“I told you, I’m scared that I am going to lose you so soon after I got you,” he said and she shrugged.
“Just tell me,” she said.
“A lot of the scar tissue on my body is basically stray bullets…four to be exact and I have a number of stab wounds too,” he started and she looked up at him. “My family has, in the past, been involved in…things that I am not so proud of. I’ve been trying to get my life straight…away from that kind of life because I honestly love the sound of my heart beating.”
“Maybe you were right to be afraid to come clean,” she said without looking at him.
“To be honest,” he started as he looked down at her. “You are the first person I have told that to. Even my ex-wife didn’t know the whole story.”
She pulled away from him and looked up.
“You were married?” she asked, surprised.
“Well, yeah but all she ever cared about was shopping and my cousin Ivan,” he said, forcing a smile.
“Oh,” Athena said, feeling a little awkward. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I am so much better without her in my life actually,” he said.
Athena sat up and looked at him as she held the bedding to her breasts.
“So, she didn’t know about the scars, about the bullets and everything?” she asked and he shook his head. “Wait, didn’t she ever see you naked or something?”
Evgeni laughed.
“Of course she did but she just didn’t care. Before we got married, I only had a couple of scars from when I was younger but by the time everything changed, Natalya was already warming Ivan’s bed. So, I guess she didn’t give a flying fuck.”
“Whoa…language, mister.”
“Pardon my French.”
Athena put a hand on her neck and sighed.
“I’m not sure it’s my place to ask, but, bullet wounds and stabbings…” she shook her head and sighed again. “Should I be scared for my life?”
Evgeni looked into her eyes and for a minute, he wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to tell her the real reasons for all his scars and the real reason why he preferred the US to Moscow. He held the side of her face and leaned forward to kiss her softly.
“If anyone tries to hurt you, they will have to kill me first. Because I am not going to let anyone lay a hand on you, Athena,” he said as he pressed his forehead to hers. “Even if it kills me, I will protect you. From anything and from anyone.”
She slipped an arm around his neck and closed her eyes.
“I don’t know why I feel like I can trust you so much,” she whispered.
“That’s because you can.”
Evgeni pulled the sheet from her and looked at her naked breasts. He gently forced her down on the bed and got on top of her.
“I want to have you again,” he whispered before he kissed her gently. She spread her legs and held on a lock of his hair as he pushed himself back into her still wet pussy. She gasped and bit her lip as she felt him once again pushing himself further and deeper into her.
Chapter 7
On Monday morning, Evgeni was still excited about the great weekend he’d had with Athena. It had not only been a couple of days but he had lived his fantasy with her, done everything he could possibly think of to her, with her, and for her. He was all smiles when he walked into his office that morning. As far as Evgeni knew, she was supposed to sleep over for just one night but they had ended up spending the entire weekend together and it had been magical. Sure, he was a bit drained but it was worth every single minute of it.
He had just sat down when Viktor knocked on his still open door.
“Mr. Markovic?” he asked as he walked in.
“Viktor. Come on in.” He switched on his computer and looked up at him. “My assistant is just about to bring me my breakfast. Can I ask her to bring you something?”
Viktor shook his head.
“I just had breakfast. Thanks.”
Evgeni raised an eyebrow over the other.
“It’s seven in the morning and you had breakfast already? What time do you get up?”
Viktor shrugged as he sat down.
“Depends. Back in Moscow I am usually up by eight because my day doesn’t begin until ten but here…I don’t know why but I just can’t seem to sleep as well as I do back in Russia.” Evgeni smiled.
“But that time in Cape Town, remember? You were the only one who seemed to sleep through the jetlag,” he said and Viktor smiled.
“What can I say, I have a kind of gift,” he said just as Evgeni’s assistant walked in.
“Dirty soy latte, bagel and breakfast burrito,” she said as she put his breakfast on the desk. Viktor looked at the food and then at Evgeni.
“A bagel and a breakfast burrito?” he asked as the assistant walked out.
“What can I say? I’m famished.” Evgeni started as he bit into his breakfast burrito. “Damn that Taco joint down the street sure knows how to spoil its clients…this is almost as good as Inez’s.”
Viktor looked at him and smiled.
“You know, I call you Mr. Markovic out of respect but I know you well enough to guess that the only time you eat like this is after a late night at the club or…” his voice trailed off when he saw a smile playing on Evgeni’s lips. “If I didn’t know any better I could have sworn you were recovering from one very long night.”
Evgeni took another bite and then took a sip of his coffee.
”I don’t want to talk about it,” he said before he took another sip.
Viktor forced out a laugh.
“I never thought I would see the day,” he said with a smile.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, it is quite simple really,” Viktor started. “You are seeing someone.”
“No comment,” Evgeni said as he took another bite.
“Finally, we are officially out of Natalya’s shadow,” he said.
“Well, it is about damn time, don’t you think?” Evgeni said as he put the Styrofoam cup down on his desk. “Though I must point out that I came out from under her shadow a long time ago. It’s just that living single…people thought that I was still hung up on Natalya, though that was not the case.”
“I have to ask,” Viktor started as he crossed a leg over the other. “Do you and Ivan…do you have any kind of relationship?”
Evgeni sighed as he leaned back in his chair and then shook his head.
“To be quite honest, there is no reason...I tried but there is no way things could ever go back to being the same. It is virtually impossible.” He took a long deep breath. “It is very hard to be civil to a man who I knew as my best friend for the longest time…and all the time he was sleeping with my wife.” He shook his head. “Even though Natalya doesn’t mean anything to me, I just can’t bring myself to forget what those two did to me.”
Viktor nodded and then shrugged.
“He was…when I left Moscow, he and Natalya had just come back from the UK,” he said and Evgeni shrugged.
“Why are you telling me this? I don’t need to know anything about Ivan and Natalya, much less what they have been up to.”
“But you do know that they were staying at your house in England,” Viktor pointed out and Evgeni nodded. “But she didn’t get the property in UK in the divorce, did she?”
“No, she didn’t,” Evgeni said. “But she was always…that’s where they first hooked up and I really don’t need that on my conscience. Besides, the England property was a lease and it is almost up anyway. Let her deal with that bullshit. I want nothing of it.”
He took another sip of his coffee.
“So, what about the matter at hand?” he asked.
“Yes, tell me why I can’t just walk out of this deal he had with my father,” he asked and Viktor shook his head.
Viktor took a long deep breath.
“The shell companies that all the money from the arms deals and narcotics pipeline have been passing through…he is the final word
on all of them. And he has made it clear that the only way he walks out is if he has Markovic Oil.”
Evgeni sighed again. Markovic Oil was one of the only two legitimate businesses he had managed to set up. A business that didn’t have any kind of influence from his family’s illegal businesses and it was a thriving business too even though it was not a very big company. He shook his head and put the burrito he had in his hand down on the desk.
“He wants Markovic Oil?” he asked, surprised.
“That’s what he said.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. It is not part of the ventures father began,” Evgeni said.
“I know but that is his price for letting go of Markovic Trucking and Markovic Freight,” Viktor said and Evgeni shook his head again.
“That is never going to happen. Markovic Oil is my blood and sweat!”
“I know …I know…” Viktor started. “But…”
Evgeni shook his head again. He was not letting this go on much longer.
“I cannot…I will not let go of Markovic Oil. He can have the trucking and freight companies for all I care but not the venture I set up in the Middle East.”
Viktor nodded.
“I knew you would say that. But I needed to let you know what he said before you face him.”
“Face him? Is he here? In Virginia?” Evgeni asked and Viktor nodded.
“I didn’t know that he was. I actually found out a few hours ago,” he said. “I knew he wanted to have a sit down with you but I had no idea he wanted it to be so soon.”
“Do you have any idea how long he has been around?” Evgeni asked and Viktor shook his head.
“The only people who know everything about him are his inner circle. He always…he is just a strange man, Cromwell.”
“I guess all Irish criminals are,” Evgeni said sighing. He rubbed his temple and shook his head. “What if I give him a check, the equivalent of Markovic Oil’s current net worth? Surely that will be enough for him.”
Viktor leaned forward and shrugged.
“That might just work,” he said. “But that will set you back a few billions, Mr. Markovic.”
Evgeni nodded.
“I know, but it is worth it. I can liquidate a few assets for that particular purpose,” he said. “But I don’t want to ever give that man a stake in Markovic Oil, let alone the whole company.”
Viktor nodded and pushed his chair back.
“I’ll make a few calls and set up the meeting. Hopefully, everything will be well sorted by the time you meet Cromwell.”
“Hopefully,” he echoed. “Keep me posted, will you?”
“Will do,” Viktor said before he walked out of Evgeni’s office leaving him sipping on his latte.
“Fuck the Markovic clan! This is all your fault father,” he thought as he took the last bite of his burrito. “Money was so important to you that you thought the best way to make it was living by the sword? And now I can’t seem to get out from under the spell you put me under!”
He took a long sip of his latte and then stood up before he walked to the window.
“All I want is to be able to sleep through the night without worrying that someone might slit my throat in my sleep. All I want is a comfortable life with Athena,” he thought as he took another sip looking out into the moderately warm outdoors. He could not help but wonder why his life had to be so damn complicated. Why couldn’t everything just be simple? At that moment, he wanted to be anything else, anyone else other than Evgeni Markovic.
*****
Athena interlaced her fingers with Carla’s as they walked into Rubio’s, the only other restaurant the two friend’s considered a major competition for Carla.
“I really don’t understand why we had to come all this way to spend two hundred dollars for something I would have whipped up in my kitchen,” she said.
“Well, sweetie, I could think of a number of reasons,” Athena started. “For starters, you are always busy and never get time for yourself and two, you just hired a head chef. The best one in all fifty states…okay the second best one since you are the best one.”
“Yes, but still…” Carla started but Athena shook her head.
“No buts. You need to have some time off every so often, remember?” Athena said. “You are always saying that to me. Maybe it’s time you took your own advice.”
Carla looked around and sighed.
“I have to admit, I have respect for this Rubio guy but I honestly…” Athena didn’t give her time to finish what she was saying.
“You should really have more days off, you know. If anyone deserves it, it’s you,” Athena said as they sat down. She looked at Carla and shrugged. “Besides, I am here celebrating something special.”
Carla was about to ask what it was they were celebrating when a waiter brought a menu to their table.
“Thank you,” Athena said with a smile. “But we already know what we want.”
“We do?” Carla asked and Athena nodded.
“We’ll have the fettucine and Rubio’s special chicken cordon bleu.”
Carla frowned.
“You want to have pasta with chicken cordon bleu?” she asked.
“Not just any cordon bleu. Rubio’s special,” Athena whispered.
“Drinks? Wine maybe?” The waiter asked. “The Savannah Red goes really well with that particular dish if I must say.”
Athena looked at Carla and smiled.
“Two glasses of Savannah Red then.”
“This place better be all that, Athena,” Carla said in a low voice.
“Rubio is a four star chef. You are a three star chef,” Athena said. “For once just chill out and be the one at the other end of service.”
“It’s not exactly easy,” she said. “It’s like telling Mel Gibson to take a back seat in some low budget production.”
“And I am assuming in this case you are Mel Gibson and this place is the low budget production?” she smiled.
“Precisely,” Carla nodded.
“Again I say, Rubio four stars and you three stars,” Athena said again.
Carla shrugged again.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said.
“Actually, it does. That one star is the very reason why…” Athena shook her head. “I am not having this discussion anymore. This is not the reason why I brought you here.”
“Yeah, you mention the celebratory mood you are in,” Carla said. “What is this about? Did you get a promotion or something?”
Athena smiled.
“You could call it that.”
“Wait, there is something different about you,” she said. “You are not so uptight anymore. It’s like…you are glowing or something.”
“Glowing, really?” Athena asked and Carla nodded.
“I’m not sure if that is it but I think it is,” she said. “I just….I just can’t put my finger on it. But you come clean first and then I will bite your head off about why you were unreachable the whole weekend.”
“I’m sorry about that…my phone…” Athena started.
“Was off. I know. I tried it like seven million times.” A smile played on Athena’s lips.
“Alright here goes,” she started. “The reason you couldn’t reach me is…I was with Evgeni,” she finally said.
“Hot billionaire Russian dude from the benefit?” she asked and Athena nodded. “Holy shit, you got your groove back.” There was a certain excitement in Carla’s voice that Athena never knew was possible.
“You don’t have to say it like that. It’s not like I’m Stella or anything,” Athena said.
“I don’t care. You’ve been holding out for the last two years…” Carla started.
“Two years, two months,” Athena corrected her.
“Well that is still a hell of a long time to go without getting laid,” Carla said before she leaned forward. “So, how was he?”
Athena blushed.
“Amazing!” she said in a whisper. “And he is hung…l
ike seriously hung. Plus he said that it had been long for him too but it didn’t feel like it. He was slow and gentle and passionate…” she sighed as her cheeks flushed even more. “I never thought I would feel like that with anyone else after Evan.”
Carla looked at her and smiled.
“Look at you, glowing in your post coital glory.” She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “My little girl is all grown up now, huh?”
Athena smiled and nodded.
“I guess you could say that.”
“Wait, so…I couldn’t reach you for a whole two days,” Carla started matter of factly. “You were there all this time?” Athena nodded. “How much sex can someone have?”
Athena laughed.
“Apparently, a lot.”
“And you are not sore?” Carla asked and her friend shrugged.
“I thought I would be but I am actually fine. I could go on if time allowed it,” Athena said.
“Whoa, nympho much?” Carla asked. “And to think, I can never go for more than two rounds at a time. Hank would love for me to have stamina like yours, that’s for sure.”
Athena laughed.
“Remember when you first hooked up with Hank and all you guys did was fuck?” she asked and Carla smiled. “At the time I was wondering where you got all that strength from.”
“In my defense, I hadn’t had sex in nine months,” Carla pointed out.
“Well, in my defense, I had not had sex in two and a half years,” Athena said.
“Seriously? I thought it’s just been two years and two months since Evan’s…you know,” Carla said and Athena nodded.
“It has but at the time, we agreed that he needed something to look forward to. So four months before the wedding we stopped having sex,” Athena said.
“Four months? Are you kidding me?” Carla asked as the waiter came back with their food and wine. “That was a whole new definition of strong, if you ask me.”
Athena smiled sadly.
“And we almost made it too,” she said as she took her glass and raised it. “To a good memory, one of the best memories I have.” Carla nodded and picked up her own glass.
“And to you finally moving on,” she said.
I'll Be There: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 5) Page 22
