Nikolai
My father likes her.I could tell because when we filed in for dinner, he purposely left the seat to his left open for her. Not me or one of my brothers, but her. He’d looked like a child having his favorite toy torn away when I announced our departure.
As I stare down at her now while she’s asleep in my bed, naked and vulnerable, the sunlight peeking through the windows and spreading across her back—I like her too.
I sigh. I don’t have time to like her. I have work to do, and an empire to help build. My father wants all of his sons to be married. He’s pressuring Roman first, he’s the oldest and him having a wife and sons as soon as possible will set my father’s mind at ease.
The line of succession for us doesn’t have to be from father to son. Anyone in our family can step up to challenge Roman. But if he’s strong enough, no one will.
Being the third son, I don’t have to worry about such things. I can focus on the empire. I can focus on the business.
And to do all of that, I can’t be bothered with a pretty girl with chestnut hair who looks as sexy making a submarine sandwich as she does with her ass bouncing beneath my belt.
Fucking her in my father’s gardens hadn’t been on the list of things I wanted to do yesterday. I wanted to get through the party without having to battle off anyone my father wanted to try to set me up with, while enjoying his birthday party. Charlotte had been my shield.
Annoyance at how much time I’ve spent thinking about this woman has me on edge. I run my fingers through my hair and toss the covers back from the bed. When I look back at her sleeping form, a red welt on her bare ass peeks out at me from where the blanket has moved. I wasn’t lying when I told her I didn’t like punishing her like that. I’d much rather have her tears be earned through pleasure, and now seeing that welt… I want it more than ever.
I grab a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and head down to the fitness room in the building. If I had a townhouse like my father, I’d have the space for a full fitness room, but I like living in the penthouse. It’s just me, I don’t need a home like he has. Like I grew up in.
That’s for later. When I have a wife and kids. Immediately, an image of Charlotte pops into my head, her belly swollen with my baby inside and a wiggling toddler on her hip.
“Hey, Nikolai.” Viktor’s already in the fitness room. His face drips with sweat.
“You’re up early,” I say, heading to the treadmill. A five-mile run should get my head on straight about what Charlotte is. She’s a temporary bit of fun, that’s all.
That you’re letting a quarter million dollars slip through your fingers for.
“Sun’s up, so am I,” Viktor nods.
I laugh. “It’s Sunday. Try sleeping in now and then.”
“When’s the last time you slept in?” he asks, taking the treadmill beside me.
I stand on the belt and think. “It’s been a while.”
He punches in the program he’s going to use while I do the same.
“Is the girl sleeping?” he asks as his belt begins to move and he steps on it.
My speed kicks up and I start off on a light jog.
“She is.”
“She’s stubborn, that one,” he says, starting to jog beside me.
“She is,” I agree.
“She’s a hard worker, too.”
I eye him from the side.
“Yeah. I guess she is.” I wonder if she understands she doesn’t have to be such a work horse. She can relax and let someone else take control for a bit. Last night, when she finally realized she wasn’t controlling the evening, that I was the one holding the reins, she relaxed easily into me. The entire evening, she remained soft and sweet, but never during the night did I think for one second she would allow me or anyone else to run her over. She would bend beneath me, but this woman, she would never break.
“Too hard,” Viktor says.
“What are you saying?”
He shrugs. “She takes responsibilities that aren’t her burdens to shoulder.”