Their day at the beach was long, lazy one. After sex they bathed one at time, as the hotel tub couldn’t fit the two of them. The shower was no fun either, too small to comfortably use it together. By mid-afternoon and a really good nap, they headed back her place.

The IT guys were gone.

Sasha hesitated in the living room as he set Kallie’s bags down.

She sensed he wanted to say something, and waited him out. Only, the words never came. “What?” she finally asked him.

“I do have to make a few rounds,” he admitted sheepishly. “I do have to check in.”

“Sasha, why do you hang out Sal’s?”

“I’m keeping my eye on things,” he said with a shrug.

“Don’t you trust him? Besides, isn’t he the owner?”

“He is. He owns the business. I own the real estate,” he replied hesitantly.

“So, what are you watching?”

As soon as she asked her question, Kallie felt a silent wall come up between them. He didn’t want to answer her. After all this, they were right back where they started. “Okay,” she said, feeling her shoulders slump a little. She felt tired anyway. Even though they’d napped, she needed a little alone time. She kissed him and then let him go. “See ya,”

“See ya back,” he replied, giving her a look that was somewhat uncertain. “I’ll send you drafts of business plan/duties/roles, that sort of thing. Do you think you could put it together, mix it with your input, and get something on paper so we have a clear, concrete understanding?”

He looked so sincere. He wore such a sweet smile on his face, and Kallie believed he meant it. “Sure,” she said, feeling her heart soften. “Email me. I’m going to get reacquainted with my space now that the guys are gone. They aren’t coming back, correct?”

“I’ll confirm it with them but, no, I think they’re done,” he answered.

“Oh, goody,” And it was about time, too, though she didn’t say that part out loud. “What is it they were doing again?”

He rolled his eyes. She knew he knew it was a joke, but it was a jab as well. She kissed him again. “Kidding,” she murmured.

Sasha clutched her buttocks in a playful alpha male move, but it sent a little message not to push him too far. “Kidding back.” He turned and left.

Kallie did some housework and changed the sheets on the bed. It crossed her mind in the heat of the moment that she would move; now, being back in luxurious townhouse space alone and really connecting to it, she admitted to herself it would be tough to part with it. The price was amazing after all, being free.

Sasha sent her his train-of-thought drafts of a business memo. Kallie set up in bed with her laptop and reading glasses and went to work. For once, and for the first time since she and Sasha had signed the contracts, she felt like she was really back to work again.

So, the plan developed. Kallie would review the records daily. He commented that even if there really wasn’t much to do because everything was so streamlined, she would make a show of being in charge.

She would announce she was going into the office to do ‘paperwork,’ even if there wasn’t any really. This way, the cook and Sergei the delivery guy would recognize her as boss even if they were or weren’t aware she also partially owned the joint. Once both sides of the restaurant were opened, she was going to be the main figurehead of the business, like Sal was to the Darkness bar.

Sasha didn’t give any of the staff—particularly the guys—a talking to that she was aware of. He was out of town for a few days. He didn’t offer any information as to where he was going, and she didn’t ask. Maybe she’d find out when he returned. It was the first time since their unearthly passion caused them to collide that they spent a substantial amount of time apart. It was needed, she thought, surprised to hear herself voice the thought.

The one great perk about his being out of town was he’d left her the Gran Torino to drive. She couldn’t believe he would actually do that after her little mishap. She loved making an entrance at the bakery in that car, always being careful to drive into the parking lot with great care and consideration for the undercarriage.

She made the deposits while Sasha was absent. But despite her declaration that she owned the place and her acting like the boss, taking the cash from the register and handing out checks, Sergei was still snippy about deliveries.

Then it hit her why Sergei seemed so familiar. Initially she thought she was losing her mind, as it was too crazy a thought to even contemplate. But something Sergei said made Kallie connect the face of the gunmen who’d stormed Darkness Bar that first night she worked there with Sergei. From that point forward, she couldn’t be sure.

He caught her staring at him. “What is your problem?” he asked, and laughed at her when she’d been flustered and unable to think of a quick reply.

Kallie’s face flamed. While he didn’t really do anything that she could fire him for, she had a hearty dislike for the man and wanted him gone. But then she’d have to ask Sasha to agree to let him go, one of the ground rules in the new business plan. And, truth be told, she wasn’t altogether sure that Sasha would do as she asked.

The moment passed. Sergei went to use the bathroom, leaving her frustrated that she hadn’t been able to find the right thing to say, and more certain than ever that he’d forever be insolent toward her.

In the meantime, the cook set up paper bags with addresses stamped on their tickets, waiting for delivery. The cook had stepped outside to smoke, which was another thing that Kallie objected to. He shouldn’t smoke while he handled food, even if he washed his hands. It felt unsanitary.

Kallie realized she was all alone with the to-go orders. The girl who worked the register was busy with a customer. The baker had already left for the day. She couldn’t resist. She removed a staple just to freely peek inside a bag. It was the principle of the thing. It was her bakery. She should be able to look into any damn bag she wanted.

Then she had to look again. Surely, her eyes were out of focus. Her brain said it saw something that should have been impossible to see. She opened the bag wider to be sure, then quickly re-stapled the bag before anyone came back or noticed.

“No.”

She shook her head. Sasha wouldn’t...not after everything they’d discussed...

Sergei emerged from the restroom, and swept up all the deliveries to load in the basket of his bike. He glared at her like a dog guarding his food and was gone.

The cook casually reappeared and washed his hands at the sink behind the counter.

Kallie stood, on the outside looking as though all things normal, while on the inside she was raging once again. There were drugs in that lunch bag and she knew it. Slowly, she realized that Sasha had set her up one more time.

It was why Sasha didn’t let her in on the business before. It was why he needed her there, and it explained why Sergei was so protective of the deliveries while the other boy came and went freely. The kid was taking out actual food orders, she realized. And it was why Sasha didn’t fire Sergei when he disrespected her.

So, what was she going to do? Sasha in a rage was terrifying. He would smolder, never raising his voice. But always, though he’d held a certain restraint around her, there was no question he could do some serious damage if aggravated.

Kallie touched her fingers to her nose. The pungent smell of the substance she’d touched so carefully lingered on her finger. It made her surer of what she believed was going on. She stood in her own little thought bubble, feeling really stupid for completely ignoring the fact that the man she was sleeping with had destroyed her business. Something she’d known all along, and yet had still made excuses for. “Hey, Sergei, can you close up?” she asked mindlessly.

“Are you talking me?” the cook asked.

He didn’t have Sergei’s accent, and she realized she had called him by the wrong name.

“Cory,” he said again, like she was stupid. She stared at him until he finally shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Make sure everything is shut off,” she said.

“What about the cash?” he asked.

“Just put the drawer in the office and lock the door. That’s what the safe is for,” she said, not caring anymore. She couldn’t just take all of it. She had to leave some to do business with, unless she closed things down now. She giggled at the thought of Sergei coming back to being locked out. “How many orders are there left?” she asked.

“A few,” he said vaguely.

It just occurred to her that he wasn’t really cooking for someone who had orders to fill. “I’ll help you,” she said.

“That’s okay,” he said with a look on his face, trying to figure out what she was up to.

She looked down at her watch. It was only a few hours really left in the working day. “It was just a thought,” she lied. “Just do what you’re doing. But one of these days I should have you show me how to help out in case I have to fill in for you.”

He made a face like that what she said was a joke. No one had respect for her at the bakery. That was different from when she had her own business. And yet, she knew she had been in this situation before where Sasha and her ex-fiancé didn’t respect her.

How would it look now if, after knowing that, she continued to be willing to stay in business at the bakery with him? The first time it was believable that she didn’t know a thing. But the second time, if caught, there would be no explanation. She could even go to jail.

Sasha’s name never came up when the feds raided her place to find evidence against Jeremy, who did Sasha’s bidding and converted her placement agency into an escort service. Looking back on it, it now seemed to be a little bit too much of a coincidence that her first job out of the gate after being ruined by her ex, she ended up working for the man who caused her business’ demise in the first place.

He had to be into real estate big time for her to walk into a property that he just happened to own. With great fondness, Kallie relived that moment when she first laid eyes on her gorgeous Russian man. The sight of him was such amazing medicine after the trauma and betrayal she’d been trying to run away from. She’d just left the suits, the connections, and the fancy parties that had become part of her life.

She didn’t go to places like Little Ukraine in Patterson Park or old town Pikesville to hide out. She had been hoping to find a working-class man and that’s what she’d found in Sasha. She also knew that crime was high in those parts of town. There was something intensely erotic about that. She got high off of rolling the dice and taking her chances with Sasha.

Which, of course, came with a price.

Kallie hadn’t thought it through. He’d never promised her that he wouldn’t use her again. He just charmed the holy hell out of her. Sasha skated on that charm. The reality of how much he had gotten away with rained down on her. Maybe he hadn’t meant he loved her at all. But why say it? Why claim it? Why had he used her? It made no sense.