“And me?” Gytha asks.
Zane tries to sneak a peek between her legs when she sits forward. He looks away quickly before she catches him, schooling himself. He’s always liked her, but he wouldn’t go there because of me. No one is ever certain when we’re friends and when we’re lovers.
“You’re with me,” I answer, ignoring the warning in my heart to beware of her. Working closely with Gytha may not be the smartest choice when I need clarity. But despite what we are and what we aren’t, I don’t trust anyone else to do what she does for me.
“You?” Her eyes sparkle with hope.
“I’ll need help with the company once I start.” I’ll be at the headquarters of Volkova Inc. bright and early Monday morning, doing the parts of the job I don’t give two fucks about. “I need you to check out all the workers and keep an eye out for anything I might need to be aware of.”
I especially need her because at the end of all of this, Leif is retiring. That was another reason he wanted me to work with my brothers.
He projected that our work should take about two months to complete. By then, he’ll have finished teaching me what I need to know. He plans to return to Russia. I’ll leave months later when I have everything up and running, then head back out to sea.
“That sounds like I got the easy job.” Gytha chuckles.
“Don’t be quick to judge. The company is huge, and I need to make sure there’s no dissension in the ranks, or shit.”
“Okay, boss.” She makes her tone sound purposely sweet. The complete opposite of what she is.
“That’s all from me for now. I’ll need a report from you guys every six hours for the next few days.”
“Got it. See you later.” Jayce stands, and Zane follows his lead.
When the two leave, I look at Gytha because she hasn’t moved. She continues to stare at me, the fire of mischief dancing in her eyes.
“I thought I’d double-check to make sure you didn’t need me for anything else. Right now.” She straightens and makes a point of parting her legs so I can see her panties.
“I don’t need anything else.” We go through these cycles, she and I. One moment we’re up, the next we’re down. Sometimes it’s fun, other times not.
“You did so much to get to this point, though. Seems a shame you aren’t at least celebrating with me like we used to. Remember the last time?”
“Yes.” I’m not likely to forget because I considered making her mine officially.
That was a year ago. At the time, we’d been exclusive for months and I took her on a getaway to Morocco. I saw it as the start of something more. But she didn’t. I don’t know if I got too close, but she pulled back, and the same week we got back home, she cheated on me.
I caught her in the act, and she behaved like she didn’t do anything wrong. No apologies were offered, and we’ve been in that gray area since, not even being the fuck buddies we used to be. She has, however, been working hard to get back in my bed.
“If you remember, then what are we still doing here?” Her smile grows wider.
“No.” I shake my head, and the smile fades.
“No?” She hops off the desk and glides over to me, resting her hands on my shoulders as she steps between my legs. “Are you sure, boss?”
“I’m very sure.”
“I guess the girl must have made quite an impression, then.”
“We both know this is not aboutthe girl.” Although I make the clarification, my dick has other ideas, stirring at the thought of being buried deep in Anastasia’s sweet little cunt.
“You forget I know you, Desmier Volkova,” she teases.
Something catches my eye. It’s the slightest movement through the railings on the stairs outside the room. A glimpse of a lock of white-blonde hair floating back up the stairs proves my earlier assumption wrong. The Valkyrie came down after all.
Well, well, well.
And she was watching me. Maybe trying to listen in, too. If I were her, I’d definitely be doing that.
She wouldn’t have heard anything because of the distance between the stairs and the room. I wouldn’t have met my crew in here if I’d wanted to talk about something more private. I might not have even done that here at the house.