I wasn’t going to point out that he lived in a penthouse suite as well.
“Speaking of family, is Adelaide pregnant yet?” Ivan asked.
“No.”
I got to my feet. “Can I interest you in a drink?”
“You can, but you do know I’m not an idiot, don’t you?” Ivan asked.
I paused on my way to our drinks and turned toward him.
Ivan smiled. “Get me that drink.” He winked at me, and I poured us both a generous helping of whiskey. Adelaide had replaced the decanter on one of her many journeys out of the house. Ever since Leo had been given as her bodyguard, and I’d allowed her to leave, she was never home. I didn’t agree with this compromising bullshit. Adelaide was nowhere to be found.
Handing Ivan a glass, I took a seat, sipping at the dark amber liquid. It was the strong stuff, burning as it went down.
“Do you hate Adelaide?” Ivan asked.
“No. She’s my wife.”
“Ah, but you see, to have a true wife, you need to fuck her. Not drive her crazy until she’s happy with pathetic visits out. We both know you’ve not given her much of a life. At least Slavik did his duty.”
He’d never compared us before.
“Are you questioning my loyalty?” I asked.
“No, I’m not. I’m simply stating a fact. He got the job done. Aurora is very much pregnant, and you’ve not even taken your wife. Your marriage could be annulled like that.” He clicked his fingers. “Speaking of the charming woman, where is she?”
“Out,” I snapped the word, taking a large drink of my whiskey.
He chuckled. “I thought you were supposed to be good with women.”
I was amazing with women. The kind that wanted money for a good time. They were easy to handle.
Ivan sighed. “You know, I’m thinking that you and Adelaide might not be quite the good fit.”
“I will get her pregnant soon,” I said.
“I’m more than happy to take her off your hands. She’s more than a handful. I’m sure she’ll keep me entertained for plenty of months to come.”
My grip on the glass got too tight and it smashed within my hand. A couple of shards slid into my flesh, but I didn’t mind. The welcoming bite of pain doused me in a harsh reality check. I couldn’t kill Ivan. He was my boss. I was loyal to him.
Ivan smiled as if he knew what I was thinking.
“Those feelings rushing through you right now, I don’t know if you know this, Andrei, but they come in handy with women. It helps to bring them closer.”
“I know how to handle my woman.”
“Do you? Because from where I’m sitting, you seem to have a state of blue balls.”
My mind went back to the other night. Adelaide, naked, her eyes looking crushed as she watched me. I didn’t want her to look at me with anything other than pure heat. Spilling my release onto her chest had been a fucking waste, but I didn’t want to hurt her. She deserved more than that from me.
“You came here to talk about business,” I said, hoping to change the subject.
When it came to Adelaide, I kept fucking up, and I didn’t know how to stop it. Nothing I did was ever right.
“Ah, yes, I did. I want an update on everything.”
So I gave him a brief on everything that had happened. Since Ivan’s reappearance, my mafia problem had settled down. They had even handed me over three of their soldiers who they claimed had started the revolt against Ivan Volkov. It was all bullshit. I knew that and they knew that. They had played their true cards, and now I had to be on guard. It wasn’t like I ever dropped it. I was always cautious, always waiting for someone to strike.
Now, when it came to the Evil Savages MC, they were another problem. They had gone quiet immediately after Ivan’s rebirth, but they still plotted to take out my warehouses. My informant was more than happy to give me the details, but I had to be cautious.
My guy on the inside had never been so free with information. Demon would never allow it, and now as I sat with Ivan, I gave him every detail.
He sat back, running a finger across his lip, his gaze straight ahead. “Interesting.”
There is a long silence and rather than interrupt his thoughts, I finish my drink, get to my feet, and pour myself another one.
It was good having Ivan back. He pissed me off constantly, but he was a good man, a good boss. He took care of all of us, and he helped bring us peace, even if for a short time.
“Do you have any update on Oleg?” I asked.
“He claims to have known about the situation, which is highly doubtful,” Ivan said. “To make this work, I had to keep everyone in the dark. Cara needed to be assured of my death, and the only way to do that was for people to believe it.”
“I would have been by your side,” I said.
He waved his hand in the air.
“When I give an order, I expect people to follow it.”