The King - S.R. Jones Page 0,8

her I’d be seeing her again. That was a moment of weakness. I should have kept my mouth shut and relished the surprise and shock, and probably fear, on her face come Monday morning.

Little miss sunshine will be so shocked when she realizes I’ve purchased the tech startup where she works. Come Monday morning, I’m her new boss.

Shit, the girl makes me lose control, and that’s not a good thing in my world. I might want her, but I need her too. Cassie could hold the key to getting me much needed information on a rival Bratva Pakhan; Boris ‘Popeye’ Popov. For those reasons, I need to keep my head clear and not do anything crazy. Or not too crazy. Not something the old Konstantin, the one who had his own father tortured and killed, would have done. No, I must remember to think and act like New Konstantin. Except deep down, at my core, the old me is all there is.

The outer surface has been polished like a pebble on the beach, my rough edges smoothed over by my years living in London disguised as nothing more than a wealthy businessman. I’ve even lost some of my accent and picked up British idioms and sayings.

My new, smoother outside might lead some of my opponents to underestimate me. They really shouldn’t. There’s a big difference between being smoothed out and being softened. At my core, I’m still cold and hard, just like that pebble.

Now, I’m about to show my real self to London. The less … legal side. I’m about to unleash holy war on these streets.

Popov helped kill my wife. My revenge on him must come before all else.

My phone rings from where it’s placed in the dock on the dash. I glance at the screen and see it’s Michael. Really not wanting to talk with him, but knowing at some point I must, I sigh and answer it.

“Yes?” I grind out.

“Konstantin, listen, I didn’t sleep with that girl. Ted did.”

He’s referring to his stupid friend, the idiotic one who wears ten thousand dollar running shoes and thinks it makes him a catch.

I pause. For a moment relief floods me. Cassie sleeping with anyone seems to be an issue for me, but Michael would have been the worst. Then I grit my teeth. The kid’s lying. Why wouldn’t he deny it?

“Michael, don’t throw your fucking friend under the bus. Be a man and own up to your mistakes.”

“I swear it, Konstantin. I did not sleep with her. Call him and ask him. Or ask her. Is she still with you? Cassie? Tell him.”

Okay, that convinces me some. A little.

“I dropped her off. So tell me, why was she at our house, and Ted wasn’t?”

“Because he’s a dick who pulls girls and then cuts and runs on them.” Michael supplies. “I don’t know. I was surprised when she came back with him, to be honest. I’ve seen her out before a few times, and she’s kind of boring.”

“Oh, boring how?”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line, and I know Michael isn’t stupid. He’ll have noticed my interest in Cassie and is probably trying to figure it out.

I go with the partial truth. “She’s an employee of a company I’m buying, and I need to decide whether to keep her or cut her. I’ve got a meeting there on Monday, and she’s going to find out I’m her new boss.” Her new nightmare. Then I continue. “When I thought you’d fucked her, it meant I might have to cut her, and she has some skills I can use.”

“Oh shit, sorry, Dad.”

I smile. Michael often calls me Konstantin these days, but I much prefer it when he calls me Dad. Each time he does, it hits me right in the chest.

“It’s okay, son,” I reply with a grin I can’t stop. “So tell me, boring how?”

“Well, she goes to the same club as us, but not often. There’s a group of girls, and sometimes she’s part of their crowd. The others are party animals. Out every Saturday like clockwork, dressed up to the nines, and looking for a good time. One of the girls, she’s hot like burning, but a total ratchet.”

“What?” I’m lost with all this young person speak. Fuck me, English isn’t even my first language, never mind young person’s English. “What’s a ratchet?”

“She’s sexy as fuck, but a total mess. Like, drinks too much every weekend, probably does drugs, takes home a different guy every Saturday,