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“He must drive you crazy.”

“You get used to it.”

I squint. Bastard.

“Look at you playing the diplomat,” she says. “Do they train that into you, too?”

“No, that comes naturally,” he says. He clears his throat. “Anton told me that you preferred to work without any staff?”

“I’m only cooking for a few people. I can handle that on my own.”

“Alright then. There are quarters you can use through that door over there. There’s a shower, too, in case you need it at the end of the day. If you have any more questions—”

“I won’t,” she says curtly, cutting him off. “I know my way around a kitchen.”

He nods. “Then I’ll leave you to it.”

He bows out and leaves her alone. The moment he goes, however, her entire demeanor changes. She goes from unimpressed and detached to genuinely excited. It’s honestly fucking adorable.

She runs around the entire kitchen, opening cupboards, checking out the pantry, pulling out random ingredients from shelves and smelling the contents. She looks like a kid at an amusement park.

“She’s in the kitchen now,” Lev says, walking into my office. “Oh, right. I don’t need to tell you.”

I keep my eyes on the monitor as she opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of caviar that a new contact from Russia sent me recently as a gift. She pops the top and tries a little with a teaspoon. Then she does a dance around the first kitchen island that makes me laugh out loud. Even Lev joins in, and he’s not really a laugh-out-loud kind of guy.

I wait until she’s disappeared into the staff dressing rooms before I turn to Lev.

“It would be wrong to turn on the camera in the dressing room, right?” I ask, only half-joking.

Lev smirks. “Is this gonna be your whole day?”

“Why not?” I ask. “I haven’t taken a day off in fucking forever.”

“True,” he concedes with a nod. “You deserve some downtime.” He glances towards the monitors. Jessa still hasn’t reemerged. “What do you hope to gain from this? I mean, the girl gave back the phone. She has nothing on you anymore.”

“Except what she knows.”

“A risk you decided to take the moment you decided to let her live. So what is all this really about?”

I stay silent. Because what the fuck am I supposed to say to that? Of course, Lev is an expert at reading silences. It’s why I keep him around in the first place.

“You care about her, don’t you?” he guesses.

“She’s interesting.”

“Lots of women are. But don’t duck the question. You care about the girl.”

“There’s something endearing about her,” I say, still smiling at the memory of her happy dance after she tried the caviar. “Not like the others.”

“Of course not. You’ve spent your whole life surrounded by Bratva women. They’re a different breed altogether.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I’m still trying to avoid Jhené after that fucking dinner.”

Lev chuckles. “She’s set her sights on you.”

“The woman thinks that I’m looking for a new wife. I’d rather shoot my dick off.”

Lev is silent for a second. Then I see his eyebrows rise thoughtfully.


Tags: Nicole Fox Stepanov Bratva Erotic