“Viktor, I can hear you in there,” a voice says. It’s familiar and I know I’ve heard it before, but I can’t make it out through the pulsing in my ears and the barrier between us. “We need to talk,” the man says again. “It’s about Everleigh. I think she found something at the house.”
A different type of ache settles in my stomach, immediately removing me from all the sweet release I’ve just felt, the anticipation of Viktor’s thick cock inside of me quelled again. Technically, it may be for the best, at least until I hear what Ryan has to say. Though, I’m not sure I’m ready for any of this.
Chapter Seventeen
Ryan
When I see them together, my heart plummets. I’m not sure why. I knew this was coming. We agreed to it last night, and it’s clear to see she feels some kind of way about the animal, but the reality of seeing her face blushed, and smelling her scent all over him is a different thing all together.
“Ryan!” Her face twists with an odd sort of dismay that startles them both. “I—”
“You don’t have to explain. We talked about this. You’re okay.” I reach out and pull her into my arms like I have a thousand times over, but something is different this time. She’s shifted somehow. I could blame Viktor and the sharing he insists on doing, but really I blame myself. I never should’ve gotten involved with this shit.
“I need to talk to Viktor privately,” I say to Everleigh. “We’ll fill you in as soon as we have this straight.”
Viktor looks toward her. Next to him she looks even smaller than usual, at his mercy somehow, like he’s a giant Russian vampire who’s sunken her under his spell.
He snaps his gaze toward me. “I think we can talk in front of Everleigh. She knows the gist of what we’re doing here.”
I look toward her, my stomach tied in knots. “Wait, what? What do you know?”
She crosses her arms and stares back at me. It’s now that the light catches the lace of her panties on the ground.
Fuck.
“I know he’s second in command to some mafia ring and you’re some money laundering computer guy, but I don’t know exactly what’s going on with that yet. Viktor said you should tell me.”
I glance toward Viktor, but he doesn’t speak.
“I should get on with this class before anymore flags are raised. As far as they know, I’m a college professor that hates tardiness.” He kisses Everleigh on the head, growls something into her ear that forces a half smile, then steps out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Everleigh backs up into the chair and lets out a sigh. “How did you hold this in for so long? Three years we’ve known each other.Three yearsand you kept a secret that you were working for the mafia?”
“It’s been a secret I’ve kept all my adult life. It was the last three I started working for Viktor specifically. Not talking about it is sort of like breathing at this point.”
“But you’re so… clean. How did you get wrapped up in this?”
I shrug, more disappointed with myself than I’ve ever been. “They came to me after college. It was right after the recession and there weren’t a lot of jobs.” I shake my head. “The truth is, they offered me more money than I could ever imagine, and I couldn’t say no. You know me, I came from nothing. In a month of working, I paid off my parents’ house, my mother’s medical bills, and I had enough the following month to set them up for a while. That’s all I wanted to do from the beginning of time. I just wanted to know they were taken care of.”
“But now… you spend nothing. You were so excited about the promotion you got. You—”
“I have a regular nine to five, where I did get a promotion, but I also work for the Russian mafia on the side.”
“Why not just work for the mafia? Sounds like they could pay all your bills… with the blood of others,” she mumbles.
“I don’t kill anyone. That’s on your boy, Viktor. I handle all their private servers. I keep firewalls in place to keep people out of their business. Like Viktor, I keep the second job to keep the feds from wondering where my cash comes from. Some do without the second job, but Viktor’s team believes it makes things simpler. How much did Viktor tell you exactly?”
“He said he was second in command to the Russian mafia and that you work for them. That’s it.”
I want to ask her what part of that screamedfuck me now,but I hold back on asking anymore questions.
“Why, what am I missing? Is it about Max?” She steps toward me, her eyes narrowed. “Ryan, what do you know?”
I rub my forehead and sit on the edge of Viktor’s desk, shoving aside some pretentious artifact he’s brought back from his travels. “I want to tell you everything, but I don’t know any more than what he’s told me, which isn’t much.”
“What is it you know then?” Her voice is loud. It’s so loud that Viktor returns to the room, closing the door behind him.
“You’re going to need to quiet down in here, or I’m going to take you over my knee.” His voice is dark and gritty, a grin on his face as he looks toward Everleigh.
