Chapter 6 - Ivan

I could tell Adley was nervous about speaking to her folks, and I usually wouldn't give one single solitary fuck. Still, that instant pull I'd felt toward her made it impossible for me to ignore her discomfort about speaking to them. Not enough to change what I was doing, however.

No. I needed Adley with me, craved it like an addict looking for their next fix, and I was not looking to go into rehab for this particular addiction. I'd gone once when I was younger, and frankly, it wasn't the group's holier-than-thou bullshit that got me to quit; it was my brothers.

So, not the point of this little endeavor, Ivan. Come on.

Straightening the jacket I'd throw on over a new button-down, I ensured my fly was zipped up and hopped out of the car to meet Adley standing on the curb outside the closed bodega.

The new outfit was a bit more appropriate for a businessman: a black suit jacket, pants, and a black shirt. Sure, I had no tie, and I still had a number of visible tattoos, but it did read a bit better, especially when I brushed my bangs forward to cover the broken glass tattoo on my forehead.

"All right, toots. Let's go."

Adley sighed as I stepped up to her, but when she turned to give me an appraisal, she actually looked surprised.

"You clean up pretty well." She reached for the buttons open on my chest. "But maybe we do these up just a bit more."

With a smirk, I let her up the "decency factor," enjoying how close she was to me.

"You done?" I asked playfully.

Shaking her head, Adley stepped back, regarding me. "It'll have to do. Please don't…touch anything inside."

"Ugh," I scoffed. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not in the slightest."

The return was quick, and I bit back on the laughter that bubbled up my throat. Goddamn, playing with her was so fucking fun.

As we turned toward the brick building, I paid it more attention, running my gaze across the old signage and awning that had seen better days. The rusty red of the bricks was somewhat obscured by ivy that crawled up the side of the building, graffiti decorating parts of the building that I could see down the alley to the left.

It was a two-story building, and I could see an Irish flag hung in one of the windows and a box air conditioner in another.

The awnings over the front door and long side window were striped white and blue. They were a bit frayed on the ends, likely from the wind. The signs that hung in the window read, "McCormack's Irish Grocer."

They were a sunny yellow color, but they'd faded thanks to the actual rays of sunlight that beat down on them day after day. It sat right on the corner of their building, the storefront curving around that corner on two sides.

Smaller signs tucked into the bottom of the windows said, "delicatessen," "groceries," and "Irish favorites-bangers, meat, dairy."

We walked to the front door, the neon sign turned off, and Adley stuck her key in to let us in.

"What? Not up to your standards?"

When I looked back at Adley, who'd pushed the door open to reveal the large room of rows upon rows of shelves, I shook my head.

"Hardly. It's…I get it. I can see the years of love put into the place."

She looked a bit shocked, and I took advantage of the opportunity and pushed my way past her and inside.

The shelves in the shop were all spaced out evenly, their contents nearly overflowing—canned goods, paper goods, and several different bottles of what I guessed were oils and sauces. Off to the left was the main counter, where the cash register sat next to a cooler case showcasing meats and what I assumed were butter and cream cheese packages.

There was even a small eating area right near the front window up to my left and a cooler on the far right that held beers and other chilled drinks.

It was quaint, and it was really fucking weird to actually see something that fit that description. My life was anything but, after all.

The jingle of bells rang out behind me as Adley stepped through and closed the door behind her. She relocked the door and followed me deeper into the shop, leading the way to the back. There was another small table there, and I noticed teacups and loose-leaf set out in the center.

"What's that all about?"

"Oh," Adley chuckled through a sigh, "my mom likes to do tea leaf readings. It's a dumb tradition from Ireland."

"Do people go for that?" I cocked a brow as she regarded the table with a pained expression.

"Yeah, sometimes." She quickly shook herself out of it. "Let's get this over with."

I gestured toward the other door I could see in front of her, which probably led to the second floor.

"After you, sweetheart."

"Please stop calling me that. At least around them."

Smirking, I just nodded. Adley opened the door, and a steep set of stairs led to the next story. It was hard to imagine her folks, who I assumed were likely in their upper sixties, walking up and down them every day.

When we reached the top, Adley stopped, holding her hand back toward me to keep me from going further in. I took the hint and let it slide for now. Getting her out of this place smoothly was going to make things easier for me in the long run, anyway.

I watched as she crossed the small living area to the kitchen, which was in the far corner and had no wall to keep it separated from the front room. A woman stood before the stove, cooking what I assumed were potatoes, by the smell.

"Hey, Mom." She turned around, facing Adley and giving her a big hug. "Where's Dad and the twins?"

Adley's mother smiled, gesturing to the short hallway on the other side of the house.

"Dad's just lying down. He had a hard delivery, and the twins are in their room. Why?"

Just as Adley was about to reply, her mother's attention landed on me, and I offered a nod of hello.

"I have some news. Good news, actually." Adley looked between her mother, who stared at me, and the hallway at my back. "This is Mr. Ustinov. I think we should get them, though."

Her mother nodded, eyeing me hard before she looked back at Adley. "All right, hun. Go ahead. I'll wait with our guest."

Adley passed me quickly as she went down the hallway, which offered three doors. She went to the farthest end first, opening the door and calling for Molly and Ryan to come to the living room.

As I looked back at her mother, I was surprised to see the woman had walked much closer to me. Her glare rakes across my body like she is studying for weaknesses. I liked her.

"Mrs. McCormack, I assume. Pleasure to me you."

She narrowed her stare, folding her arms over her chest. "Russian, huh? Are you going to hint at what this is all about?"

I smiled, holding up my hands briefly like I was surrendering to her. "Adley can explain, but I'll say it's about a job. No funny business."

That was, of course, a lie, but I watched as her mother relaxed just a hair.

"All right then," she nodded, still eyeing me, "and it's Eleanor."

"Pleased to meet you, Eleanor. As Adley said, I'm Mr. Ustinov. But you can call me Ivan."

Eleanor nodded again, the gesture working as her default as she studied me. "Ivan."

"Okay, now what's this all about."

The voice that came from behind me was low and deep, a touch of his Irish accent peeking through. This would be Mr. McCormack, then.

As I turned around to face the hall, I saw the older man walk up behind Adley, with her younger siblings following after. They were clearly twins with similar facial features, almost identical, even though they were fraternal twins.

The girl, Molly, was a bit shorter than her brother. While they did look related because of that bone structure, that's where their similarities ended. Molly had dark hair that hung in thick waves to her shoulders and deep brown eyes to match. She had a comparable complexion to Adley, fair and freckled, but her undertones were cool where Adley's were warm.

Ryan, the boy twin, was the exact same—dark hair and eyes, fair skin with a smattering of freckles, and a soft pink undertone to his skin. He was taller than Molly but still shorter than the elder McCormack, who, even hunched, had an inch or so on him.

"Adley, who's this?" Mr. McCormack asked, and he stepped past me to his wife.

The man wrapped his arm around her protectively, and while Eleanor smoothed herself against his side, she still stood tall, her gaze not leaving me. They were quite the pair, and I could see where Adley got her attitude from.

"Dad, this is Mr. Ivan Ustinov." Adley crossed in front of me to stand halfway between her parents and me, the twins sneaking behind her to stand on their folks' other side. "Ivan, this is my dad, Conall McCormack."

I nodded, offering a hand that Conall shook with surprising strength, considering I'd just heard he'd been lying down. I could sense the pride behind that shake, and it was clear he wasn't about to let himself look weak. I liked him, too.

"Mr. Ustinov." He looked back at his daughter. "Adley, out with it."

She chewed on her lip, her head ducking just for a moment before she looked up again with determination set on her features.

"I found a job."

Her family collectively eyed her, shock registering in all of them.

"Mr. Ustinov has a large estate and was looking for a live-in housekeeper. I saw the ad online and thought I'd give it a shot. I didn't want to get everyone's hopes up if I didn't get the job, but I did. And he's being very generous, too."

The McCormacks looked to me, and even for this hardened mafioso, it was a bit like being a bug under a microscope.

"Nonsense, Adley. I'm paying what it's worth to hire you. I can't do everything at the estate myself and need someone to look after things while I'm away on business. I know how much of a task that is, and since I'm able to pay top dollar, why wouldn't I?"

"What is he paying you?" Eleanor asked, not looking at Adely but continuing to lock her gaze on me.

"Mother," Adley replied, clearly taken aback by the question.

"It's fine, Adley. You already told me about the financial burden you were looking to help with. I'm sure they'd like to know how this will benefit them."

My skin prickled. I wasn't unfamiliar with talking to people like this, and the truth was I'd had a pretty damn good education from tutors and the like, thanks to my own Russian bratva family's insistence on it. Still, I didn't use my "bullshit businessman" voice unless I needed to, and unfortunately, right now, I did.

"Adely will be receiving sixteen thousand a month, which includes funds for room and board. I've provided a signing bonus immediately of just over twelve thousand to get the payments on your bodega current."

The room was so quiet you could hear a fucking pin drop, and everyone in the room was guilty of letting their mouth fall open.

"You…That can't be right. You…You paid off our debts?" Eleanor's voice was shaky, and I could see the tremble snaking through her.

Conall pulled her closer, and he frowned at me. "If this is some scam."

"Please, call the bank and confirm for yourself."

Adley's parents stared at me, but her father held out his hand toward Adley, silently requesting the phone. She took the cordless handset out of its dock and placed it in her father's subtly shaking hand.

After a few moments on the phone, her folks realized I wasn't lying to them, and they both sat on the couch in shock. Eleanor's eyes were a bit glassy, and Molly had come up to her, kneeling in front of the sofa as she took her mother's hand.

"This is huge. Do you think…do you think we'll be able to save up for school then?"

"School?" I asked.

"The twins want to go to college in the next few years. And yes, Molly, you'll both be able to go with my paycheck," Adley replied. "And Ivan has some friends who love to support local businesses, so they'll probably be stopping by the bodega a lot to have lunch and stuff."

Smooth, Adley.

Her parents looked up at her from their position on the couch, and Adley stepped up to her father, holding his hand.

"You're leaving right away? It just feels so fast, but…" Conall glanced over at me before returning his attention to Adley. "I suppose if you think you'd like to work for him, then of course. With that help, I could hire Johnny from down the street to help at the shop. He's young and needs money for those movie games and whatnot."

"It's video games, Dad. And yeah, I'm sure he'll take you up on the offer if you tell him he can have a store discount. His mother is obsessed with the roast beef we get in."

He stood up, hugging Adley, and they both pulled back from the encounter with glassy eyes. It felt beyond awkward to be standing there for it, and I averted my gaze by focusing on the hallway where they'd come from.

"I'm going to go up to my room to pack a few things, but I'll be sure to call you guys when I get settled."

The entire family circled together around Adley, giving her a hug, and my chest did something weird as I watched from the corner of my eye. It wasn't a mystery that I didn't have much of that going for me, and really, it was only my brothers who I trusted like that.

Back in Russia, our father had been a particularly ruthless bastard in the bratva. His own men had taken him out, and we left, wanting nothing to do with them. We built up a name for ourselves—the Unholy Trinity—and used our skills to prove we were useful to the local bratva here in Chicago.

The Vadims were the closest thing we had to a family organization here, but we outsourced our skills to anyone who could pay.

Adley's situation wasn't anything like that. This was a real family who loved and respected each other, and taking her away from it…well, I almost felt guilty for half a second. But I was a bit of a bastard myself, and when I saw something I wanted, I took it.

"I'd be happy to help you get your stuff, Adley. The least I can do for taking you away from these lovely people is carry your bag."

***

I'd followed Adley up another set of obscenely steep stairs to a tiny attic space that acted as her room. It was definitely cramped, but it was also littered with the things that symbolized who Adley was. There were a few knickknacks I could see that were probably given to her by family members—Irish momentos like small figurines and little flags—but the rest of the walls were covered in drawings.

"You really like to sketch, huh?"

She looked over at me from where she stood near her closet. There was a duffle bag on her bed, and Adley had already filled it quite a bit.

"Oh, yeah. I was… never mind."

Turning back to her bag, Adley tossed in the pile of clothing she held and zipped the duffle shut.

"Okay, I'm all set. I just want to grab some stuff from the bathroom, and we can go."

I cocked a brow at her, holding out my arm so that she couldn't walk past me and out into the hall.

"Now, hold on there a minute. What was that all about? What ‘never mind?'"

Adley frowned, tilting her head as she huffed out a breath. "It's not important. Let's go."

She pushed against my arm, but I wouldn't budge. When Adley glared at me, I took her duffle and tossed it into the hall, putting myself between her and the exit. To her credit, Adley didn't back down, and damn, did I love this dance between us.

"Tell me."

"Why? It's not important. Why won't you just drop it."

I smirked, still blocking the door with my arm, and I shifted in front of her when Adley tried to cut around to the other side.

"Just tell me."

I could see the fury blazing behind Adley's eyes, her frustration making her clench her jaw. She looked so adorable all worked up like that, and my cock twitched behind my fly.

"Ugh!" She threw up her arms, taking a step back. "I was going to go to art school. We couldn't afford it. Now let's fucking go already."

Closing the distance between us, I took Adley's chin in my grip, forcing those blue eyes to look up at me.

"So, she likes to draw, hmm?" I lowered my mouth toward hers, hovering just over her lips because I enjoyed teasing her too much to resist. "I'll keep that in mind."

The moment hung, stretched, and taught like a bowstring. I admired the way she didn't flinch, trailing my gaze over Adley's face. I wanted so fucking badly to kiss her right then, but I knew myself too well.

I wouldn't stop there, and when I fucked her, I wanted Adley to be able to scream my name.

But maybe just…

"Be quick in the bathroom, sweetheart. We have a date back at my place."

Locking my eyes on her until I couldn't, I leaned past her lips and found the smooth skin behind her ear, buried behind those honey waves cascading down her back. I pressed my lips to the spot, absolutely living for the way Adley's breath shuddered out of her and her skin prickled with goosebumps.

As I walked away, I could just make out the hard shape of her nipples beneath her tank top.