Page 63 of Hers to Command

As I hold her under the cascading water, one thought cements itself in my mind. This woman isn’t just my wife or my equal. She’s my everything. And the day I let her walk away from me will be the day my body turns as cold as Dmitri fucking Solntsev is now.

And soon, she’ll carry my child, whether she wants to or not.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Riccardo

We’re up at the crack of dawn, thanks to Toni and Sergei. The former showed up at the house at five-thirty, about fifteen minutes after a call from Sergei woke us up. Now, the three of us are in the office. The noises of Mrs. Batton messing around in the kitchen promise freshly brewed coffee.

Toni leans back against the counter, his coffee cup balanced in one hand as he speaks. “Body’s gone. Cleaned up the mess in the parking lot, too. Your club’s security cameras got the blackout treatment, Mrs. Angelo. Heard one of your guys talking to Sergei about it, so I let them cover that.”

Anya nods, standing across from him, her arms crossed over her chest. She’s still wearing the loose pajama pants and tanktop she threw on before coming downstairs, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Even now, half-dressed and barefoot, she radiates that power hunger that drew me to her from the start. I couldn’t put my finger on it until now, but after last night I finally get it.

And of course there is the barefoot thing. Good thing I made her birth control pills disappear. Not that she’s noticed yet. Even if I didn’t mess with anything, my chances would be good to get her knocked up. Considering she’s such a go-getter, Anya is enjoyably scatterbrained.

Something that’ll come in handy in other ways, I’m sure.

“And Dmitri’s men?” she asks Toni, forcing me to focus back on the conversation.

“They’re clueless as far as we can tell,” Toni says. “Nobody has asked any questions, and we doubt anyone is going to raise an alarm before they had their morning coffee. That should buy you some time. The only reason we’re all up so early is the fact that the... um... well, that your people have been active at the Downsview Park club all night and I wanted to swing by to check in before you head that way.” He gives a quick side-look in my direction. We’re not in the habit of letting the Russians just do their thing without keeping an eye on them, and even though Toni seems to like Anya just fine, this new alliance isn’t going to just take off without some skepticism. Probably on both sides.

Anya nods. “Good. That buys me time to spin the story.”

I watch her from where I sit at the table, my coffee untouched in front of me. Today, Anya sounds like she has her shit together. No more signs of the erratic need to act that I noticed after she got that anonymous note. As if last night’s bloodshed didn’t so much as nick her armor. As if it wasn’t luck more than anything that worked in her favor. But I still know she’s running on fumes and adrenaline, and it makes me want to haul her upstairs, lockher in our room, and make her rest. I know better than to try, though. Anya doesn’t stop. Which has its benefits.

Toni shifts his weight. “So, what’s next, boss?”

“I’m meeting Sergei at the club,” Anya replies, instead of letting me get a word in. She puts her own mug down and turns as if to leave the room.

My jaw tightens. “You’re meeting Sergei now?”

She pauses, turning to face me. “Didn’t you hear me set that up last night? Sergei has the clean-up handled, but when he called earlier, he mentioned the time difference to Moscow. It’s eight hours later there. If I want to control the story, it’s best if I get started before anyone here decides to be an early bird and talks to his family or Dmitri misses some check-in or something. Plus, it’ll be a good look for me to take the reins first thing today after I let Sergei handle things last night.”

I stand, my chair scraping against the floor. “And you don’t thinkwehave things that need to be discussed before you head out?”

Her brows draw together. “Riccardo—”

“No,” I cut her off, stepping closer. “Every time there’s something to handle, you walk out that door like I’m not part of this.” Like she doesn’t need me. I leave that last part unsaid, but my fists clench as I lean across my desk.

“That’s not true,” she snaps, her voice rising. “You’re the one who went behind my back to make deals with Gianna. I’ve kept you in the loop the entire time.”

“Like when you went off to take care of Dmitri all by yourself last night?” I demand. “You’ve got your men now. Sergei. Vlad. Viktor. Fine. You’re in charge now, great, but where do I fit in, Anya? Don’t you think we need to discuss that before you set up your shop?”

Her eyes narrow, her chin tilting up in defiance. “You’re my husband. It’s separate.”

“Right. Your husband. Convenient, isn’t it?” I say, my voice sounding seriously pissed. Behind Anya, Toni takes a few steps back, then turns and leaves the room. “We got married so you could avoid marrying Dmitri. Well, he’s no longer a problem. We also made a deal that if I support you taking over, you’ll cut me in and we keep the boundaries of our organizations stable. Fine. But right now, we’re still married and you know better than to say it’s separate, so stop treating me like it is.”

“I don’t need a partner to hold my hand,” she fires back, no longer pliable like last night.

“No, you need one to have your back,” I say. “And I’m done letting you pretend you don’t.”

We stare each other down, until, finally, she exhales sharply, shaking her head. “I don’t have time for this right now. Vlad’s already waiting outside to take me to the club.”

“Of course he is,” I mutter, stepping back as she heads to the door.

It’s like the damn woman needs to be close to a fucking orgasm to get that I’m not letting her walk away from this marriage. Considering I never wanted a wife, this one is sure as hell making me work for it now.

Fucking karma.

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