That wasn’t true. I knew exactly why. I was just in a bad mood and still thinking about Cassie.
Roza was efficient and smart and fiercely loyal. And she owed me her life.
That made for the perfect employee.
If only she didn’t have boundary issues, but that came with her past.
When Roza was sixteen, I found her tied to a chair in the back room of a mid-level mafioso’s strip club. She was beaten, sexually abused, and her ear had been cut off with a dull blade.
I killed the man that scarred her then took her under my wing.
For the first year, she barely spoke. It took her a while to understand that she wasn’t a sex slave anymore and could leave if she wanted.
But she never did. I brought her deeper and deeper into my business, and she slowly changed from the timid, terrified, mutilated girl I first met into the strong and intelligent woman that helped run my business today.
Since then, she saved my life in a thousand small ways, and although she didn’t always approve of my decisions, she followed orders.
Like with Cassie. She was against the marriage idea from the start—but followed through perfectly when I made it clear that there would be no discussion.
“I need you to file the marriage paperwork. You know where to go?”
“I’ll check the records but I’m sure we’ve got a few people on payroll.”
“Make it official. Put a wedding notice in the paper if you have to. Make it sound like we had a private but very expensive ceremony. Something that’ll make the other oligarchs wonder.”
“I’ll write something up.” She tilted her head and watched me thoughtfully. “What do you plan on doing with her when this is all over? I mean, you won’t need her forever.”
“She’ll be free to go.”
“She’ll be a loose end.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you implying that I might have her killed once she’s no longer useful to me?”
“Yes, I am, because that’s exactly the sort of thing you’d do.”
“Fair enough, but I swear to you I won’t hurt Cassie.” I leaned forward her, fingers gripping the armrest. “You’ll recall that you were a loose end once.”
Roza nodded once, satisfied. She knew there was very little she could rely on in this world, but I always, always kept my promises.
“Is there anything else I can do?”
“Yes, actually. Cassie’s got a scar—“
Roza reached up, touched her mangled ear. “Does she? You seem to collected scarred girls. Want me to find out how she got it?”
I opened my mouth to say yes—
Then stopped.
Cassie clearly hadn’t wanted me to see it. She struggled when I peeled off her bottoms and was shocked when I kissed that long, jagged line. I could tell it wasn’t surgical and whatever made it was violent and very, very painful. She was likely very lucky to be alive.
And if she wanted me to know how it happened, she would tell me on her own.
I would take a lot from her. Freedom, her body, her desire. Whatever I needed, I’d take.
But I could leave her this at least.
“Actually, no. Forget I said anything.”
Roza’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“I don’t need to know.”
“You’ve literally never said those words before.”
I waved a dismissive hand at her. “Get out before you piss me off.”
“Seriously, you must really like this one.”
“Roza.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going.” She got to her feet and walked to the door.
“Send in Erick,” I called after as she left.
She was right. I must like Cassie if I was willing to give her some modicum of privacy. I’d take her body, taste her and make her feel good, make her bend to my will, make her gasp and moan and writhe—
But there had to be lines.
Fuck, I was getting soft.
Erick came into the room and shut the door behind him. “You summoned me?”
“I need you to approach Darren Servant about Cassie.”
Eric went very, very still.
Darren was another man like me. There were several of us scattered all over the world. His family was old, wealthy, and powerful. He ran in the shadows, financing crime where it pleased him, and he was involved with the MacKenna family.
Hurting them meant angering him, and I wanted to avoid that if at all possible. Originally, my plans would’ve shielded me from direct involvement. Forge and alliance between the Drozdov and the Liberto families then used them to enact bloody and public revenge on the MacKenna. Except that plan was smashed to bits when Manzi blew Dia’s brains out the back of her skull.
Darren wasn’t as strong or as connected as me, but he was a problem. If I was going to step out from the shadows, I needed him to know this wasn’t personal.
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m positive. Tell him I married her and nothing more. I also want you to tell the Liberto and the Drozdov.”