Lyov
3 weeks later
“Yes?” I grunted when I answered the call. My eyes stayed on Maria as she walked out of my office. Her perfect round ass swayed beneath her dress, and I almost growled.
Before closing the door, she peeked over her shoulders and gave me sweet smile. Little minx knew exactly what she could do to my dick.
Isaak was silent for a moment before he spoke. “Lyov. Are you sure about this? You know I stand with you. You have Agron’s and Gavrikov’s support too. It’s the right fucking thing to do. But shutting down The Royalist will come with a cost. You already have enough enemies.”
“I know. I am ready for the aftermath.”
“I don’t think you are. None of us are, Lyov,” he muttered.
“This might not affect us…our Empire, our business. We have other revenues besides The Royalist. But what about the ones who depend on it? You are about to royally piss them off. Solonik won’t go down without a fight. You know this is the only thing he truly put his money in and where he cashes out. Let’s not forget the fucking Mexicans. Carlos will come for your throat. What about the Japanese?”
I stayed silent. All of those thoughts had already been running through my head already. I was playing a dangerous game. I was about to start a fire that wouldn’t easily be put out.
“Can we afford having them all as our enemies?” Isaak continued.
“Yeah. It’s worth it,” I replied.
“If they refuse? Try to put up a fight?”
I grabbed my glass and poured the rest of the scotch down my throat. It burned, and I welcomed it. “Kill them. Let it be a warning.”
Isaak sighed. “Okay. I’ll call for a meeting then. Have all the associates in one place, and the announcement will be made. We will go from there.”
“Hmm.”
I looked down at the empty glass. Was this how Maria felt? When she was trapped in those cages? Empty.
“How is Maria?” Isaak asked, sounding both curious and slightly worried.
I thought of her waking up, laughing, and purposely rubbing her hair in my face this morning to wake me up. I thought of her kisses and the way she smiled up at me after breakfast.
Or the night before, how she ran straight into my arms when I came home. I missed you, she had whispered.
Her blue eyes no longer held darkness or a shadow. They were clear…they were beautiful. They lit up every morning when she woke up.
“She’s happy,” I replied.
“Good. And you?”
I closed my eyes, my heart thumping. “I think…I am happy too.”
“I guess it is all worth it then.”
“Isaak, is it done?” I asked, knowing this conversation was coming to an end.
“Yeah. I just checked. The money is in your account,” he replied. I could tell he was smirking. That little shit. He was enjoying this as much as I was.
“It won’t be traced back to us?” I questioned, leaning back against my chair and throwing my legs over the desk. I crossed my ankles and waited for his answer.
“Are you seriously questioning my abilities right now?”
“Well…yes. I am. You have a problem with that?”
“Bastard.”
I smirked. “Want to say that to my face?”
“I will. When I get home. Fuck. I miss home.”
A chuckle vibrated through my chest at his sad dilemma. “You’ll survive.”
We hung up, and I looked up the ceiling. My lips twitched with another smirk. Valentin just became a poorer man.
The money I paid for Maria as a slave…I just took it back. Almost twice as much. Isaak played with numbers. Just so Solonik wouldn’t get suspicious.
I always meant to take that money back. I bought my Angel to get her out of that hellhole safely. But I would not have her worth be measured by how much I paid for her. She was worth so much more than a few million.
I had made so many mistakes in my life. I had taken things that weren’t mine to take. I have done cruel things. I am a bad man.
But my Angel was the best thing that had ever happened to me. She would never be just another mistake.
That night was worth more than a thousand nights. And I wouldn’t have it tainted.
My sweet Maria went way beyond the walls of my soul. She was day kissing night, that very first touch that happened every day…every time, that lingering beautiful touch of two opposites kissing each other. She was that to me. She was my beautiful starlight—an Angel—and I would continue to bask in the light of her halo for the rest of our lives.
She was worth more than money. She was worthy of the world at her feet.
Maria was meant to be my Queen all along.