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“I’ve never done anything like that before,” I groaned. I hated that he had such an effect on me in the first place, and it was worse that he knew it. It was a rude imbalance of power.
“I’d hope not,” he said, grinning.
I sniffed. “You’re supposed to say, neither have you.”
He looked thoughtful, as if going back over his long list of past lovers. It gave me a sour feeling in my stomach I didn’t like at all. It was too much like jealousy, as if I cared what he’d done before he met me.
“I actually never have, either,” he said, tugging on my hair.
Oh God, I’d gone in with a sleek bun and came out with a tousled mess. That instantly erased the sudden warm glow Lev’s admission gave me. My phone dinged, and I checked it, just to keep from having to look at him. That was much too dangerous when he was in such a teasing mood. Before I knew what happened, we’d be going at it in the car.
It was a text message from Brooke.Are you sure he isn’t more than just your boss?Then, a row of winky face emojis. I was mortified all over again, not just for losing control in the store, but losing control again, period.
One upside was Lev’s stellar mood. He was completely relaxed, after seeming a bit tense after our visit to the councilman’s office. After all, keeping Lev in a good mood was part of the plan. I was probably just acting on instinct in the shop. Yes, everything I did was for the revenge plan.
That was it, the only reason.
Chapter 17 - Lev
A blissful week went by, almost as if I didn’t have a care in the world. With Jenna, anyway. The councilman was still making moves he thought I didn’t know about, unaware I had people everywhere. We were still trying to find out who he was dealing with, and so far, it was little more than an annoyance. While Councilman Hardy was as easy to ignore as swatting a mosquito, my brothers were a different story.
Had Aleks always ridden my ass this hard? Or was I just more interested in spending my free time with my new wife, rather than answering his every message or call? Since I was completely ignoring him and my other siblings during my honeymoon phase, it shouldn’t have been a shock to me when I woke up early to a knock on my door.
I scrambled out of bed before the incessant pounding woke Jenna, who was still sleeping like an angel, her hair all fanned out on the pillow. She’d welcomed me back to our bed, not exactly with open arms, but ever since our heated makeup session in the shop dressing room, I promised myself I’d let her lead the pace. There was plenty of time for us, and my patience seemed to make her happy.
She’d been studying late into the night, finally passing out with her bedside table lamp still shining at three. I carefully eased the heavy book out from under her arm and snapped off the light, unable to stop smiling. I loved how dedicated she was to her schoolwork, and while I would have preferred keeping her all to myself, she would have been miserable if I forced her to give up her classes. Then, I would have been miserable.
It was shocking to me how much I wanted to make her happy, and so far, she seemed perfectly content despite the rocky beginning.
I was thoroughly pissed that she might be disturbed as I stormed toward the door, planning to have the doorman’s head for daring to let anyone get past him. Everyone who worked security at this building had strict orders never to let anyone up without clearing it with me first. Unless…
“Oh, fuck,” I said, swinging open the front door.
Max grinned at me. Unlike me, with my fair coloring and blue eyes, his hair was dark, eyes brown like our maternal grandfather. “Nice way to greet your favorite brother,” he said, trying to push his way past me.
“Out,” I said, shoving him into my private elevator entry.
I couldn’t risk him seeing Jenna wandering out of the bedroom in her pajamas. The last thing I needed was Max finding out about her and blabbing to Aleks that I was shacking up with his sister-in-law, or worse, figuring out that we were married. Keeping the relationship a secret forever was impossible, but I wanted to control the timeline. If it came out after Jenna was already pregnant, something I found myself thinking about far too much when it had never been on my radar before, then Aleks couldn’t try something rash, like force an annulment.
His eyes widened at my rude greeting. “What are you trying to hide? Or, should I ask, who are you trying to hide?”
Jamming my finger on the elevator button to open the doors, I pushed him into it. “Just go to the coffee shop on the corner. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”
I hurriedly changed, relieved to see Jenna hadn’t stirred even after my younger brother nearly broke the door down. At the coffee shop, Max sat at a corner table with a tall iced coffee despite the chilly San Francisco morning. It looked untouched, and when I sat down across from him and he didn’t immediately start in with more teasing about who was in my bed, I knew something was up.
“Why haven’t you been answering any of our messages?” he demanded. “You’re lucky Katie is pregnant, or it’d be Aleks up here ripping you a new one.”
I rolled my eyes, as if any of my brothers could beat me in a fight. “Is Katie all right?”
“She’s fine. Her doctor wants her to quit work for the final stretch but she’s being stubborn,” he snapped, not happy with my attempt to change the subject. “Things are going to hell, Lev. What the fuck is going on with you?”
“I’ve told Aleks that if things got that bad, I’d come down,” I told him. “But things are still calm in LA.”
“Not LA,” Max said, whipping out his phone and starting to search for something. “Here, under your nose.”
“My people give me regular reports,” I said, getting defensive. I’d had men following Councilman Hardy’s every move lately. He might have been planning something, but if he’d done anything I needed to know about, I’d know about it.
However, Max showed me what he’d been looking for. A picture of a half-burnt-out bar on the other side of town. One of ours, a holdover from when my father had bought up half the dives in the state and had kept watch over them like a mother hen. Guilt struck me like a tire iron. I’d had tunnel vision with Hardy, since there didn’t seem to be any other rival factions willing to go against the progress I’d made in the area.
