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“Did you just hear what I said about the new client?”
I looked up, barely registering what Vera said. My office manager looked disgruntled when I had to admit I hadn’t heard a word. Not since I got the peacemaking message from Jenna, anyway. I was in such a good mood I wouldn’t have cared if she just told me we were about to have to file for bankruptcy.
Of course, it wasn’t anything so serious, and she repeated the last half of her report. Too bad I was already mentally at home, planning a romantic evening that would erase the tension of this afternoon. I regretted storming out while Jenna was so upset, but I was determined to give her the space she clearly needed. My patience had paid off, if her message was any indicator.
“Lev, can you please get your head out of your ass?” Vera asked, putting her tablet down and giving up on the meeting I still wasn’t paying attention to.
It was a measure of my good mood that I didn’t chastise her for stepping out of line. I’d known her too long and she was the only person I trusted with the secret of our marriage. It was sixty/forty at best that Max would end up caving once he got back to Los Angeles, but I’d have time to keep working on him to keep his mouth shut.
I let out a long breath. “I think I might actually be caught,” I admitted.
Vera stopped looking disgruntled. “Well, I’d hope so, since you married the girl,” she said.
I laughed ruefully, because as much as I’d been telling Jenna that what we had was forever, it was only at that momentthat it really hit me. That was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Just let anyone try and stop me.
It was a calming realization, like settling into a favorite chair after running around all day. It was also a rush like no other, better than any victory in the boxing ring. There was nothing that compared to how Jenna made me feel.
Vera accepted that the meeting was going to have to wait and left my office with a knowing smile. “Yeah, go ahead and gloat,” I called after her. So this was what she’d been trying to set me up for. Wedded bliss. “You were right.”
She was gracious enough not to respond, and I was about to call it a day since I was checked out anyway, when my mother called from Moscow. A quick calculation put it pretty late at night over there, so I answered in a hurry, closing my office door for privacy. It was unlikely she would say my real last name or say anything else that might be used against me, but after a lifetime in the Bratva, a certain amount of paranoia had served me well.
She sounded exhausted as she greeted me, and it hit me that my parents were getting up there at that age. I answered her in Russian, asking how everything was going over there.
“Your father has had a mild heart attack,” she said. “I’m at the hospital right now.”
I grabbed my tablet, pulling up flight information, wondering if Max had flown commercial or used the private jet that was his pride and joy, though he swore it was only for emergencies. This certainly counted. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I told her.
“No, no, don’t do that,” she said. “He doesn’t even want any of you to know, so hold off for now. I’ll keep you updated if anything gets worse.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I told her. “Even in the hospital, he’s being stubborn.”
She laughed, which sounded genuine, so my nerves eased up a little. “That’s the only thing keeping me from being scared out of my wits. He’s still as demanding as ever. Hopefully, this teaches him to finally slow down.”
“That will be a cold day in hell,” I said.
We spoke a few minutes more and no matter how much I tried to tell her it wouldn’t be a problem to get on the next flight, she made me promise not to come.
“He’ll most likely be discharged in a day or two. Don’t worry, Lev. I just don’t like the idea of keeping secrets from you and the others.”
I told her I appreciated it, and wouldn’t have liked being left out of the loop. My hypocrisy wasn’t lost on me as I ended the call. It was bad enough that I was keeping my own secret, but it hit me like a ton of bricks, and things might have been very different. It might not have been a mild heart attack, but something severe enough to take my formidable father out. It was difficult to believe anything could bring him down, not when he’d fought so hard to build the empire my siblings and I now ruled over.
If the heart attack had been worse, he might have died without knowing I’d finally found the woman I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. He might never have known that his lecture from a few weeks ago had spurred me on to the decision to make Jenna my wife.
As soon as he was out of the woods, I would take her to meet both my parents and end this stupid secrecy.
If Aleks wanted to beat the crap out of me, let him try. I was the one with the boxing gym and regular routines. I could hold my own for Jenna’s sake. Not even my older brother, who I’d always contentedly answered to, could sway me from this course.
On my way home, I ordered dinner, which arrived at the apartment shortly after I did. It was from a new restaurant that was getting rave reviews and the savory aroma filled up the apartment. Nothing got my juices flowing more than the thought of seeing Jenna’s smiling face when she saw what I was setting up for her.
My apartment was woefully ill-equipped with niceties, so I had to order candles, flowers, and a tablecloth, which arrived just in time. I had everything laid out and only had to light the candles the moment I heard her at the door.
Standing back, I surveyed the scene. A riot of white and pink roses in a crystal vase, the restaurant food carefully placed onto whatever plates and trays I had, and a mix of tall, slender candles in brand new silver holders and tiny little ones that threw off twinkling light from the bar.
I’d never once gone to such lengths to impress a woman. Never had to, and never wanted to. Now, I was worried it might not be good enough for this woman who meant so much to me that I ignored everything else in my life.
When Jenna arrived home, she looked beat, so I ignored her exclamations that everything looked wonderful and sat her down to give her a shoulder massage. Soon, she was moaning, dropping her head forward, and driving me crazy. Just the sight of her smooth neck, with all her hair pushed to the side, and her warm skin under my fingertips made me swell.
Before I got too distracted by lust, I served up the food. Did Jenna look a little disappointed that I was no longer touching her? If so, good. I’d just keep that momentum going so this little date with my wife had a happy ending.
