SWNOVELS When He Takes: Chapter 23
The hunger in Nero’s eyes fades as annoyance takes over. He steps back, pulling me in front of him and wrapping his arms around my waist, holding me close against his body. “Maksim.”
Maksim studies us, his lips stretched into an enigmatic smirk. “Having fun?”
Nero’s grip on me tightens. “A warning might have been nice. We’d have come better prepared if we’d known we were walking into this.”
“I apologize.” That smirk keeps playing on his lips. “I thought you might appreciate the surprise. What do you think?” His gaze moves to me.
“It’s…like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” I answer.
“I wanted you to step out of your comfort zone. Do you know the club’s philosophy?”
“Enlighten us.”
“Here at Seven Lives, we embrace a singular truth: unlike our feline friends, we are granted but one life. It’s our belief that we should savor it.”
“How inspiring,” Nero says in a bored tone before releasing his grip on me and pulling out his phone from an inner pocket of his jacket. His brow furrows. “Fuck. I’ve got to take this call.”
Maksim smiles. “Would you like to take it in my office? It’s quieter in there.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Nero grabs my hand, and we follow Maksim to his office. “It’s that bastard Cosimo,” Nero says, his voice hushed. “I have no idea what he wants, but I can’t ignore him.”
“Doesn’t he know we’re busy?”
“No. He’s not involved with this.”
That’s right. I forgot Cosimo Ferraro doesn’t know about what we’re doing with Maksim.
The music is muted as we step into Maksim’s office.
The room is more like a suite, divided into two sections—a sitting area at the front and a room with a large wooden desk behind a set of French doors.
Maksim gestures toward the sitting area. “Will you be comfortable here, Nero? While you take your call, I can show Blake my small library.”
Nero frowns, his hazel eyes narrowing on Maksim before moving to me.
A silent conversation passes between us.
I don’t trust him alone with you, his expression seems to say.
I tilt my head. You’ll be able to see us through the French doors. He’s not taking me far away.
Nero clenches his jaw and nods in agreement. “I won’t be long.” His phone rings again, and he answers it with annoyance. “What is it?”
Maksim fixes his tie. “Shall we?”
I follow him into the second room, while Nero switches to speaking in Italian on the phone.
“Where’s Ekaterina?” I ask.
“At home. She doesn’t like coming to the club.” We enter the second room, and Maksim closes the French doors with a quiet click. His shoulder brushes against mine as he moves past me. “Can I offer you a drink?”
“Just water, thanks.”
A large bookshelf takes up one of the walls. It’s filled with ancient-looking leather tomes. I take a few steps closer, examining the titles. The bottom two shelves hold encyclopedias, while the rest are classic literature. There are titles in English, French, and Russian.
Maksim comes up to me and hands me a glass of water. “I decided to split up my collection after I heard you lost yours in a terrible fire.”
My head snaps up to look at him. “How do you know about the fire?”
His thin smile twists my stomach into knots. “I like to thoroughly research things that fascinate me.”
My pulse quickens. What game is he playing now?
“Have a seat,” he says, gesturing at one of the armchairs next to the desk.
Surprisingly, instead of taking the seat across from me like I expected, he settles into the armchair beside me. His fingers hang off the armrest, just inches away from my own. I quickly withdraw my hand and place it in my lap.
“I find you incredibly fascinating, Mrs. De Luca,” Maksim murmurs.
I stay silent, waiting for him to say more. Nero’s voice filters through the French doors—he’s arguing in rapid-fire Italian.
“Your husband doesn’t sound too happy with his circumstances,” Maksim remarks. “Are his masters tugging on his leash too tightly?”
I pause for a moment, choosing my words carefully before responding. “I’m sure Nero wishes things could go back to the way they were before.”
Maksim nods. “Perhaps. But we all know that’s not possible. The past cannot be undone. However, we can shape the future. Your husband desires power, correct? A power he will never attain if he remains under Gino Ferraro’s control.”
I raise an eyebrow, giving space for him to continue.
“I can give him a way out. Not only that, I can help him take down the people that destroyed his life.” He gives me a thin smile. There’s something in his gaze that makes me want to recoil in disgust.
“How?” I force myself to ask.
“I can persuade the pakhan to take Nero under his wing. After all, the enemy of our enemy is our friend. Especially when Nero could be a very useful friend. But I would be taking a personal risk by vouching for Nero. To make it worth my while, I’d want something in exchange.”
“What?”
Maksim lifts his hand and trails a knuckle over my cheek. “What I want is one night with you.”
A crater opens up inside my gut. “Wh-what?”
Maksim’s eyes bore into me. “One night, Blake. Don’t you love your husband enough to do this for him?”
My thoughts race in confusion. He wants me to sleep with him in exchange for helping Nero. He believes I would do anything to aid my husband escape a situation he despises.
It becomes clear to me then just how depraved Maksim truly is. He is pretending to be doing Nero a favor, but it’s all for his personal gain.
This is his way of testing the waters, of seeing how desperate Nero and I are to change our circumstances.
I swallow hard. I could never do what he’s asking for. The thought of being with Maksim twists my stomach.
But refusing would be the end of our mission. It would be giving up Nero’s chance at becoming capo. It would be giving up my only possibility of getting that passport—my ticket to freedom.
A ticket I’m not so sure I even want anymore.
“So…” Maksim leans back in his armchair, steepling his fingers in front of him. “What is your answer?”
I don’t know. I feel dizzy and a little sick.
Suddenly, the French doors swing open, and Nero strides in. “I’m finished, and I’m getting a bit bored of this scene, so let’s cut to the chase, Maksim. Why did you invite us here?”
“I was just talking to Blake about that.”
Panic swirls inside my chest. What will Nero do when he finds out what Maksim wants?
He’ll probably lose it.
But what if he doesn’t? What if he thinks it’s a fair price in exchange for getting what we want?
“Blake?”
I stare at my lap, my vision turning blurry. There’s a loud whooshing sound inside my ears. And then Nero’s right there, kneeling beside me.
He cups my cheek with his warm hand and forces me to meet his worried gaze. “Blake.”
A tear slides down my cheek, and his concerned expression turns to pure stone.
“What happened?” he asks in a rough voice.
When I can’t get an answer past my tight throat, he directs his attention to the man beside me.
“What the fuck did you say to my wife?”