“You really like Bunny, huh?”
“More than I’ve liked any other woman in my life. Irina has well and truly fucked this up and I don’t know if I can rescue it.”
“Bunny doesn’t seem like the type of person to hold grudges. Besides, she knows the score with you and Irina, right?”
“She knows what she needs to know.” Which was next to nothing and that needed to change. It was time to bare my soul and hope Jolie was the person I thought she was.
“Then I suggest you go visit the lovely lady and grovel. I’ll handle Irina, she won’t meddle again.”
I sighed and looked down at my hands in my lap. “Irina needs love, Tayte. I couldn’t give her that, couldn’t be the person she needed. You though, maybe you’re exactly what the doctor ordered.”
“I get it, I do. The contract you signed was utter bullshit, and she continued to punish you way past what was comfortably necessary. I don’t blame you for having had enough. I’m standing in your shoes here, but the circumstances are wildly different. We’ve all changed, including Irina, so who knows what the future holds?”
“Here’s hoping it’s a better one for both of us.”
Irina
Last night had possibly been a step too far, even for me. The waitress from Caulder’s was not exactly Yannick’s type, and that bothered me immensely. She was this cute little thing who looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, what with her schoolgirl hair, she screamed innocence and virtue and wholesome goodness. The exact opposite of who I was and probably why he found her appealing.
I’d finally lost my cool. For fifteen years I’d tried, yet never managed to turn his head even half an inch in the way this woman had. What did she have that I didn’t?
“What the fuck, you psycho bitch. Move it!” Tayte had pulled hard, my resistance faltering as I’d toppled on the heels I’d worn. “Yannick’s going to pitch a goddamn fit.”
With a quick stride and a firm grasp I’d been powerless to resist, he’d dragged me outside and all but threw me into the car. Furious contempt had overcome me - at Tayte, at Yannick, at myself - for letting someone rile me up to the point I’d lost my temper in public. She was a fucking nobody, yet a nobody who’d caught Yan’s attention nevertheless, and to add insult to injury, she was friends with Tayte.
I’d ruled my empire, took a seat that demanded respect and compliance, yet I’d not been able to rule my King or my subjects. Defeat was an ugly word and seeing an unremarkable woman making a remarkable impact on my soon to be ex husband had me spitting knives.
“Don’t you ever think before you act?” Tayte roared as he’d jumped into the driver’s seat.
“That’s Yannick’s new…” I stumbled for the right words, “… plaything?”
Tayte gaped at me as if I’d said something utterly ridiculous. “He doesn’t have playthings, that’s more your style.”
“She’s a fucking waitress.” The inclination to spit at him had been right there.
“It’s none of your business.” Tayte started the car, anger evident in the way he slammed the stick into gear and skirted more than one traffic law before even leaving the borough.
“Shit, I left my coat.”
“Bill will grab it.”
“Why are you so pissed? It’s not like Yan’s even talking to you right now after what you did.”
He’d cut such a filthy look my way, then banged his palm heavy on the steering wheel. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“Oh.” My laugh was caustic. “You got the hots for the little Bunny too, huh? Yeah, that’s right, Tayte. I heard every fucking word, saw how goddamn close you were to her. Does he know?”
With his jaw clenched, he’d swerved the car sharply, then pulled over at the side of the road, narrowly missing the back end of another parked car. Before I was able to ask what he was doing, he was on me, pinning me to the seat, eyes glinting with menace in the semi-darkness.
“You don’t touch her again, you hear me? Lev promised Yan and the least you can do is fucking respect the man who gave you fifteen years of his life. He lost Yosef too but did any of you fuckers think to ask if that was okay before you stitched him up? No. Instead, you used up a good man, a really bloody decent man, and spat him out any chance you got, made him do the dirty work you knew he wasn’t cut out for.” He’d taken a long breath, glancing out both windows. “I’m not Yannick. I’m not bound by contracts, Irina. You’d do well to remember that because you keep pushing your luck and I’ll gladly put you down myself.”
Well, fuck, I’d thought, mildly amused. Tayte was a scary guy when he wanted to be, and while I’d felt the tiniest bit of fear at his comment, I’d also been a whole hell of a lot turned on which disturbed me more. I’d seen him lose his temper before but never quite like then and never at me. Licking my lips, I’d squirmed underneath the weight and smell of him, then pushed my luck because that’s what I did best.
“Try it, I dare you.”
As quick as he’d climbed over me, he’d fallen back into his seat and in no time at all we were on the road heading home again.
“Expect a visit from Yan tomorrow. I hope he skins you alive. Leave her alone,” Tayte had growled, knowing full well why I’d gone to Caulder’s.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” A paltry reply if ever. Successful night all round, except for losing my new coat.
Things had gone downhill from
