Page 120 of Between Us

His wife sighed.”I miss you. Haven't seen you since yesterday morning.”

The night before, he'd arrived home well past midnight and left again before the sun was up. He hadn't felt like disturbing her sleep, opting to crash outin one of the guest bedrooms for a few hours before he had to get up again.

“I know,” he said. It was all he could say to her, despite completely trusting the man at his side. “Is Konstantin there?”

“Yeah. Vladik and Vladimir just left.”

“Make sure you set the alarm before you go upstairs.” He'd had a security system recently installed to give him some peace of mind when he couldn't be at home with her.

“I’ll just wait until you get home.”

“It's late, and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be.”

“I want to see you,” she insisted.

Roman fought a smile at her stubbornness. He missed her too. “I'll wake you up when I get home.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” She seemed appeased by that. “Love you.”

“I have to go,” he said when the car entered the parking lot at Beluga 1. “Go to bed.”

He ended the call and got out of the car, with Stepan following close behind as he walked toward the back entrance of the club. They were barely inside when a flash of burgundy and yellow stormed down the corridor, heading their way. Laney looked positively murderous.

She noticed them, her expression going even darker. Angry steps picked up their pace in red-soled heels. “You need to get Alek off my back before I end his puppy love in a violent fashion.”

Roman raised a single eyebrow at her tone. “He’s old enough to be held responsible for his actions.”

She huffed out a breath of irritation. “He’spesteringme at work. He’s interfering with my activity that, by the way,you’repaying me for.”

“What did he do this time?”

“What he always does, Roman. He follows me around, asking me to go out with him. I have a lot of stuff to do, and he keeps distracting me.”

“Why don't you give him a chance?” Stepan asked. “You're single, right?”

“He's a kid, that’s why. I don't need the headache.”

“If it makes a difference, he really likes you. It’s not hard to see if you take a single look at his face when you’re around.”

Laney’s lips curved downward in displeasure, but Roman thought he could see something different flash in those blue eyes of hers. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “That doesn’t change the fact he’s too young. Also, I don’t need to be a number on his endless booty call list.”

Roman shook his head, already done with this conversation. “I'll talk to him. Anything else I can do to make your life easier?”

She gave him a dry look. “That's about it. Thanks.”

“Good. Now stop pesteringmeand go back to work.”

He started to walk away when Laney spoke again. “Alessandra was here today.”

That surprised him. “What for?”

She hesitated, seeing the frown pulling on his brows. “You said it was okay for her to help out at the clubs.”

Ah.That.

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