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Moments later, Ilya returned to the office with a flash drive reader and played the recording.
A smile curled Lev’s lip. He’d gotten Cillian right where he wanted him. “I should kill you for betraying me, Darnell, but I’ll let you go because I am in such a good mood.”
“Thank you, sir,” Darnell said, his breath heavy with relief. “Thank you.”
Lev and his men left the office, and just as they stopped in front of the elevator, his phone buzzed with a message from Zia.
Zia:What would you like for dinner?
It’d been two days since he captured and tortured Owen for what he did to her. Zia hadn’t spoken to him since then and he hadn’t bothered to start up a conversation with her either.
The thought that she’d taken the side of her ex who tried to rape her over him drove him insane. She’d looked at him as ifhe was a monster for torturing that asshole, but Owen deserved every bit of it and even more. He deserved to die for not showing any remorse for his actions.
Yet Zia had taken his side. She’d freed him, tended to his wounds, and she’d given him a room in their house.
A new wave of rage surged through him, but the flashing of Zia’s face in his mind was enough to soothe the rage.
He didn’t care about his anger anymore, but he couldn’t spend a day longer without speaking to Zia. The silent treatment was eating deep inside him.
He’d intended to apologize and talk it out with her when he went back home tonight, but she’d texted him first.
He texted back.
Lev:Get dressed. We’re going out for dinner.
Zia:Tonight???
Lev:In thirty minutes.
Zia: Aye, Captain.??
Lev didn’t realize he’d been smiling until the elevator bleeped open and he looked up to see Konstantin and Ilya looking at him with the same knowing expression.
He frowned. “What?”
“Nothing, Chief,” Ilya quickly said, the smile on his face not matching his words.
They got in the elevator and Lev shoved his phone in his pocket.
“You’re in love with that girl,” Konstantin suddenly said. Before Lev could muster a reply, he added, “You wouldn’t begrinning at her message like a teenage boy who has a crush if you weren’t.”
Lev thought for a moment. He’d barely had time to date in high school and college. All he did with women was have sex with them and send them on their way the second he came.Crush. Love.Those words had never been associated with him until now, and he didn’t care, not completely, at least because he cared for Zia more than he’d ever cared for any woman.
“I care about her,” he finally said in response. “Isn’t that normal? She’s my wife.”
“You don’t just care about her, you’re in love with her.” Konstantin looked at him. “You were jealous of her ex, and you’re smiling at her text. If that isn’t love, then I don’t know what it is.”
“Men like us don’t fall in love,” Lev replied. “I’m only playing my part as her husband.
He ignored Konstantin’s, “Sure you are.”
The elevator opened when they reached the first floor. As they walked to the parking lot, Lev ordered, “Ilya, book a VIP reservation for two atLe Diamant Noir.”
Le Diamant Noir was a French restaurant, one of the biggest and most luxurious restaurants in Chicago, popular for making the best delicacies in the city. Lev’s mother loved to eat there when she was alive, and she usually took him and his brothers along. He’d never gone back there since she died. He couldn’t bear eating there with all the sweet memories that place held.
But he was going to try today, and he was going to take his kids with him.
“Yes, Chief,” Ilya answered. He hummed for a second. “Are you taking Mrs. Nikolai out for dinner?”
