Lev (Shot Callers 1)

I was worried by the way he said it, like he couldn’t believe that Anika could feel something for him. My heart began to race. It hurt to acknowledge the facts. Overall, she was the better option. She was Russian. She was prettier than me. Her family had been a part of Chaos. She had already told me that she could be there for him in a way that I couldn’t and she was probably right.

What did this mean for me? For us?

Slow as can be, a crack began to form through the center of my heart. This could be it. I could lose him. And so soon after I finally got him.

His gorgeous honeyed eyes met mine. “Wait. Has she been making you feel uncomfortable?”

Fear and anger had me spitting, “Only all the goddamn time.” Panic had me revealing it all. “She flirts with you. She touches you. She made sure I saw you beating on that idiot Moretti guy.” If it was over, it was over. My shoulders slumped. “She loves you, Lev.” I whispered this in a way that said If you want her, now’s your chance. “And she’ll do anything to get you.”

Lev held out his hand, waiting. I blinked down at it a long moment then sighed in relief, placing my hand in his. His fingers twined through mine and it felt like home.

He chastised me gently, “I told you I don’t read people well. Why didn’t you tell me, mouse?”

My heart slowed its pace. The feeling of his warm skin on mine calmed me. “Why would I? It would have caused problems. What can you do? It doesn’t matter.”

“Your feelings matter to me very much.” His free hand came up to softly pinch my chin. He lifted my face to look into his fierce glare. “I would have told her that my affections belonged to another, that I was happiest with my mouse. That all I could ever offer her was friendship.” He shook my chin lightly. “But you didn’t give me the chance to do that. And now you’re pouting.”

My eyes narrowed and my lips puckered. “I am not.”

“You are,” he called me out. Then his eyes softened and he kissed my pouting lips hard. “Now stop it or I’ll kiss them raw.”

He let go of my chin and stomped up the stairs, leaving Nas and me alone in the foyer. After a moment, I called up the stairs, “Now, was that a threat? Or a promise?”

The sound of Nastasia’s gagging had me laughing softly.

Chapter Thirty

Lev

“We need to talk,” I spoke into the receiver as soon as he answered.

Igor Alkaev was a hard man. Luckily for him, I understood men like him.

His Russian accent harsh, I heard his sneer through the phone. “Unless you are calling me to arrange initiation into Zakon, I don’t want to hear it, Leokov.” A slight pause. “What do you want?”

“I believe I made things clear to you. Your family would have no contact with mine. No excuses.”

Igor sounded tired when he began with, “If this is about Lidiya...”

For once, it wasn’t about Lidiya. I cut in with, “Corinna approached my woman today.”

I heard him breathing, but he didn’t speak for a long while. “So it’s true then?” He sighed. “I had hoped you and Irina would get past your problems and unite in marriage.”

My lip curled. “I know that’s what you wanted, but I have told you time and time again that Irina and I would never be married.”

He spoke quietly, but the anger wasn’t hard to miss. “Who is she, the girl?”

My hand came down on my desk, the harsh slap reverberating through the room. I stood and snarled into the cell, “None of your concern.”

Igor enjoyed my sudden outburst and tried to feed it. “Some of my men say she looks like an angel. That her beauty is unmatched. Perhaps I will have to meet this woman.” I growled, but he went on, “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer to marry Irina?” He came across as bored. “You would do well to remember my promise, Lev. It would be a shame for Lidiya to disappear with her mother. You know how Irina can be. So flighty. All she would have to do is board a plane with her daughter and—”

My fury rose and I cut him off with a shout, “My daughter. Lidiya is my daughter. Irina was nothing more than a vessel.” My voice shook with anger. “Irina is not fit to call herself a mother, and I will bide my time until the day Lidiya is returned to her home, here with me.”

Igor clicked his tongue. “Such animosity.” Then he sighed, “I understand your concern, Leokov, but Irina is not the monster you make her out to be. She may not be very maternal, but she does love Lidiya. We all love Lidiya.”