Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

NICO

W e need to have a meeting

There's no inclination that the text I send to The Shadow is delivered on my phone but I know he received it. I also know that he'll only meet up with me when I'm ready so I ignore that in favor of more pressing issues. Adrian seats opposite the desk in front of me, looking every bit the petulant child.

"No," he says immaturely after I relay my request.

I arch an eyebrow. "What do you mean, no?"

"Would you like to hear it in Russian? Nyet ," he says cheekily.

My eyes narrow. "Adrian, you killed five men without cause. We're lucky all the Bratva want is an apology. One of them was a high-ranking commander. I need you to work with me here."

"Nicolas, I respect you; really, I do. But if you think I'm going to walk into a meeting filled with assholes who could be protecting my mother's murderer and apologize to them, I can assure you, you're wrong."

"All right, then the deal falls through. We lose the chance to make an alliance with the Bratva. Lose the chance to establish our own properties and holdings," I say easily, leaning back in my chair.

Adrian's eyebrows rise. "That sounds good enough to me, so what's the catch?"

"No catch, except you'd have to invest more money from your family's account into the outfit. A lot more. We've got to find another way to take care of our drug shortage problems."

"That's not happening. We already provide enough funds as it is," he says, green eyes darkening.

I slap a hand down on the table.

"Do you think I went into this without careful consideration? We can't keep depending on the cartels, Rossi. They're unruly and fickle and likely to turn on us at every moment. Look at what happened with Santiago's gang. I'm still cleaning up that mess and the man himself is nowhere to be found. I'm this close to sending someone to Mexico to sniff him out because it really makes me uncomfortable that he's out there. So I need you to understand that I am not fucking around. Either you help me with the Bratva or you figure out another way out of this mess."

Adrian smirks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Damn, Ramirez. Intense much? It's weird seeing you so worked up."

I am going to strangle him.

Before I can move though, he raises both his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll take care of the stupid apology," he finally accepts. "In a note."

My eyes fall shut, and I suck in a calming breath. "What?"

"You heard me. I'll write it down. Have Vlad or someone else read it out to them. And by the way, I'm not attending the meeting. You can't expect me to sit down in a room filled with my mother's potential murderers."

"I could order you to do it," I state

There's a hard look in his green eyes. "I realize that, but I'm asking you not to."

After a few more moments of contemplation, I sigh.

"Fine. As long as you don't do anything else to jeopardize the deal."

"I won't," he mutters. "Also, do you want me to track down Santiago for you? I've got some contacts in Mexico."

"Yeah, that would be great."

"I'm on it," he informs me. And then an easy smile spreads across his face. "By the way, Don, you look great. Married life must be treating you well, huh?"

I roll my eyes. I was wondering when he'd get to that. It's been two weeks since Aurora and I returned from our fake honeymoon. And since then, we've been continuing our fake marriage, but we've also been kind of dating. The point is, we haven't established the rules of our relationship yet, which I don't like. But I also can't push her too hard, otherwise she'll push back.

I have to be careful.

"Yeah sure. It's a dream," I say sarcastically to cover the truth.

Getting to wake up next to Aurora every morning actually does feel like a dream. One that hangs precariously in balance.

"I can tell she's good for you. Just don't mess it up."

"Yeah, noted," I state, ready to get on with my work. "You can go now."

"Just one more thing," he says, prompting me to look up at him. "When's Lucia Maranzano getting back in the country?"

I cock my head to the side, wondering at that.

"How do you know Lucia?"

"All of you always seem to forget that I also grew up here. I was in this compound for most of my childhood. Frankly, it hurts that you all just erased me," he says sadly.

I shoot him a disbelieving look. "By the time I arrived at the compound, you were gone."

"Oh right," he says. "You came in here pretty late. How did you end up working for Valerio?"

"None of your business," I grit out. "Get to the point. What do you want with Lucia?"

"She has something of mine," he replies.

"What?"

"That's entirely my business, Don."

"Too bad then. I can't reveal her whereabouts to you. Aurora made me promise Lucia would continue to stay out of outfit business. I intend to keep it that way."

"Aww, you always listen to your wife?" Adrian says teasingly.

I point a finger at him. "You are on seriously thin ice."

"I know. So just give me what I want so I can leave."

"Do you not understand what I said to you? No, I will not be helping you get in touch with Lucia. And don't even think about trying to find her, because you won't be able to. Understand?"

Adrian smirks, getting to his feet.

"You know I love being told I can't do something. Makes me want to do it even more," he tells me. "See you later, Don."

He walks out before I can say something else. Vlad enters my office once he's gone.

"You still have one of the men trailing his every move right?" I ask my senior guard.

Vlad nods. "Yeah, we're aware of every step he takes. Why, boss? Worried he'll do something?"

"It's Adrian. When am I not?"

"All right, boss. Also, Mrs. Maranzano asked you to check your phone."

I arch an eyebrow. Aurora did what? After he leaves, I reach for my phone, which I had admittedly discarded since earlier in the day. When I open it, I realize she texted me two hours ago.

Hey, so quick question, what do you think about renovating your bedroom? Or at least repainting the walls. The monochrome in here is starting to drive me crazy.

When she didn't receive a reply she sent another text thirty minutes later.

This is the twenty-first century, Nicolas. Where did you put your phone and why is it taking so long for you to reply?

Damn. I quickly send out a reply.

I'm sorry, sweetheart. I was in a meeting. It's been a long day.

Her reply is almost instantaneous, so I guess that's a good thing.

Oh, he lives!!

My wife is nothing if not hilarious.

Yes, I'm alive, and with regard to the bedroom question, first off, it's our bedroom not just mine. And second, I don't care what you do as long as it makes you happy.

I know she's doing all this intentionally. She's trying to make sure there are still boundaries and clear lines between us. Until the four months of our trial run are up, she's never going to fully commit, and that worries me a lot. Because if she's already thinking we're doomed, we've got no chance.

Well, that's nice. But it's too late. I was at work earlier and I would have made the order for the paint then. But it's fine, maybe tomorrow.

I actually feel bad. I might not have a lot of experience in relationships. Or any if I'm being honest. The woman I was with the longest was Shay and that wasn't a relationship. We were more like fuck buddies. She understood my boundaries and I respected hers.

She was a good woman. I practically lost it when she was killed so unjustly. The death of the man responsible was what earned me the nickname "The Butcher".

Anyway, the point was, I didn't know how to be there and available for someone. But I was ready to do that if it was what Aurora needed.

I'll make it up to you tonight.

You'd better. See you later, Nicky.

I drop my phone after and try to focus on work instead of the woman who plagues my every waking thought.

The sound of Aurora's moans echo in the air as I tongue-fuck her hard and fast, the way she likes it. She slaps one hand on her mouth while the other grips the desk behind her. I stop for a moment to stare at the gorgeous view of her spread out on my desk with her head thrown back.

I arrived a few minutes ago and brought her into my home office, unwilling to waste any time taking the stairs up to our room. I needed to taste her as soon as possible.

My fingers dig into her thighs to hold her in place as her pussy contracts over my tongue. Her fingers clench in my hair and my name leaves her lips in a breathy moan right before she comes all over my face.

Fuck. She tastes addictive. She's the best thing I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.

I pull back, licking my lips and staring at the woman in front of me. "How was that, baby? I accept grades."

"A plus," she says grinning as she slides off the desk and pulls her skirt down.

I wrap an arm around her waist. "So I made it up to you?"

"You more than made it up to me," she says, reaching up to press a kiss against my lips. "In fact, I was thinking I'd return the favor. Your turn, Nico."

I perk up at the undeniable lust on her face. She reaches for the buckle of my pants, and my heart rate speeds up as she manages to pull my cock out, pumping it twice in her hand.

I groan softly. "Oh, this is so not what this office is meant to be used for."

"Do you want me to suck you off or not?" Aurora asks, her brown eyes gleaming.

If I didn't already have feelings for her, I'm pretty sure that statement would have been my breaking point.

"Get on your knees, mi vida ," I order and she doesn't hesitate to do so. "You're going to take my cock like a very good girl, aren't you?"

She nods, her chest rising and falling in a frantic rhythm. She doesn't hesitate to wrap her hands around my length, looking up at me with those beautiful eyes. A soft curse escapes me when she opens her mouth wide and swallows most of my length.

"Fuck!" I hiss out.

Aurora continues to keep eye contact as she laps her tongue around my cock and deep throats it until her face reddens. She bobs her head up and down, creating more friction with her tongue.

"That's it, baby. You're taking me in so well," I praise, feeling myself being pushed to the brink.

I stroke her cheek before running a hand through her brown hair. She hastens her rhythm at the praise, her hands pumping me up and down while she sucks my dick like a lollipop. I fucking love seeing her like this. She might be the one on her knees, but I'm completely at her mercy. Her eyes are filled with so much lust that it takes my breath away.

"Shit, baby, I'm about to come," I say on a soft groan.

She continues taking me in her mouth until I finish with a final grunt, coming down her throat. She massages my balls with one hand as she swallows every single last drop of my cum. When I'm done, she stands up, pushes a few strands of my hair from my face and offers me a dazzling smile. I pull my pants up and redo my belt buckle, staring at her with a dazed expression.

"That good, huh?" she asks, looking immensely satisfied with herself.

I roll my eyes before pulling her close and kissing her senseless. And I would have kept kissing her for longer, if it wasn't for the soft ding of a phone. Aurora pulls away from me to check her cell phone. I watch as she opens it, her eyes lighting up at whatever text she just received.

"Who is it?" I question.

"My boyfriend," she replies smoothly, her tone serious.

I stiffen at that. She doesn't look at me, her gaze still on the phone as she types out a reply.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I ask in a dangerously soft tone.

She finally looks up at me, brown eyes glinting mischievously.

"Would you chill out, Nicolas? I was kidding," she says with a laugh.

"That wasn't funny," I grit out. "The only person deserving of that title is me."

"Really? I thought you were my husband, not my boyfriend."

"I'm anything you want me to be," I tell her.

Her eyes soften and she reaches up to place a quick kiss against my lips.

"So, who was it?" I ask curiously.

"Sabrina," she replies with a wide smile. "She wants to meet up."

Oh right, her elusive best friend.

"That's good, sweetheart."

She nods happily and I find myself wanting to keep her like this. Happy, safe, mine. But in my life, I've found that it's the things we want the most that tend to evade us.