I pulled up my zipper as Veev pushed her feet into her ridiculously high heels, half watching her and half watching the time on my Rolex attached to my wrist.
I was cutting it close to Aida being home, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. She may have been living in this house and taken my last name, but she was a means to an end, the one thing I needed to get what I wanted.
“Same time next week?” Veev asked, doing up the buttons on her red silk blouse. She left the top two undone, her cleavage peeking out at me. To any other man, it would have been alluring, but they did nothing for me. Veev was yet another means to an end. She sated a need I had—nothing more, nothing less.
“I’ll let you know,” I said, moving around to my desk and sitting on the leather chair. I had work to do, especially now that Uncle Paolo was gone. The legacy I intended to build would take time, money, but most of all, connections. Connections that I’d worked on for years, and now it was time to cash them in.
“Okay.” She grinned, knowing that she’d be back next week. There was no doubt that she was becoming another fixture in my life, only she was easier to get rid of than my wife. I flared my nostrils as Veev flitted out of my office, her heels clicking on the floor as she made her way out of the house. She’d only been in the mansion a handful of times since I’d moved back in here, but it didn’t seem to faze her—the extra guards or the possibility of running into my ma.
“You’re playing with fire,” a new voice said. I looked up, my gaze meeting Christian’s.
I raised a brow at him. “I’m always playing with fire.” I spread my arms wide, grinning. “It’s what I do.”
His eyes didn’t move off of me as he stepped fully into my office and shut the door behind him. The door only ever got shut when something important needed discussing, so I straightened, preparing myself for what he was about to tell me. We’d been changing up how we did things—how we distributed our goods—and so far, it had all gone to plan. “You’re gonna push her away before you’ve even gotten started.”
I laughed, shaking my head as I leaned back in my seat. “Got started on what?” I tapped the arm of my chair with my fingertip. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Christian sighed, a sound unlike him. “Aida.”
I screwed up my face, already tired of this conversation. “I married her to take my rightful place, Christian, nothing more than that.”
“I know you did.” He paused, his eyes narrowing. “But that don’t mean you have to push her away.” He leaned forward, his voice dropping. “People are noticing.”
“And?” I shrugged, not liking where this conversation was going. My personal life was personal for a reason, and I didn’t like the fact that Christian was in here schooling me about it. “If I wanna fuck Veev, then I’ll fuck her.” I ground my teeth together, trying to keep my emotions at bay. “Aida doesn’t get a goddamn say.”
“Never said she did,” Christian murmured. “Everyone knows why you got married, but that doesn’t mean that you need to flaunt it in their faces.” His brows rose, waiting for me to say something, but when I didn’t, he continued, “You have enemies, ones that are waiting for a chance to pounce on one of your mistakes.”
I blew out a breath, understanding what he was saying. My enemies were closer than anyone knew, enemies who I kept close—like The Enterprise. All they needed was something for them to jump on, and right then, I couldn’t afford for that to happen. I needed to build the family up, not destroy it before I’d even gotten started.
“What the hell do you suggest I do, then?” I tilted my head to the side, my nostrils flaring.
“People aren’t seeing you out with her. You haven’t even been to church since you got married.”
“Then I’ll go to church.” I could hear my voice getting higher, my frustration over everything that had happened since my dad died boiling over. “Fuck's sake. I never wanted any of this.”
Christian stood. His face was carefully neutral as he said, “Neither did she.” He blinked. “Don’t forget that.”
“Are you serious?” I stood, unable to tamp anything down any longer. “I paid her fuckin’ parents so I could marry her. I’m the reason her dad has been able to employ someone new and isn’t working every waking hour.” I pounded on my chest. “I set her sister and niece up in their own fuckin’ apartment.” I heaved a breath. “I provide for her, and I don’t ask her for anything other than to be my wife to the outside world.”
The silence stretched in the room, and Christian’s eyes darkened. He’d always been my best friend, but now that I was boss, there was a line he wouldn’t cross. But that hadn’t stopped him when I was his captain. He was the only person around me who didn’t placate me, and right then, I wished he would have. I didn’t need him pointing out all of the flaws in my life, not when I had a ton of things on my plate.
“You asked her to give up her life.” I opened my mouth, but he didn’t stop. “The night you went to see her parents, you know where she was?”
I frowned, wondering where
he was going with this. “The fuck do I care?”
Christian chuckled. “She was on a date.”
My muscles froze, my brain short-circuited. She was on a date? Why hadn’t I been told? Why had he left it until now to inform me? I narrowed my eyes on him and clenched my hands at my sides. I didn’t want to admit the thought of Aida on a date with another guy angered me, but it did. She may not have been mine in all the ways a traditional wife was, but she held my family name. She was part of this home, whether I liked it or not.
“It doesn’t matter,” I lied. It did matter. It mattered a fuckin’ lot. Was she still seeing this guy? He would have told me sooner if she was, right?
“If you’re not careful,” Christian said, moving toward the office door. “She’ll give up on you and turn to whatever guy who gives her the attention that she needs.” He halted at the door, his last parting words: “Then where will you be?”
I stared at the door as he left, leaving behind a shitstorm in my head. He was right, but so was I. I didn’t want to let Aida think that there was more going on between us than there actually was, but I needed to keep her close. I needed her to be close enough so there was still hope within her. It was a balancing act, one I was afraid I wouldn’t pull off.
AIDA