Knocked Up By the Russian Boss by Bella King
Chapter 31
MAXIM
As absurd as this plan actually is, it seems to be working out very well.
It’s about seven in the morning, and the sunlight pours in through the small opening in the blackout drapes. Almost as soon as we were done having sex, she passed out into my arms as if we were longtime trusted lovers instead of, more or less, sexually charged acquaintances.
I roll out of bed and quietly step out to the balcony, gazing out over the skyline as the rest of the city awakens to normal jobs, normal families, normal circumstances. I realize I’m itchy for nicotine, so I hesitantly make my way back inside to find a cigar in my bedroom.
While I search, Ivory moves a bit, flipping over from her left side to her right side without awakening. I freeze, anxious that she’ll see me moving around so early and will grow suspicious of me in her sleep-addled brain.
Fortunately, she falls back into a dead sleep as soon as she’s on her belly, and I’m able to go about my search for my nicotine fix.
I locate the only box of cigars I’ve kept at this apartment, and I’m down to one. Goddamn it, I didn’t realize I was blowing through them so fast.
I step back out onto the balcony, and below me, I can hear a young mother chastising her toddler for being difficult. The exchange makes me cringe. Is that all that having kids is?
My stomach turns a little. I’ve fucked Ivory twice now without a condom, deliberately coming inside of her to the end result of getting her pregnant. At least I’m getting a small dose of the reality of parenthood. Even through the bleak reality, there’s a little star of hope that Ivory will get pregnant. I want a baby with her more than I expected to.
Once I’m broken away from the glimpse into my future as a mafia dad, I decide to call my team and arrange another meeting. Joey picks up the phone, and while he sounds more than a little confused at my repeated and random absences, he agrees to wrangle the rest of my men for a meeting back at the base.
I shower and get dressed without much noise, careful not to wake up Ivory. If there’s a chance of her still being here when I get back, I don’t want to blow it by being a noisy asshole.
When I arrive at the meeting room, Sergei, Joey, and Emery are all waiting for me around the table in the main office space. Sergei sips coffee and stares at his phone idly as if he has any reason to need coffee in the morning. He’ll likely go back to sleep immediately after the meeting is over.
Emery and Joey are naturally more engaged, maybe aside from Emery’s sunken eyes. His wife had a baby not too long ago, and I know she doesn’t appreciate me calling him in so early.
“Okay, so we might not have to go through with our kidnapping plan at all,” I begin.
Unamused glances from all around.
“My original plan is going surprisingly well, so I don’t think we need to worry about complicating things further.”
Sergei scoffs. “You called us in here to tell us not to do anything?” he says, glaring at me as he keeps his head down.
“No, I’m telling you to stop worrying about pulling together a crew of men to stage an abduction. That takes a considerable amount of time and brainpower,” I reply, restraining myself from snapping at him so early on in our interactions.
As much as I hate his smartass comments, I need to maintain my composure in front of Joey and Emery to counteract whatever lies Sergei is telling them about my leadership abilities.
“Well, we haven’t exactly had time to worry about that in the first place,” Joey says. “I know you haven’t been around a lot, but we’ve been moving tons of weight in the last few weeks, more than we even thought we’d be capable of. We came within seconds of being caught by the feds last week. So, yeah, we’re not worried about showing off for your girl,” he continues. I can hear the hesitation in his voice, but I know he’s been wanting to speak up for a while.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I shout in Sergei’s general direction. He’s supposed to be the leader when I’m gone, and he’s been increasingly more difficult to get ahold of when I’m not here.
“You think we didn’t try? You’re never around. You never answer your phone, and I know you don’t want me to come out looking for you when you’re with the politician’s girl,” he replies.
“We’re actually super behind right now, and we have a huge shipment of fishscale coming in tomorrow morning at like, 3 AM. Respectfully sir, we really don’t have time to be here,” Emery says.
“Okay, okay. Then we’ll try to get everything squared up now, so we don’t have to revisit it in the future. How’s the search with that phone number coming, Sergei?” I ask. I’m already irritated beyond comprehension with Sergei’s mere existence, but he’s still an asset to my operation.
“I haven’t looked into it,” he replies casually, completely unbothered by any consequence that his laziness might bring.
“What the fuck do you mean you haven’t been looking into it? Someone’s terrorizing this girl. Even if I wasn’t involved with her directly, she could be in real danger,” I reply, growing more impatient by the minute.
“Did you not hear anything we just told you? We don’t have the time or the manpower for all that side-quest shit. We’ve got the fucking Chinese mafia up our asses for more product, and if you remember correctly, the last arrangement we had with them went horribly,” Sergei continues. He’s gaining favor with Joey and Emery, and it’s making me nervous.
“I’m telling you, in particular, not to worry about that. That’s an order. You’re the only person of you three that can track down a phone number the way I need you to. I need you to focus on the assignments I’m giving you instead of bending over for the Chinese whenever they want something,” I reply.
Sergei scoffs again, rolling his eyes and exchanging glances with Joey.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I order, staring directly into Sergei’s face.
He stares back, sucks his teeth, and leaves without a word. If he didn’t, I’d probably kill him, Family be damned.
I turn to Emery. “I know this isn’t your forte, but I need you to try and take over the phone number issue if Sergei isn’t going to do his fucking job. Joey, I need you to follow Ivory and make sure she’s not actually in harm’s way. It’s possible she’s just being pranked by some bored, rich sadists, but in case it’s something bigger, I need her being watched at all times,” I say, keeping my tone in check as my blood pressure lowers from my interactions with my idiot brother.
Both Emery and Joey nod. They’ve always been better soldiers than Sergei, more flexible, and definitely more committed to their roles.
We’re doing things how I want to, now. If Sergei doesn’t like that, then he doesn’t have to come back. I rule with an iron fist.
