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“It’s been three months. What do you think it will look like in six months, Anya? It’s better off if he’s announced dead than simply missing.”
Sharp pain erupts in my jaw from how tightly I’m clenching it.
Her gaze softens ever so slightly. “You’ve always been too dependent on him. I’ve raised you to be a brutal and cutthroat woman. If he remains unfound, he is a loose end.”
“How could you say that about your own son?” I say as I place my tea down and uncross my legs to stand.
The old bitch doesn’t know how to show compassion or uncertainty. But the fact that she’s here shows she’s concerned. She also lives by the philosophy of cutting something off if it no longer serves a purpose, and the longer Alek remains away, the more she will think of him that way.
It’s why I didn’t tell her in the first place.
“I love you both dearly,” she says, and I try not to laugh at the term “love.” But we love in our own ways. “But we can’t show any weakness, Anya. As a woman, you know that better than the next person. Find him so this doesn’t become a bigger issue than it already is,” she warns.
She turns for the door, and Clay opens it on the other side, letting her out.
No goodbye.
No hugs.
Just another lecture.
I bend over to pick up my tea and then walk back to my paperwork and stare at the new watch wrapped around my wrist.
Beautiful.
CHAPTER 20
River
“And you just shot him in the head?” Michael asks two days after the meeting with Igor.
I shrug, unconcerned. “Igor was a sole trader. A man of luxury with a lot of money. It’s not like he was attached to the Bratva or anything. Besides, I won’t have him threatening Anya.”
I pull out my pack of cigarettes and stare at them contemplatively. I only smoke if I’m stressed or socially with a drink. The thought of Anya ripping it from my lips and flinging it out the car window brings another smile to my face as I put them back in my pocket.
Michael and Derrick casually sit across from me in my office, each with a glass of whisky in hand. Derrick has added to his findings on the Ivanov siblings, but I find myself bored reading over the file. Now that I can access Anya anytime I please, I find it much more interesting to discover things about her on my own.
“If I may, sir,” Michael starts. “I’m starting to think perhaps your judgment is clouded when it comes to Anya Ivanov. Your intentions have changed greatly since we first arrived.”
“Those intentions are mine to change. Might I remind you that you work for me? Both of you. I might allow you to have a drink with me, but don’t forget the hand that feeds you.”
Michael dips his head submissively. “Apologies, sir.”
“My goal is very clear. I plan to stay and make Anya Ivanov my wife.”
Michael’s jaw grinds, but he says nothing. Good boy.
He hasn’t been shy about his thoughts that my association with Anya Ivanov is dangerous, especially if it doesn’t fall in our favor. But I have no intention of letting Anya go anywhere other than my bed.
The moment I met Anya I was in awe. I could’ve gotten straight down to business, but I wanted to watch her, mesmerized in the way she controlled a room and scared men just with that icy gaze alone. I knew then that I could worship a woman like that every day as well as treat her as my equal. She is the first and only woman who has ever measured up to something I hadn’t even realized I was looking for until her.
“Is the house settled?” I ask Derrick.
“It’s all in your name, and your belongings have already been moved,” he says.
“Excellent,” I reply, rather chipper. I’ve bought many properties, much like the penthouse I’m in now, but none of them excited me as much as my new purchase. I will make Anya come to me, and I have no doubt she’ll soon find out how I’m further settling into her city and encroaching on her space.
My phone rings, and I pull it out of my pocket.
