Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Here was to hoping he didn’t do or say something that made me lose my shit.
“Adrian, something is bothering you. You haven’t come to ask how I’m doing. You weren’t downstairs to greet the kids when we got home like you usually do. You didn’t even check on Emmaline, Inessa, and Juliana to see how they’re holding up. You didn’t hound Jaxon about how he’s handling security. You’re not giving Darren shit. What the fuck is going on?”
I leaned back in my chair and scrubbed my hands down my face. When they fell to my lap, I sighed. “Ivan and I… we… fuck, James, I’m in love with him,” I blurted. James didn’t seem surprised in the slightest, but then again, he seemed to always know everything when it came to our immediate family. “But he went back to Russia, and he…”
“He wants you to make the decision on whether to follow him or not,” James finished when I didn’t.
I nodded. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to bring up renouncing my title as consigliere so I can move to Russia,” I confessed. James hummed. “I know we’re brothers in every way except blood, and I know this is my family, but I…” I swallowed thickly. “I need him, James. I feel like I’m losing my fucking mind without him.”
He lifted a single brow. “And you thought I wouldn’t understand that feeling? Did you just suddenly forget how fucking obsessed I am over my wife? If I didn’t have her near me day in and day out, I’d probably need to be put down, Adrian.”
My shoulders relaxed. He wasn’t going to say no. He was going to let me do this.
“But—”
Fuck.
“—you will not renounce your title as consigliere.” I jerked my eyes up to stare at him. “I’ve actually been pondering putting a presence over in Russia for a time now, but I didn’t want to step on Ivan’s toes, especially not when he’s much more powerful than Adrik was and he has gone out of his way to keep ties with us. But if it’s you being my voice over there…” He let his voice trail off, waiting on me to agree.
“You want me to… what? Act as Don in Russia for you?” I demanded.
James nodded. “Something of that sort, yes. You’ll be my voice. You’ll make decisions in my stead. I trust you to make the right ones. You’ve been by my side for years, Adrian, and you’ve never let me down. I don’t even trust my own brother enough to do this for me. But I know you’ll do well, and you have Ivan to guide you if you find yourself stuck in a predicament that’s hard to work your way out of.”
I snorted. Ivan’s idea to help me would probably be along the lines of eliminating the people causing the headache completely, but sure. I’d let James live in la-la-land over that one.
“You’re letting me go to Russia?” I asked.
He nodded. “Only if you promise to visit,” he negotiated.
I snorted. “Of course, I’ll visit. Who would I be to deny myself of seeing your wife’s pretty face?”
He scowled at me as he stood from his chair. “Fuck you, Adrian.”
I snickered and pushed back from my desk. “You’ll have Jaxon and Darren handle all this?” I asked, waving my hand over my desk.
He nodded. “Your duties here are over,” he said. When I rounded my desk, he drew me into a hug. I returned it, being careful not to hurt him since he was still early on in his recovery. “Let me know when you make it to Russia, and I’ll set up a time for us to talk about what I need from you.”
I nodded and released him. “Thanks, brother,” I said quietly.
He nodded once. “I just want to see you happy.”
And I was going to be. Just as soon as I got my shit packed, got it prepared to be shipped to Russia, and then got my ass on a plane to my man.
30
Ivan
He hadn’t called. He hadn’t texted. He had gone radio silent on me, and I wasn’t going to be the first one to reach out to him. I’d waited years to have him. I’d already done the chasing. Already showed him what it could be like to be with me. Now, the cards were in his hands, and it was up to him if he wanted to leave the Jackson family. I couldn’t force him, and I couldn’t just take him.
James would not hesitate to start a war if I did. And I respected the Don too much to tread on his toes like that.
Sighing, I tossed my phone down on my desk and headed downstairs to the kitchen. The house was silent, just as it usually was when things were calm. But now, without Adrian around, the fucking place felt too silent. And I hated it.