Page 22 of Mine To Possess
He laughs. “I get why you would think that after the way we met. I suppose you could say I’m an entrepreneur, although I don’t like that word. It must have been invented by the same type of person who decided women were too delicate to see the prices on restaurant menus.”
“Sorry, but I’m not in your camp. I actually dream of chivalrous men who open doors for me and want to protect me from restaurant prices that are sure to give me nightmares.”
He regards me expressionlessly. “That’s not very Gen Z of you.”
“Gen Z or not, I wasn’t privileged enough to ever think like that. I was never given the opportunity to be offended because someone tried to treat me like a little Princess. I’ve seen too much loutish behavior to ever want more of it.” I shrug. “In fact, the lack of a father figure in my life made me dream of a man who would protect and care for me.”
Something flashes in his eyes, and I fear it’s pity, so I square my shoulders and quickly add, “In a way it was a good thing because I learned the invaluable lesson of independence and how to take care of myself, but we digress…” I sweep my hand in a circle. “What is it you do to afford all this?”
He leans back and pins me with his silvery eyes. “I have many businesses. You’ve seen some of the office blocks. I also own several nightclubs and a casino in Paris.”
I stare at him. “Paris? As in Europe?”
He nods. “Hmmm.”
I lean forward. “A casino in Paris sounds so glamorous and so far away from the goons I saw at the Pink Flamingo.”
He looks down at the table. “All of my businesses are legit now, but it wasn’t always so. I started as a teenager selling weed, before quickly moving on up to cocaine. Before I knew it, I was importing the stuff. In with the big boys and living it up. Hell, I was making so much money I didn’t know what to do with it. The danger and excitement in that kind of life is a power rush. It pushes you to be bigger, to control more and more. I lived on pure adrenaline, and I thrived on it. You could even say I was addicted to it, but even then, I understood it was only a matter of time before I made one little slip somewhere and ended up behind bars. The expiration date for the big-time drug lord is surprisingly short. Then something happened that hastened my departure from my life of crime. I used the money I’d made illegally to buy up legit businesses. That was five years ago.”
“Don’t you miss that power rush?” I ask curiously.
He leans back. “Not one bit. I’m not the same man I was.”
I try to imagine him as a drug lord and remember the quiet yet utterly chilling voice he had used on the two goons. Yes, I can. “Have you become a good man, then?”
He shrugs. “That’s not for me to judge, but those around me.”
I ponder his statement. Where would I be without the job he offered me? Where would Justine be? Or Lacey? And those are just the people whose stories I know. So, he made a few mistakes when he was younger. It’s not like I’ve exactly had a sheltered upbringing. Heck, I’ve bought weed in the past. Who knows? Maybe from one of his shipments. But…
I take a deep breath. Better to be honest. Put all my cards on the table. “Yes you are, but I kinda got the impression from our encounter at Larry’s place that you are in the protection business, which is surely not a legit enterprise.”
He frowns. “That is not actually my business. I unfortunately inherited it from my cousin, Alexei. It’s not the kind of thing I would ever willingly invest in. I detest dealing with sleaze balls like Larry or Ivan so my first instinct was to walk away from it, but Alexei has implicated me, and I have to be careful how I dispose of it as there are a few unsavory characters who will come back to cause me problems later.”
“So, you’re not going to have me kneecapped if I don’t properly clean the windowsills in your house?”
“Uh no… unless you’re into that kind of thing, of course,” he drawls, with a grin.
I laugh, but the sudden turn in the conversation into sexual innuendo makes me feel like I’m on slippery ground. Already, I can barely keep my eyes off him. It must be the alcohol, but I really wish I could touch him, kiss him. Yes, he has a past, but somehow, hearing about how he used to be and how he’s changed now only makes him more attractive to me.
“You said something happened that made you realize you had to get out of the drug business,” I croak. “What was it?”
For a second, his face clouds with some intense emotion I can’t quite decipher. It could have been unbearable grief, or even pure hatred. I haven’t known him long enough to know for sure. He covers his blip quickly and smiles at me.
“This is not the occasion to talk about such things.” He forces a grim smile. “But enough about me. Tell me more about you.”
“There’s really nothing more to tell. I had a Cinderella-ish childhood, but I was rescued by a Prince.”
Viktor raises his glass, and his eyes glitter. “I’m no Prince, Amelia.”
I lift my glass too. “You could have fooled me.”
“In that case, Cinderella shall go to the ball,” Viktor says as he signals to our waiter to bring the check.
12
VIKTOR
Amelia is even more beautiful than I remember. Out of that sleazy barmaid uniform and without that haunted, terrified look in her eyes, she’s as radiant as a fucking angel. I’ve never fucked an angel before.