only thing I’m good for is pleasing you.”
His lips find my ear, and the sounds of his ragged approval vibrates against my skin.
“Now tell me thank you,” he demands. “For what I’m about to give you.”
“What?” I ask.
He thrusts as deep as he can go and comes on an agonized groan, spilling himself inside of me. Only when his cock is empty and I am sagging against him do his lips find my ear and he answers.
“A baby.”
23
Alexei
It is late when I get to the city.
Normally, Franco drives me. But now that Talia is at the house, I feel his services are best required there. Against his protests, I have driven myself to Slainte.
I needed this meeting to take place on the Irish’s home ground. The lies are prepared to slip from my tongue when I greet Lachlan in the office. The way they have been ever since I brought Talia into my life.
He will have no choice but to understand. His alliance with the Vory will not be strained by one girl. I know this. And I am taking full advantage of it.
“Alexei.” He shakes my hand as a sign of respect and then pours me a glass of cognac.
When he sits down across from me, we both make the usual toasts. And then the business begins.
“You have word on Mack’s friend?”
“I do.”
I finish the glass and meet his gaze.
“There is… a complication.”
Lachlan frowns. “What sort of complication?”
“She was purchased by Arman Kassabian.”
“I see.”
I let the information settle on him. Arman is the Bulgarian weapons dealer that keeps a sizeable chunk of the global market in business. He also happens to be the supplier of the Irish and the Vory. It is a profitable business relationship to all of us. Lachlan will not start a war over one girl, or even lose his arms supply over one girl. This is just a fact of the mafia business. The steady supply of arms is the lifeblood of the Irish syndicate.
In the end, this is how I know the choice he will make. His loyalty is to his brotherhood. To the well-being of the organization. And a leader must always choose the organization over all else.
Lachlan knows me fairly well. As well as I allow anyone to. He is aware of my defect although I am not certain how he caught on to it. And yet, he has never shown me any disrespect or disloyalty. He trusts my judgment and does not question my abilities.
For this reason, I consider him a friend as well as an ally. Our pact makes good business sense, but he is the only one of the Irish I like to deal with.
“Have ye spoken with him?” Lachlan asks. “Is he prepared to part with her for a cost?”
I shake my head and keep my expression neutral. “He has an attachment to her. He is not willing to part with her on a permanent basis.”
“What does that mean?” he demands.
“I have the girl in my possession now.”
His eyes widen and then narrow. “For how long?”
“He parted with her as collateral on a shipment that went missing,” I tell him.
He brushes his hands down his face and leans back in his chair. I can see the thoughts running through his mind. They are the same that initially went through my own. Getting the girl a new identity, sending her somewhere else. Telling Arman I lost my head and she was just a casualty of doing business.
“There is nowhere she will ever be safe from him,” I tell Lachlan. “And even if she were…”
The words drift off, and a part of me feels guilt for speaking of Talia this way.
“Even if she were, what?” Lachlan asks.
“The girl is not in a good state of mind.”
“I didn’t guess she would be,” he replies.
“She can’t be on her own.”
“We can’t send her back to Arman.”
“I have no intention to.”
“Then what?” he asks.
“I have handled the situation in a way that is best for all concerned parties.”
Lachlan’s agitation is clear when he speaks. “Which is?”
“I have married the girl.”
The room falls silent, and his eyes bore into mine, incredulous. He doesn’t believe me. But he also knows I have never been one to joke. So he waits. And I do also. And after a time, it settles on him. This is serious.
“You married her,” he repeats. “Without consulting me.”
“I don’t generally consult with those who hold no sway in my own decisions.”
“This isn’t just your decision,” he grates. “Did she even want