DANIEL VOLKOV

It was eight in the morning and Myrna was riding my cock like the world was ending.

Not the best sex of my life. At all. But insomnia got annoying. And fucking took the edge off.

We'd been fooling with each other for the past two months, ever since I hit on her at a bar.

Tomasso signed last night. But I didn't expect him to give in so easily—Was he that desperate? Did he need my help to wash his money that badly? What if he had his own plan? I couldn't rest. Not knowing drove me insane—

"Oh, yeees!" Myrna growled, her red curls falling over her face.

"Keep your voice down," I muttered, irritated. Everyone in the house could hear her. Even—

"You like that, Volkov?" A smoky, seductive voice breathed.

Clara fucking Rossi.

On top of me.
Naked.
Untamed.

A mixture of delight and evil curved her mouth. Dark and lustful eyes behind dark and messy hair.

A shockwave of pleasure hit me. So sudden, so raw. It left me dumbfounded and breathless—

I blinked, then she was gone.

Back to Myrna. "Do it! Please! Yes!"

What the actual fuck?

I heard Niko outside my window. My neck whipped towards it. Huh?

"Shit—" I shoved Myrna off and rushed over to the window, sliding it wide open. It was tall enough to cover below my waist.

The moron was talking on the phone. Right there, in the backyard, out in the open.

"Niko!" I whispered. "Niko!" He saw me. I clenched my jaw. "Get inside!"

"Why?" He drawled with a scowl.

I was going to murder him and bury him right there. "I said get. Inside. Now."

He moseyed back into the house, ending the phone call like an offended teenager. Idiot.

I shut the window and pulled out a pair of briefs from the dresser.

Myrna was half-unconscious on her back in bed with a drunken smile and closed eyes. "Mm, is everything okaaay?"

"I have to talk to him." Skipping a t-shirt, I whipped the door open to leave. "And no more unannounced visits, got it?"

"What?" She whined. "Why not—"

But I already left. There was no time for this. My skin was itching as if I had snorted a bucket of cocaine.

I stormed down the hallway. Thankfully, didn't run into anyone particular after that nightmare-inducing hallucination.

Niko was already in the middle of the office when I barged in. My hands clenched at my sides.

"What the hell are you doing outside?" I hissed, closing the distance between us. "She'll see you."

"What are you saying? She can't see me from—"

"Shut the fuck up. When I tell you to do something, you fucking do it. Understand?"

"Bro—"

"You're supposed to be injured for a couple of weeks. Are you trying to get us caught? Hm?"

"Excuse me?" Charlotte asked by the door. She took a bite of her bagel, Andrei right behind her. "Why are you attacking my brother?"

"I'm not in the mood." I snapped, moving to sit behind my desk.

"Uh, okay. Weren't you just having sex with—"

"We need to plan the wedding." I drummed my fingers on my desk, replaying the events on the yacht from last night in my head. Searching for any signs from Tomasso that he had something up his sleeve. "Let's have it soon."

"Okie-dokie." She took another bite, wiping the cream cheese off her mouth. "No problem. When do you want to have the wedding?"

"In two weeks."

Her food went down the wrong pipe. She choked and coughed. Bagel bits flew out of her mouth.

And while Niko merely raised his brows at me, Andrei neared me with viciously calm anger. "Why are you rushing it?"

"Every day we wait, more people suffer. I don't see the need. Do you?"

"I do, Daniel. It's called planning. It's called making sure we don't die. Two weeks is not enough time for us to properly—"

Irina waddled in, her wrinkled hands holding a tray. Three Turkish coffees and one iced latte with fifty pounds of sugar for Niko. As if he needed it.

"Andrei has a point." Niko frowned as Charlotte snatched his coffee and gulped it down to sooth her coughing. "Plus, aren't you supposed to win her over? If you tell her that the wedding is in two weeks, she'll hate you even more."

"Pretty sure Myrna's screaming took care of that already." Andrei rolled his eyes.

"What can I say?" I leaned back in my chair. "I'm gifted."

"It's called a hotel room. Book it. No woman wants to hear her fiance sleeping with someone else." Niko accepted his half-finished coffee from Charlotte with a grumpy expression and sucked on the straw.

"Well, I decided to send her home. So—"

The coffee exploded from his mouth, all over Charlotte's white blouse, causing her to shriek.

Andrei took a step toward me with flared nostrils.

I raised my hands to calm him down. "If I want her to like me, don't you think it'd be easier to give her a little room to breathe? I can't treat my fiancé as a prisoner, can I? It's not romantic."

He palmed his forehead, turning to Charlotte and Niko. "Did I not tell him this already?"

"You did," they said in unison. Traitors.

"I did." He snapped back to me. "Daniel, what's the matter? This is insanely impulsive, even for you. Tomasso will ruin us if we send her back. Right now, she's our only leverage."

"Our plan is not enough. Yes, we can stick with it. We can use her as an accessory and infiltrate his circle. Or we can actually turn her against him. Imagine—"

"If you send her back, he'll make her spy on us."

"Oh, please. Didn't you see her face yesterday? When he didn't let her be in the meeting? She wants to be involved. She's not stupid."

"She was stupid enough to protect him."

"I kind of agree with Daniel." Niko grimaced at Charlotte as she blotted her ruined shirt with a napkin. "It's not right to keep her locked up."

Charlotte smacked him over the head. "You're just saying that, because you don't want to stay in your room!"

"I'm bored!"

I wasn't too worried about convincing Niko or Charlotte. But Andrei was the most stubborn one. He was always 'the glass is half-empty' kind of guy. Plus, he was two years older. With everything we had been through, I had a different kind of respect and connection with him.

So I said, "If we're pushing this wedding to happen in two weeks, we need to mitigate it with good news. Right? Besides, she'll be with her father. She'll ask questions. He won't give them, obviously. That'll make her even more frustrated, which will lead to suspicion. By the time the wedding comes around, she'll need me for answers and boom. She's on our side."

"What if Tomasso attacks us the moment he gets her back?"

"He won't risk it. This will throw him off guard. He'll think it's a trap. I bet that he'll think she is already spying on him. He won't go near her."

"Hm..." He lifted the fincan of the Turkish coffee to his lips and blew on the steam, holding the saucer right below it. "I don't know. I think you're giving that girl way too much credit."

"Am I? She almost poisoned me yesterday."

He lost control of the liquid, splattering it on his hands. "What?"

Charlotte leaned her hands on my desk, her face pale white with concern. "What?"

Niko popped behind her. "What?"

"Tomasso slipped it in one of the wine glasses, which I think is great news, because now she got a hint of what he is capable of."

"Dude." Niko whispered. "She tried to kill you last night?"

I chuckled, remembering how angry she looked despite the terror trembling her body.

"Yeah, she's uh...she's...well, she's something. Isn't she?"

Charlotte narrowed her eyes, wiping my smile away.

"What?" I asked.

"You tell me, Daniel."

I rose from my chair, sensing an interrogation. "Can you help me with the wedding? I was thinking of the Twilight Pavilion for the venue. Some gothic elements. Maybe—"

"Are you sending her home, because you want to win or because of something else?"

God damn it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Andrei asked. I paused before the door, feeling his gaze on the back of my head. "What's she talking about?"

"Beats me."

"Are you sure about that?" Charlotte crossed her arms as I looked at her over my shoulder. "Because you seem to enjoy the fact she's so reckless and impulsive...you know, similar to you?"

"I can't take you seriously with that coffee stain. I heard baking soda—"

"Why are you avoiding her question?" Andrei tilted his head. His eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're attracted to Tomasso's—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's calm down." I turned to face them. Even Niko looked at me with disappointment. It pissed me off. "Look. Alright. Is she attractive? Yes—"

"You are insane—"

"I swear to God—"

"You can't think that way—"

"Is she attractive?" I cut them off, raising an eyebrow. "Yes. She's fucking attractive, alright. Let's not play dumb here. I think she's hot. But is that going to change anything? No! Never. Not a chance. Not in a million, billion, trillion years!"

"You really don't sound convincing." Niko winced.

"I don't have to convince any of you." My voice broke, exposing the real emotions I was forcing to stay under. The paralyzing fear and anxiety of what my actions could bring them. "If you assholes think that I'd jeopardize your lives over an attraction, then leave. If you don't trust me, then what are you doing here?"

Andrei softened. "You make decisions without talking to us, Daniel. When are you going to realize this is not all on you? You ask us to trust you, but at times like this, it feels like you don't trust us."

"I trust you. I trust that you'll do anything for me. It doesn't mean that I'm going to let you."

Because at the end of the day, all of this was my fault. I could've prevented this six years ago. I made a mistake. Nothing would change that. No matter what anyone said.

"Plan the wedding," I said to Charlotte, opening the door to leave. "I'll go tell her the news."

A/N
Get ready for their wedding 💍