“Mate, she was a whore, a manipulative bitch who could have given Irina a run for her money given half the chance.”
I huffed. He wasn’t exactly wrong in his assessment of the woman. “Did you not see the way he looked at her? The way he fought for her, the way he hurt every time I struck her?”
“He was definitely in distress.”
“I could see how much he loved her.”
“Why would that change anything?” Sandir asked, not hearing what I was saying.
“Because.” I hung my head. “If there was hope for her, then it meant there was hope for me too, Sandy. Warren was a good man, he didn’t run in the same circles, yet he found her soft spot, got inside and saw someone nobody else did. Does that make sense?”
“Actually, it does,” he said firmly. “You are my oldest friend besides my brother, Yannick Ischmov, and I never want that to change. Wherever you need to go, understand I am behind you all the way. You weren’t supposed to be this man, although you stepped up to the plate and then some, sleighed those naysayers. Truthfully, this ain’t who you are and I, for one, am happy to see you finally realise you have other options.”
“Irina wouldn’t like the thoughts going on in here.” I tapped the side of my head, so he got my meaning.
“Bah.” He thumped my arm. “You’re not beholden anymore, are you? Remind yourself until it sinks in, because it’s the truth. Stay with me and Andrey as long as you like, the distance will do you good. You’re done together, and need to move on, hopefully the pair of you can do it without one of you killing the other. That would be a mighty shame, on both counts.”
“We have some plans to make then because I want out sooner rather than later, you understand?”
“Oh, I get you all right,” he chuckled. “But maybe we pick this convo up later, here comes your Bunny.”
And oh, what a sight she was as she worked the room collecting empty glasses. As she drew closer, I sensed she wasn’t her usual self, her smile not quite reaching her eyes as she spoke to customers. Shoulders hunched forward, her entire aura a little darker than I’d previously seen. Jolie was troubled, and I wanted to figure out why and fix it for her. She didn’t suit looking so forlorn.
That could be a good start, right? I couldn’t stomach the thought of her being afraid of me, I craved so badly for her to like me, then maybe I could start making a totally different set of plans. If there was the possibility of something more, if the spark was there, then I would try mighty hard to show her the man I really was behind the myth.
Irina
“He’s at the bar again?”
Tayte sat at the kitchen table, a bottle of beer in his hand. He’d yet to take a sip which didn’t surprise me, he wasn’t much of a beer drinker. If there was one thing I did know about him, it was the fact he liked stronger stuff, namely Yan’s imported vodka.
“I guess so.”
“Why?”
“I think it’s called owning a bar and being the boss. You know Caulder’s has always been his favourite place.” Tayte cocked his head to the side and slit his eyes at me. “Is it really any of your business anymore?”
My mouth gaped open at his comment. Well, this was a surprise. Tayte never really fronted off with me, he wasn’t a pushover by any means, but the fact he had dared to call me out - I wasn’t sure what to make of it, especially since he rarely gave me the time of day.
“Yannick let go of your tiny balls long enough for you to grow some?”
“Fuck you, woman.”
I gasped, again truly affronted, almost leaning over to strike that smug fucking look off that face of his. I drew back in dismay when the square set of his shoulders and the terse cut of his mouth gave off the distinct impression of anger. What the hell?
“You grew a backbone,” I accused, snidely, poking the bear.
“It’s always been there, if you’d bothered to look.”
“Yet you all do his bidding without question.”
“Is it not your bidding too?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No. You serve Yannick.”
“It’s called loyalty, not serving. You make it sound like he’s our King and we are just the humble lowly servants. As much as it irks you, Irina, you know damn well what’s going on.”
Laughing, I poured a healthy measure of chardonnay into the glass in front of me. “What’s he up to?”
Smirking, Tayte took the wine bottle from my hand and slid it down the table out of reach. “Adjusting.”
“Adjusting to what?”
The man looked at me like I’d grown a second head, then delivered a metaphorical punch that made my stomach clench. “You’ve controlled him for fifteen years, you don’t have the power anymore. So yeah, he’s adjusting.”
“Huh.”
“You can’t still want this to go on, surely? He’s done what you asked, what everyone asked. Your father is dead and holds no power here, be kind for once in your bloody life, Yannick deserves it, don’t you think? Loyalty. You know the meaning of the word even if you pretend not to and it’s what he’s given you, under duress. You owe him.” Tayte was positively seething after his little speech, halfway over the table before he realised what he was doing and sat back down in the chair.
Eyeballing him, I snapped. “You’re an intimidating fucker when you want to be.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet, I assure you.”
“Are you threatening
