by Amaya Black
“I want to finish what we started that night,” she smiled.
Leaning away from her, knowing I had just laid the perfect trap, I smiled at her. “I would like to wine and dine you before all that. We should have dinner one night.”
Yasmine lit up like a Christmas tree, and I knew thoughts were dancing behind her head. “So you’re not seeing anyone anymore?”
“No,” I stated going back to my desk chair.
“Well you pick the time and day and I will have that name for you…but only when that date is set,” she stood.
With a wink, she left my office. Her blonde ponytail swishing behind her. The door closed with a soft click. Immediately, I took out my phone and put Valentin and Liam on three-way. I was not dicking around with these two today and wanted to make them aware of the plan.
“I say bring her to dinner tonight,” Liam quipped.
He was calculating; he was the type to pull the trigger but you’d never have an inkling that it was him.
“Why?” Val and I both asked at the same time.
“If there’s anyone who can sniff out and get a sense of things it's those women of ours,” Liam replied.
“I don’t know,” I stated.
“Bring her,” Liam stated again. “Nova’s cooked a delicious pot roast and honestly I think she’s trying to get me as fat as she is.”
“Well he’s the boss,” Val stated.
“Is someone annoyed their father didn’t take over the Bratva?”
There was silence and Valentin spoke. “I could arrange your death, just know that cousin.”
“Not if I arrange yours first, Spare Heir…also fuck you.”
I coughed.
If I let them go on, they would banter like this for another thirty minutes. Some days, you would think they hated each other.
“I shall bring the woman,” I replied.
“Good, we’ll see you at six-thirty.”
The call ended and I groaned. The prospect of having Yasmine think this was an actual date just so that I could get the name of the very foolish drug dealer who thought coming into my territory and selling bad coke was a terrible idea.
It had to be done.
I stopped second-guessing myself and cracked my neck.
Yasmine would be giving me that name by the end of the night if I had to torture her to get it.
Chapter 22- Simone
Nova Safaryan looked super pregnant. Her stomach was pushing itself to the limits in her sweatshirt and it looked as if she could pop any moment. Her hand was braced on her back as she waddled around the magnificent kitchen of the Safaryan mansion.
I couldn't help but notice how nice it was and that familiar itch began to roam along my skin. I had started to case the place and hadn’t even noticed but Nova had.
“It’s a hard habit to break.” She tapped the spoon she’d been stirring with against a cast iron pot that was sitting on the stovetop before having it rest on a blue and white spoon rest. Whatever it was that she was cooking had begun to ensnare my senses.
“What?”
“Looking for things to steal,” she gave a small smile.
“It’s like riding a bike,” I told her.
“You know that’s how I met my husband.”
“How?”
She smirked. “I thought he was gone and Max had sent me out to this address to steal something. Wound up stealing his mama’s pearls.”
Her hand went to her neck and I could see just below the collar of the faded grey crew neck sweatshirt that she wore, was a single strand of pearls.
“That’s going to be an amazing story to tell your child when it’s born,” I nodded towards her stomach.
“Perhaps,” she shrugged. “So…”
“Ahh yes….”
Digging into the back pocket of the jeans I wore; I wrested the folded papers. “In the case of both Desmond and Yara Hemmens…”
Nova nervously bit her lip as I handed over the photocopied birth certificates.
“This is amazing,” she stated shuffling between the two sheets.
“And you never knew that my father was their father?”
“Never,” she looked up and then back down.
Her eyes crinkled and a few tears slid out.
“Sorry.”
Nova fanned at herself with the papers trying to regain composure.
“It’s okay.”
“Damn hormones,” she stated.
“Your mother?”
“She’s dead…I just. I never knew who their father was. Your father.”
“He’s not what you think,” I told her. “Michail Francis is not father material. He is so far from being a father…”
Nova starred, her kind brown eyes taking me in. I knew I’d left her speechless.
“Max set it up this way,” I stated.
“Max…moody Max, handler Max?”
A small chuckle escaped my lips. “He can be moody sometimes. But yes, that Max. He’s my father’s right-hand man in the Thieve's Guild.”
Nova’s eyes went wide. Her mouth had practically dropped to the floor and it took a moment to recover. By the time she did, I heard a crazy commotion, and all of a sudden people had descended upon the kitchen. Another pregnant woman with a small child holding her hand entered. And then I saw them. Copper-colored hair, a boy and a girl with Apple Air Pods in their ears, and catholic school uniforms. My breath hitched in my throat and I turned back to Nova.
“And who is this?” A baritone voice with a slight accent asked. I found myself taking in two men instead of one and you would have thought they were twins, both with extremely green eyes. The one who had spoken went to Nova’s side and kissed her cheek.
“This is…”
Neither of us knew what to say but I was quick on my feet. With lightning speed, I answered. “I’m an old colleague of Nova’s.”
Sticking out my hand, I waited for it to be shook.
“Another thief,” I heard him murmur to his wife.
“Don’t be rude.”
She hunched him and turned back to the stove. Finally, Liam Safaryan took my hand and shook it, followed by his cousin. Everyone introduced themselves, including the little girl and the twins before they went into the family room and turned on cartoons. Teen Titans and their colorful array of costumes and silly antics took over. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the twins. It was real. I had family other than my father and Albie.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Nova interrupted my thoughts.
“Is that wise?” Valentin spoke.
“God the two of you are being super rude. What is going on?” Astrid asked and she too waddled to grab plates down. “Girl, don’t mind them. Please stay for dinner. I’d love to hear more about how you know Nova.”
Nova’s eyes met mine across the room and I shrugged. “Thank you that’s very kind. Can I help set the table?”
Everything became a flurry after that. Behind me, the children were laughing and playing. Sitting the white plates down on the long dining room table, Nova came in touched my shoulder.
“Once we sit down and tell them,” she said. “They’re going to be happy to know about you.”
“You think so?”
“They’ll have questions. We’ve always wondered about their dad but my mother was mum on the subject.”
“For good reason. I hope you don’t blame her.”
Nova’s hand went to her stomach. “This baby just kicked. We’re having a boy and he’s been making my life hard. He’s sitting on my bladder. Be right back.”
She rushed off to the bathroom and then Astrid came in with a salad bowl. A colorful array of toppings were seated in the bowl on top of a bed of lettuce. Placing it in the center of the table along with the salad dressing, I watched as she stood back and admired her work.
“Do you guys do this often?”
“Do what?”
“Ah, family dinners I guess…I don’t have much family anymore.”
Astrid gave a wistful smile and tucked her perfectly platinum blonde hair behind her ears. She was beautiful and I was interested in how she’d gotten married to Valentin. I’d have to get the story from Nova one day soon.
“We do it often enough.”
“I love that,” I nodded.
Growing up had been lonely.
Albie had mostly been off at his mother’s house unless my father had gotten us together for a small playdate, an attempt at ice cream. The one thing that my mother and Albie’s mother had had in common was that our father had never loved them. He had pimped out both our mothers. He had run a brothel and only put the women out to “pasture’ when he’d gotten them pregnant. My mother had finally left that life and wound up as a receptionist with the help of Max, thankfully. Albie’s mother had left eventually as well and was somewhere in the heart of California far away from Chicago.
Eventually, we all sat down to eat, laughing. Nova was the perfect host and served me food first. Before we could all dig in, the mansion’s doorbell rang and everything stilled. Liam and Val looked between themselves and I read their face. They both had sinister grins and I didn’t know if I should run or hide.
Maybe both.
“Are we expecting anyone?” Nova asked her husband.
“I asked Lucien to come to dinner.”
I had a wine glass halfway to my mouth and then sputtered.
Astrid shot me a look across the table and I quickly recovered. Above the rim of the crystal goblet, I watched as Liam went to let in his guest. Never had I thought I would run into this man at their dinner table.
Well, he works for them dummy, I thought. But that doesn’t mean he eats dinner with them, remember he was always home while you were fucking kidnapped by him.
Good damn point, I thought again.
It was a few minutes and then Liam reappeared. Behind him was a brooding Lucien and a blonde bombshell dressed for a club somewhere. She seemed vaguely familiar.
“Hey everybody,” Lucien waved to everyone.
The moment his eyes landed on me, a smirk appeared on his face. He never took his eyes away from me, even when he whispered in the blonde's ear.
“Everybody, this is Yasmine,” he introduced her.
By then more chairs had been added to the table. They took their seat side by side and I averted my gaze. Nova who was sitting beside me nudged my hand.
“You okay?” She whispered.
“Honestly?” I whispered back to her, my throat feeling tight.
“Yes.”
“My stomach feels kind of upset,” I stated. “Where’s your bathroom.”
Nova gave me directions and I excused myself from the table. Hurrying around the corners, I realized I must have taken a wrong turn. Turning back, I collided with the one person I was trying to get the hell away from.
“Little Angel,” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter 23- Lucien
Yasmine had talked my ear off the entire ride. I had never been so happy in my life to see the Safaryan mansion. I had expected a simple evening of eating. Making Yasmine think that something else was going on between us to get the info and that was it.
Walking in and seeing my Little Angel.
I’d nearly lost it.
My palms had instantly become sweaty upon eye contact. A smirk had appeared and naturally, I had turned my attention to Yasmine. She giggled as I told her how sexy she looked. This had been the first time that I’d even told her how much I liked the way she looked.
Helping her into her chair, I’d sat down at the table.
The wine had been passed my way. The red liquid had been poured into the glass. I was in desperate need of a drink, especially the moment Yasmine’s hand roamed over my lap.
“So Yasmine, are you and Lucien…” Nova looked between the two of us.
“Yes,” Yasmine said quickly. “He asked me to dinner tonight and I had to except. I’ve been working at a few of the clubs owned by Liam and Val.”
“Val?” Astrid looked at her husband.
He coughed loudly and out the corner of my eye, I saw Simone stand up and excuse herself. Giving her just a moment to escape, I left the table and followed her. I didn’t give a damn what anyone thought.
I found her lost in the hallway, or at least she seemed lost. She must have been lost in thought because she turned around and walked right into my chest. Instantly, a new perfume wafted up into my nose. Maybe the wine had me about to lose it but I didn’t give her time to answer the question.
My hands pushed her roughly up against the wall. I was instantly hard as I looked down on her, and her eyes came up to meet mine.
“No,” she whispered.
“Have you been fucking someone else?”
She frowned and began biting her lip.
“What’s it matter…we weren’t a thing Lucien. You kidnapped me and fucked me. End of story.”
Her shoulders rose and she shrugged. I braced myself on the wall above her and continued to look, my lip curled in a snarl.
“You didn’t answer the question, Little Angel.”
“Maybe I have been…and?”
A long deep growl escaped from my mouth. My fist hit the wall above her head. The moment the words left her mouth I felt as if someone had punched me in the gut. How dare she give away what was mine.
“I’ll kill him…It’s that motherfucker from your shop. He’s always a little too friendly with you.”
She frowned. “Who?”
“You know who, Simone. Don’t play games with me.”
Her lips looked perfectly glossed. I needed her down on her knees.
Make her gag, then beg, I thought.
“I’ll fuck him out of your mind. He’ll be dead and a memory,” I growled again.
Simone’s hand had been by her side but slowly they worked their way up my chest. It was like she was dancing them along my abs and finally up to my chest. She eased up on her tiptoes and my mouth danced near hers.
Fuck.
“You will never fuck me again,” she whispered. “Enjoy the blond.”
Simone was stronger than she looked or I was in shock one because I found myself flying backward. Landing on my ass, I realized what had happened. She had pushed me away from her and was already heading back to the dining room.
Goddamn it, I thought.
She would pay.
Standing and dusting myself off, I took a breath. In that time, I’d managed to go soft thankfully. Coming back into the dining room, I found that Simone was leaving, and Nova was walking her out. She never looked back and I decided to let her get away but I’d see her again.
“She was really nice,” I heard Astrid telling Val.
He muttered something I didn’t quite catch. I didn’t know why Simone was here but I’d find that out too. It might occur to get the answer when I was fucking her brains out or maybe in between her gagging on my dick.
“She seemed kind of skanky to me,” Yasmine offered.
“Well we weren’t talking to you, now were we?” Astrid gave her a pointed look.
It got quiet in the room for a moment and even little Lexie who had been quiet glanced at her mom. Yasmine gasped from beside me and looked to me to defend her honor. I said nothing and took a sip of wine.
“I’m ready to go. I’m bored,” she said.
Her hand danced over my lap, again. The fact that she was touching me, even just simply over cloth was starting to make my skin crawl. It felt like she was a spider shimmying over a web to get the fly stuck in her web.
“I should get you home,” I gave her a tight smile.
We both stood up as Nova was returning.
“Nova, thank you for dinner,” Yasmine remarked.
“Oh, you guys are leaving too? Dang! Simone had to go to, she has a movie date with someone.” She peered past us. “Lucien you barely ate.”
“Yeah, early morning delivery at the warehouse.”
“Alright, I ‘ll see
you soon.”
I had shown no emotion at the information revealed. Simone had a date with someone? I went to usher Yasmine out by grabbing her hand. My skin went back to squirming at touching her but I shook it off.
“Goodnight everyone,” she replied over her shoulder.
The Safaryans all said goodnight but I knew they were eager to get rid of her. Astrid and Nova were going to talk shit about Yasmine, from the way that she was dressed to the way that she talked. I’d seen those two in action and when they got going their husbands exited stage left.
It wasn’t until we were at my car, did I let go of Yasmine’s hand. As I was opening the door of my car for her, she reached up and planted a kiss deeply on my lips.
“I can’t wait for dessert,” she smiled.
“Me either,” I lied.
There was no way in hell I was going to sleep with Yasmine. I ran through a million other things I‘d rather do than that, which included tying a cinder block with chain to my feet, and then throwing myself into the icy waters of Lake Michigan.
Stab her in her lungs and then tie her to the block, my cruel mind thought. Her body would never float to the surface after that.
A cruel laugh escaped from between my lips as I drove away from the mansion. I had no idea where I should take Yasmine but extracting information was needed. Knowing that I would regret it, I took her to my home.
I had one thing on my mind, and it wasn’t sex.
She’d find out soon enough.
Chapter 24- Simone
I watched as Mallory and Rina danced around and drank from wine bottles in my vanity mirror, where I was sitting. They were already dressed, in whites and pinks and blacks. Halsey’s melodic voice was blasting from my pink Beats by Dre Pill, singing about how bad at love she was. The music was so loud it was vibrating in my chest.
Carefully, I applied winged eyeliner to my lids. Rina and Mallory came over with the phones, recording me. They had to have been slightly past tipsy.
“Guys, I’m still in my underwear!”
“Forget all that, back in L.A. they’d say you were fully dressed,” Rina said holding up the camera. “Guys this is my hot ass boss.”
It was then I realized she was on a live broadcast. I didn’t want my face plastered across social media. Hurriedly, I finished my task and got to get dressed.