Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Mad? Hell no. That was better than every revenge fantasy I dreamt up after Charlie dumped me, combined.”
He smiled at me and said innocently, “Well, what’s the point in having a hot boyfriend if you can’t use him to make your exes jealous?”
“You are hot. Modest, too,” I grinned.
“I suppose doing that to Charlie was kind of mean of me,” he said, smiling and lightly caressing my waist. “And mentioning the car was just gratuitous.”
“It was. And thank you,” I said, leaning forward and kissing him again. Then I remembered something and jumped up quickly. “Oh shit, Dmitri, your interview! I’m so sorry I made you miss it!”
“You didn’t. I texted my office assistant when Charlie got here and told her to reschedule my first interview for noon. You were right before when you pointed out that it is, in fact, my club and I can go in when I want.”
“So, you have two hours before you need to go in?” I asked mischievously.
Dmitri stood up and kissed the tip of my nose. “No, I have interviews scheduled every thirty minutes. And I’m going to miss the second one if you don’t stop being such an irresistible temptation.” He grabbed the polo shirt I’d laid out for him and pulled it over his head.
“I’m not that irresistible if you’re getting dressed.”
He smiled at me and pulled on the pants, then ran the belt around his waist as he told me, “You have no idea. And I’m sorry I have to go, but I’ll spend all day tomorrow making it up to you if you’ll let me.”
“Tomorrow? What about tonight?’
“I’m going to have a late night at the club,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling on his socks and shoes. “You’d be asleep by the time I got home.”
“Oh.” I felt deflated all of a sudden, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t like he was required to spend every moment of his life with me.
He looked at me closely. “Is that ok?”
“Sure. Of course.” Ok, so my self-esteem was a house of cards, ready to get knocked down with even the slightest tremor. Seeing Charlie this morning had already shaken my confidence to its foundation. And now I was doing even more damage to myself by remembering the night I’d met Dmitri, remembering the boys at the club, lined up to meet him. No, I didn’t think he was going there to pick up men. But that whole environment just made me feel really insecure.
“Baby,” he said softly, “I’m going to be there for business. Not pleasure. You know that, right?’
“Yeah. Of course.” I bit my lip, then blurted out, “I guess…I guess I don’t know what kind of business you’d have there at eleven, twelve o’clock at night, but sure.” Ok, now I sounded like a jealous, suspicious asshole. I could be so fucking stupid sometimes.
“The kind of business I do for my uncle,” Dmitri said quietly. “Tonight I’m entertaining delegates from one of the most powerful crime families on the eastern seaboard. It’s going to involve lots of ass-kissing, hundreds of dollars worth of my finest liquor, and a few working girls hired for the gentlemen. It’s all very sleazy, all very shameful, and I will most definitely be keeping my dick in my pants throughout all of it.”
I turned to stare at him, and said simply, “Oh.”
“I’m not proud of it. Not by a long shot. But that’s how I pay my dues.”
“I’m sorry, Dmitri. I didn’t mean to get all weird and jealous.”
He smiled at me and reached up to caress my cheek. “I adore you, Jamie. You don’t have a reason in the world to be jealous.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling a lump in my throat, and turned my head to kiss his hand.
He said, “If you want to, you can wait for me at my house. I’m not sure how late I’ll be, but God would it be nice to come home to you.”
“I’d like that.”
“Just so you know,” he said with a sad little smile, “after one of these Meet the Mafia nights, I’m absolutely no fun. I’ll be full of self-loathing, and will probably take a two hour shower to get the stink of corruption off of me. After that, I plan to sulk and get totally shit-faced. It won’t be pretty.”
“I’ve been forewarned.”
“Ok then.” He reached into my pocket and pulled out the key ring he’d deposited there earlier, and detached two keys, which he slid back into my pocket. “Those are the keys to my house. I have a spare set I can use, so you should keep those.”
“Keep them? Like keep keep? But just for tonight, right?”
“No, not just for tonight. You should have your own set of keys, and you should leave stuff that you need when you stay over. I now have a toothbrush here, after all. It only makes sense that you have stuff at my place, too.” He leaned in and kissed me, and said, “Now I really have to go. See you tonight, ok?”