I haven’t been able to find a proper replacement. Lev and I…we have been managing, but it’s not good enough. He needs someone consistent. Someone he already trusts.”
“And you’re asking me?”
“Da.” He nods. “If it is something you are willing to do.”
My heart squeezes. “Of course I will.” I don’t even need time to think about it. “I love being around Lev. And if I can help, I want to.”
Relief flickers across his face. “Good.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “Lev is in school during the day, so he will need you to drop him off and pick him up, and he needs to be taken to his therapy appointments too. Other than that, it’s pretty easy. When I’m gone, you keep him company. Follow his routines. Play with him. Nothing complicated. Just be with him.”
“I can do that.” A smile slips out.
“You will get paid every week.”
“That’s not necessary—” Even as I say it, I know how badly I need the money.
“It is. This isn’t free work. I would never expect that.” He releases my hand, and I feel the loss of it immediately. “Fifteen thousand a week.”
I choke. “Fifteen… Kirill, no. That’s insane. That’s too much.”
“It isn’t,” he says simply. “You will be responsible for my son. That is worth more than I am offering. Don’t argue with me about my own money, malyshka.”
My thoughts spin around the number and what it could mean. I could pay my sister to take care of Milo. I could start saving. Maybe even leave with him someday.
Just not soon enough. Eli still expects me to steal the ledger, and I’ll have to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
“I am.”
Silence stretches between us, and his gaze drifts over my face, my lips, his chest rising and falling the longer he focuses on me.
“I’ll leave you to get some sleep.”
As he starts to go, a sudden thought hits. “What about my job at the diner? And oh my God, the ranch. They’re going to hate me.”
“Don’t worry about any of it.”
My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
A slow, faint smirk forms. “I know your boss.”
“Really?” My head jerks. “You know Mark?”
His low laugh rumbles out. “Yes. I am his boss, which makes me your boss, solnishko.”
