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Chapter 13
Michelle
I woke up face-down in a pillow. It felt luxurious, like the kind I was used to at the hotel Elaina and I were staying at. Yet when I rolled over to look at the clock on the nightstand, I realized that it wasn’t the same clock. In fact, to my right was an indentation indicating that someone had slept next to me all night. So I turned to my left and found another one. The sheets also smelled differently, almost like the cologne the Stepanov brothers wore.
That’s when I realized that I wasn’t in my hotel room.
I sat up and looked around the room. I hadn’t been in it before, yet I recognized that scent. It’s what I smelled the first time I met with Nico Stepanov. I looked on the floor and saw his clothing in a pile, then to the left, and saw Hugo’s clothes. It all started to come back to me. I was at Alexander Stepanov’s mansion, dealing with my father on the phone when Hugo walked outside.
I tried to remember the conversation that I had with my father. He was telling me about a few guys he found for me to marry, and that he was vetting them. Regardless of what I said, I couldn’t get it through to him that I didn’t want to be in an arranged marriage. He still viewed it as a business contract, and it drove me insane. I needed his money, though, so I kept putting it on the back burner, telling him that we’d discuss it when I got back.
At some point, Hugo came outside, and that’s when things heated up.
“Fuck my life,” I said, rubbing my temples, remembering the hot sex we’d had. I had let my hormones get the best of me yet again, having another threesome with the sexy Stepanov brothers when I should have kept it professional. I leaned forward and shook my head, trying to remember why I had let myself get so careless and out of control with my emotions.
My father wasn’t just talking about an arranged marriage, though, I suddenly realized. He kept pushing for me to finish this project. After all of our years working together, I couldn’t believe that he still didn’t trust me to get this done on time. At no point had I ever lost a contract deal. Even when I’d made mistakes, it wasn’t because I was lazy. In fact, he’s the one who pushed me to read documents thoroughly before signing.
“He must really want to retire,” I thought while searching for my clothes. It was the only reason. He was probably thinking about golfing all the time while his daughter’s husband ran Affinity Finance. The sooner I got married, the sooner he could cash out and be done with it. It would do him well to retire from the company, especially since he was up there in years, but it was ludicrous to suggest that I needed a husband.
I finally found my clothes in another pile on the floor, with my bag sitting right next to it. My head hurt even more as I leaned forward to retrieve it, and I immediately took a few ibuprofen without any water. Maybe it was the combination of drinks or the fact that I was getting older, but I simply couldn’t drink that way anymore. Or perhaps the vodka in Russia was too strong for my liking.
I dug inside of my purse and fished out my phone, then dialed Elaina. I knew that she was probably worried about me.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Okay, first of all, good morning. And second of all, I’m sorry. I think I’m at Nico’s place.” I knew that she’d answer the phone that way. It wasn’t like me not to check in with her wherever I went, and I vowed to text her when I got back from the party. A part of her was still nervous about us doing business with Russian mafia members, let alone the fact that I was sleeping with two of them.
“What do you mean, ‘you think,’ Michelle? Are you in danger? Is it the mafia? You know the Stepanov’s are members of the Russian mafia! The brothers seem okay, but did you piss off one of the higher-ups at the dinner party? I knew that I should have gone with you! You could have told them that I was your assistant because it was a dinner business party! Oh, God! Do I have to call the United States Embassy here?”
“Relax,” I said while searching for my caffeine gum. I always kept it on hand for those types of mornings. “And please kick it down a few notches. My head is pounding. Anyway, I ended up having another threesome with Hugo and Nico in an empty room at their father’s mansion. It was even better than the first time, Elaina. Afterward, however, his father tried opening the door. Luckily Nico had locked it.”
“Oh, my God!” I pulled the phone away from my ear because she had yelled so loud. “How was it? I bet it was good. Which one of them has the bigger penis? I bet it’s Nico. He’s bigger, isn’t he? But I bet that Hugo is the better lover. He seems more attentive while Nico’s the kind of guy who’s like, ‘look at my big shaft!’”
I burst out laughing. Elaina was much more hyper than I was, but she always found a way to make me laugh. If only the Stepanov brothers had another brother for her. For a moment, I considered having her date one of them, but I quickly realized that I was far too selfish.
“It was fun, all right? I’m not caffeinated enough to give you any more details right now. I just wanted to check in with you and let you know that I’m all right.”
“Well, look, yes, you should have checked in with me. But good for you! You’ve needed a good dicking-down for a while now. Have some fun while you’re in Russia because you know what happens when you get back to the states. After all, your daddy needs to find you a man to run Affinity Finance one day since having a vagina means you’re not qualified enough.”
“Thank you,” I said while chuckling. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now, how’s the project going?”
“Well, we’ve started processing through the legal channels. It won’t be too long, but at least a week before the signing. I’m sure that your father is pushing for you to finish this deal sooner, but tell him that we can’t put a gun to legal’s head. Especially since we’re doing business with one of the most prominent members of the Russian mafia. I mean, of all projects, I can’t believe this is the one he’s trying to rush along.”
On the one hand, it would be terrible if things took a long time. Yet as I looked at Nico’s and Hugo’s clothes on the floor, I was actually kind of excited. That meant that I’d be spending even more time with them, hopefully, most of it in bed. Plus, it was all out of my hands. My father knew that when it came to legal documents, you couldn’t push too hard or too fast. And Elaina was right. We were dealing with the Stepanov family.
“That’s wonderful,” I said with a smile on my face.
“How is that wonderful, Michelle? Oh, I get it. Because now you get to sleep with the Stepanov brothers some more. Hey, if you want, I can put in a few words to make it last even longer! But only if you can find me a hot Russian to fool around with, too.”
“No, God! My father may actually kill me, Elaina. Are you crazy?”
“Relax, I’m just kidding. I just needed to snap you back to reality. I’m sure you’d love to stay in Russia for a few months with those guys, but it has to end eventually.”
“Don’t remind me,” I said, thinking about having to deal with my father’s arranged marriage idea. I kept wondering what kind of guy he’d try to set me up with, seeing as how he’d already starting vetting a few candidates. “Alright, I’m gonna get dressed and get out of her. I’ll text you in a bit.”
After I hung up with Elaina, I slid out of bed again and put on my dress. I went downstairs to find both Hugo and Nico waiting for me, sitting at the table with coffee, and smiles on their faces. It was actually nice walking downstairs to see them smiling at me, almost as though all three of us were meant to be together.
“Are you in a rush, Michelle?” I smiled at Nico, whose morning face looked even sexier first thing in the morning. Both of them looked so hot in just their pajama bottoms and those sexy, chiseled abs. I actually wondered if it’d be possible to wash clothes on them, too.
