world’s premier training school for private security. A private militia for the world’s most successful people, if you will.”
“So you’re going to walk away from all your businesses in London?”
“This is all tentative right now. I need to speak to a lot of people.” He kisses me again and then gently bites the shell of my ear, making me shiver. “The plan is, I put Margaret in charge of the day to day running of my legitimate business, and get daily reports from her. I keep in touch via conference calls, and of course if needs be, I can be in London within a few hours. The other side of things, I’m hiving off completely and walking away from. Allyov can take over some of it, and that’s a gift from me to Andrius because Allyov is a greedy fucker. If I bribe him with some of the import/export side of things, he’s more likely to let Andrius go completely. The rest, I’ll see if Bohdan and Vasily want to step up and take it over.”
“What if they don’t?”
He shrugs and gives me a predatory grin. “Then the sharks can fight over the spoils. If I do this, I have to walk away completely. It’s why I need to talk to Bohdan and Vasily. They’ll be completely in charge. All the spoils will go to them. I won’t take a damn penny from it. In return, though, they get all the hassle and all the danger.”
He sits up, and I turn over to look at him better, propping myself up on one elbow.
He zips his fly and rests his forearms on his knees as he continues to talk. “Andrius made it very clear. If I want in on this, I walk away fully. I can’t rush into the fray if Vasily gets into shit. Not even if his life is in danger. Vasily will have a decision to make once he knows this. Bohdan too. I know Andrius well enough to understand that if I fuck him over on this, he’ll kill me. I’m like a brother to him, but he’s doing this to be safe and to keep Violet and their baby safe. If I want in, I’ve got to do it his way.”
“Wow.” I can’t take it all in. “So you’re going to live in Corfu?” I ask.
He frowns and turns to me. He’s pissed; I can see it in his face. “We’re going to live in Corfu, Cassie. What part of me doing this for us didn’t you understand?”
It’s all I’ve wanted to hear for so long, but there’s a couple things niggling at me. One, what will I do in Corfu all day long? I can’t simply be his live-in concubine out there, can I? Two, what about my grandparents?
“The place we’re buying has lots of land. Acres of it,” he says. “There’s room for your grandparents to come live out there. Do your grandpa a world of good. Hot climate. The sea.”
Oh my God. This man. “You’d bring my grandparents out with us?”
He nods. “I get how much they mean to you, baby. It also provides a bolt hole for Michael to escape to if he ever needs it.”
“What would I do all day?” I ask.
He gives a dark chuckle. “Fuck me.”
I slap his shoulder. “Be serious.”
“Oh, I am. But if you needed something else to do, I’m sure we’ll need help.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh, yes because I’m a dab hand with a gun. I could help train your army, I’m sure.”
“No, but you could help in other ways. Run the office? Do the books. Run the IT side of things. We’re going to need someone for that. We can hire, but if you did it, then it keeps things in house. I’d prefer that.”
“Oh, okay. That does sound like something I could do.”
He moves until he’s on his side, head propped on one arm, looking right into my eyes. “Cassie, I don’t say this easily or often, and I’m sure you’ll get upset with me for not saying it enough, but I love you. I want you to come and live with me.”
My heart skips and misses a beat. I swear this man is going to put me on beta-blockers with the havoc he plays with my heart.
“I love you too,” I tell him.
I think I fell in love with him before I even knew him. I don’t tell him this because it makes me sound a little crazy. I remember