With This Ring

Something flashed in his eyes. I wanted to bend down and kiss his mouth then. The urge was so strong it shocked me. He watched me from his window seat as I ran out to the street and grabbed a taxi.

Chapter Thirty

Maxim

I watched her leave, then got into my car and headed home.

As I parked my car in the underground car park, my phone began to ring. It was Levan.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Where are you?”

“At your place.”

I disembarked and slammed the door shut. “I’ll be right in.”

I headed towards the private lift that carried me all the way up to my penthouse. The doors swished open. “What are you doing here?” I asked throwing my car key on the side table.

“I heard from Mikhail,” he began.

I stopped, mildly annoyed. This thing with Freya had me on edge and I was finding it more and more difficult to keep my temper. “Why are my movements being fucking reported to you?”

He frowned. “Will you relax? Nobody is keeping tabs on you, but this is a difficult time and while I’m leaving, you’re still my brother, and I need to be sure that you’re safe.”

“Then don’t leave,” I said, unbuttoning my shirt, and heading towards the curving marble stairs.

We took the stairs two at a time. I turned around to catch the smile on his face. “You’re full of bullshit, you know, Maxim. The truth is you’re completely fine with me leaving. You’re even relieved, I’m sure.”

I walked into my massive bedroom. All the curtains were open and the light from the stars shone in through the doomed glass ceiling. Behind me Levan hit the light switch making yellow light flood into the room. He was not wrong. I was going to keep an eye on him in the new life he was embarking with Bianca, and I had absolutely no complaints. He would no longer be in the direct line of fire of our world.

I sat on my bed and Levan came to sit next to me. “I’m really worried about Freya.

I stopped midway through pulling off my shoe. “Why?”

“Her father has enemies too but they’ve not exactly been going after her. These attacks only began after you came into the picture.”

I turned to look at him. “I’ve been thinking that too, but if they wanted to get to me then why not target me directly?”

“Maybe whomever it is has been waiting for the right moment. It’s not exactly easy getting to you.” I could hear the sadness in his tone as he spoke. “Maybe the point is not to just hurt you directly, but to hurt the entire conglomerate. Any harm coming to Freya on your watch will literally turn everything upside down and set off a war between our two fathers. Our two families being joined together is a terrifying prospect for many. It doubles your power and reach … unthinkably.”

“Hmm…. That narrows down the possible suspects to everyone we know.”

“It could also be for revenge,” he said. “Maybe you hurt someone’s family member along the way and now they’re coming for yours through her.”

“Then why don’t they come after you too?”

“Again, it won’t be as bloody. Painful for you but, turns little upside down. Freya’s father however will burn us to the ground, or at least try. We could both destroy each other. Imagine what a vacuum we would leave then.”

“They want to hurt me with someone else’s sword. Perhaps this person doesn’t have enough resources.”

“Yes, that’s what I would think. Anyway, I came here to tell you that this is exactly the reason why it has to be solely Freya’s choice to get with you. Not as a duty, or favor to anyone because it is definitely not going to be a rosy path. I understand why she is so against it and I don’t blame her at all.”

“I’m not forcing her.”

“Her father is.”

“I can’t do anything about that. That’s between them.”

“Do you want her, Maxim? Not a means for growing the business, but as a woman.”

I looked away from his probing eyes. “Yes,” I admitted.

“Good. That’s all I wanted to hear. We’ll talk more tomorrow. Now you better get to bed and I better get back home. I had to sneak out after Bianca fell asleep. It will not be a good morning for me if she wakes to find me gone. No surprises! That’s the rule of our relationship.”

That made me smile despite myself and as he left, I found myself gazing after him with just the twinge of envy. If only, Freya… A pair of defiant green eyes and a tumble of wild fiery hair crashed into my mind and I couldn’t stop the excitement that coursed through my system.

No woman had ever been able to rent even the least bit of space in my mind before, but Freya Fedorov seemed to very easily find her way in and out at will. I didn’t much care for the vulnerability and frivolities of love, but perhaps a woman who made my cock jump with just one look would not be too bad of an acquisition.