Tyrant an mm mafia roman.., p.9
Tyrant: An MM Mafia Romance, page 9
“And you going around naked makes you look desperate. You’re not a baby, so quit acting like one. I’m going to grab up a few items I want. Take a look at the shoes and choose the ones you like.”
Checking out shoes was boring. I found a pair that was comfortable enough, but I quickly lost interest. I checked that Camilla wasn’t close by, then slipped away to the women’s section, leaving the rest of the clothes on a comfortable looking chair that looked more suitable for someone’s living room.
This was much better.
I grabbed several colorful tops I liked, some shorts made of a soft material, and stretchy tights. I crammed the lacy underwear beneath some clothes to hide them from prying eyes.
On my way back to the shoe section, I passed a slender mannequin in a skintight tan-colored dress. Would that be too much?
“Do you like it?” A smiling middle-aged woman approached me.
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s for me.”
“Nonsense. I’m sure we could find one in your size. Why don’t you try it? Then you can decide if you like it or not.”
“Thank you. Are you sure I can?”
“Of course, honey. With your slender figure, you can pull this dress off.”
“But I don’t have any…” I gestured to my chest.
She laughed. “Not everyone has watermelon-sized knockers, honey. Besides what you lack in the front, you make up for in the back.”
She winked at me, setting my mind at ease. She found the dress and brought me to the dressing room. I quickly stripped out of my clothes and slipped the dress on. The material was tight on my body but stretchy so it didn’t feel like I couldn’t breathe. My flat chest looked a bit lacking, but when I spun around to check out the back, it reminded me of the way Yaro had palmed my ass when he was fucking me. Or how he’d grabbed my butt cheek in the office when he was kissing me back.
I snickered, heat filling my face.
I had to buy this dress.
“How’s it, honey?” the woman asked. “Come on out.”
“I love it.”
I stepped out of the changing room. Shit, she wasn’t alone. Camilla and Andrei stood on either side of her.
“Daisy, it’s time to cash out,” Camilla said. “Take that ridiculous dress off and come along. I have a lunch date with Yaro, and I don’t want to miss it.”
The woman frowned. “Honey, I think you look nice.”
“Honestly, Daisy, are you going to listen to her or me? She gets paid extra for every item she sells. She’d tell you that it looks good on you even if it was a paper bag. Go take it off.”
A mix of embarrassment and shame rolled through me, and I avoided making eye contact with Andrei. I didn’t want to see ridicule in them. I shouldn’t have let that woman talk me into trying on this dress. Again I’d trusted someone, and they’d only abused that trust.
I returned to the dressing room, quickly changed into my shorts and T-shirt, and walked out.
“I still think it looked great on you.” The woman took the dress from me. “And that’s not the commission talking.”
But how could I trust her?
Camilla ushered me to the cash register, then sorted through the clothes. When she held up the transparent underwear, I froze. Laughing, she turned to the cashier and told her it was all a joke. Humiliated, I watched helplessly as she ran the credit card Yaro had given her. I still had the money Yaro had taken from my landlord. I could buy all the items she’d removed, but the cashier already looked uncomfortable, and I didn’t want to cause a scene.
“Camilla.” Andrei came up to us. “Why don’t you get Daisy a donut from the pastry shop next door, and I’ll load the bags into the car?”
She shrugged. “Sounds good. He could do with a little sugar to put some fat on his bones.” She pinched my arm, and I gritted my teeth not to cry out from how hard she squeezed. An ugly red mark was already forming. “Come on, Daisy. I’ll let you have an extra donut, maybe some ice cream too.”
I didn’t know what to make of Camilla. Sometimes I caught her looking at me with an unpleasant expression, as if she was contemplating how to get rid of me. But now she bought me three deliciously topped donuts, macaroons, and a pistachio ice cream in a sugar cone. She didn’t even seem to mind when I got ice cream on her top.
“So, what’s your story?” she asked as we walked out of the pastry shop. “Yaro wouldn’t tell me much about you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Yaro has all the answers.”
“Do you enjoy staying with him?”
“It’s okay. I’m comfortable and eat well, even though I eat alone.”
“I’ve been with Yaro for fifteen months,” she said. “He’s broody and mysterious, but he’s good in bed.”
Good wasn’t the correct adjective for what Yaro was like in bed, but I couldn’t tell her that. Yaro had cheated on this woman with me. A part of me felt disappointed he would do something like that. Another part was guilty. I’d slept with this woman’s man. But the greatest part of me still wanted to do it again.
Because you have no shame, Sparkie whispered in my ear.
I do, but I really like Yaro!
“Yaro and I will get married.” Camilla snapped me out of my mental conversation. “It’ll happen any day now, but don’t worry. We’ll still have you live with us when we do.”
I remained silent, mechanically licking my ice cream cone that had lost the sweet flavor I’d loved just a second ago. Bitterness coated my tongue with each swipe, but I couldn’t let her know how much her words affected me.
“Are you ready to go home now?” Andrei asked when we arrived at the car. “Or do we need to stop elsewhere?”
“Home,” Camilla said. “I have a lunch date with Yaro to get to.”
I gritted my teeth at the way she always added Yaro’s name to the conversation. If she mentioned him once more, I just might blurt out that Yaro had kissed me yesterday in his office. Would that get rid of her? I almost did it, but every time I thought about Yaro’s anger, I swallowed back the words.
“We’re here.” Andrei parked the car. I hopped out, forcing myself to remain instead of running off inside the house to put as much distance between me and Camilla as possible. If only I could close the front door behind me and lock her out.
“What are you sulking about?” Andrei grabbed a few bags from the trunk. I took up the rest.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t read too much into anything Camilla says. Yaro is the only one you should listen to.”
“But he barely says anything to me.”
“When he does, listen.”
I was still trying to figure out what he meant when we entered the house, Camilla trailing after us. Yaro met us in the foyer, his unsmiling face as attractive as ever. I tilted my head to the side so my hair fell over my shoulders. Would he like my new hairdo?
“Darling!” Camilla pushed past me and threw herself into Yaro’s arms. “Did you miss me?”
Yaro swept his gaze over me, and I held my breath. But he didn’t say anything and took Camilla’s hand. “Let’s go somewhere private.”
She giggled and trotted beside him. “Yaro, you don’t have to be so eager.”
A lump formed in my throat. I swallowed it down and headed for the stairs. Yaro’s reaction was telling. What more did I need from him? He might have kissed me back yesterday, but he would always choose Camilla. He was the one who sent me to the salon and to get clothes, yet he didn’t even show the slightest interest.
Andrei followed me up the stairs to my bedroom. He dumped my bags on the bed beside the ones I’d carried up. I yanked open the drawer of the bedside table and took a scrunchie out to put my hair into a ponytail.
“I’m going,” Andrei said. “You might want to take a look at this one.” He pointed at one of the shopping bags, winked, then left.
What did he mean? I grabbed the bag and shook it out. The lingerie Camilla had made me put back and the little tan-colored dress fell onto the bed. How did they get here? I’d been with Camilla, and she’d definitely pushed them to one side when she purchased the clothes for me.
Andrei.
He’d done this.
I smiled, clutching the dress to my chest. At least one person in this house cared about me.
CHAPTER TWELVE
YARO
“You were right to have us use a decoy. The shipment arrived safely.”
Andrei’s words should have comforted me as we walked through the French doors leading to the gardens and the poolside. The Falcons had intercepted another shipment, but this time it was our decoy. This trick wouldn’t always work, though. Once they realized they’d been set up, they would double down on their efforts to undermine my smuggling business.
“I’ll have my inside man organize another meeting with members of the Falcons.”
“Think that will work?”
“I doubt it, but I like to give a man a friendly warning before I strike. After all, they were my in-laws. They’re still Daisy’s family.”
“Have you thought of telling him the truth?”
“Yes, why don’t I go to him right now and tell him the news of how I killed his parents?”
“If you honestly believe he’ll turn on you, why is he here? Why are you investing in him?”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
Andrei scoffed. “When have you ever cared about the right thing to do?”
“He was only two years old when I sent him away and changed his life forever. I may be a bastard, Andrei, but there are limits.”
Even if mine had presented itself eighteen years too late.
“If it helps, I think you’re doing the right thing. Daisy’s good people.”
Why was he so concerned about my ward?
“His first class starts now, and he’s late.”
“Don’t be too harsh on him. He—”
“Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t do with him. Daisy’s none of your concern, Andrei.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself. Shouldn’t you get back to Camilla?”
I probably should. Camilla had shown up out of the blue an hour ago. I would have had her escorted out except for the kindness she’d shown Daisy in taking him shopping. She might have ruined his hair, which we’d argued about, but she hadn’t done it spitefully. I’d explicitly told her not to alter his hair in any way besides the bare necessities, but she’d said Daisy insisted that he wanted something different.
The new style looked good on him, but I missed his wild, riotous curls.
I sighed. “Take her with you. Settle her with a decent sum and let her know not to come here again. I no longer need her service.”
“That’s cold.”
But he should be used to this by now. Every one of my “relationships” ended this way. Camilla had lasted the longest, but what good was she to me when she couldn’t get my dick hard anymore? Sooner or later, I would have to explain why we hadn’t had sex in weeks. Ever since I got a taste of Daisy.
Laughter pealed out in the sunny morning. When was the last time I’d heard genuine laughter in this house? I walked toward the sound that had converted into giggles and rounded the stone wall. The garden was an oasis of vivid colors from the variety of flowers planted. Sugar maple trees created a canopy, attracting butterflies that Daisy seemed to have found. Or had they found him?
Oblivious to the spectacle he was causing, he cavorted with the butterflies, catching and releasing them. For once, he wasn’t naked, but the skimpy black thong he wore left nothing to the imagination. His butt cheeks bounced around with each prance, the lace material hanging on for dear life.
In the morning breeze, his straightened hair streamed around him. He looked lovely, so at peace and carefree. He had no home of his own, no job nor prospects to find one. He had no education to fall back on, yet he could be happy while I had the world and an ulcer to go with it.
“Daisy! Is that you?”
Camilla teetered toward Daisy in five-inch heels. She must have taken another way into the garden so we didn’t run into her.
“Sparkie and I are playing with the butterflies.” Daisy’s smile dimmed.
“Sparkie?”
“He’s my imaginary unicorn friend.”
“Aren’t you pitiful? That’s the best you can do for a friend.”
Daisy clutched his hands in front of him and lowered his gaze. “It’s not my fault I couldn’t have friends. Are you leaving?”
“Leaving? I just got here. Yaro and I still have plenty to do. I might spend the night.”
“Oh. I wanted to ask him something but…”
“What is it? I can ask him for you. Yaro’s partial to me, you know.”
“For him to have dinner with me in the evenings. I hate eating alone and not having anyone to talk to.”
He wanted us to have dinner together?
“Well, Yaro is a busy man. He already gives you everything you want. You can’t manipulate his time too.”
“But it’s not a lot. Just an hour.”
“If you want company so badly, why don’t you eat with the servants? That’s more fitting anyway.”
“I tried, but nobody wants to eat with me. They all make fun of me, but I don’t want to tell Yaro because he’ll fire them, and I don’t want them to lose their jobs.”
My staff bullied him? I clenched my fists; hot, blinding rage snowballed inside me.
“Don’t be silly. Yaro wouldn’t fire someone from his staff because of you.”
She was right. I wouldn’t just fire someone.
“Fire them all,” I said quietly.
“Maybe talk to them, and they’ll—”
I cut Andrei with a glare. “All of them must go. I don’t care how much it costs to replace them. Do it.”
“You’re killing me, Yaro. Do you know that?”
But Daisy was talking again, so I tuned him out.
“Well, he did beat up the landlord who cheated me, so I think he would. Yaro…cares about me.”
Camilla laughed, the sound icy and empty, unlike Daisy’s a moment ago.
“You think Yaro cares about you?”
“I know he does.”
“You’re a naïve boy desperately trying to get his attention. Always parading in front of Yaro naked. Let me tell you something, Chase, Yaro doesn’t care about anyone but Yaro.”
My blood boiled, although it shouldn’t. She was right. Even Daisy being here was about my self-interest. I just wasn’t sure which motivated me most right now. Wanting to sleep with him every time I saw him or using him to get the Falcons off my back.
“It’s Daisy.”
“Daisy’s a stupid name. It’s not cute. Your name is Chase, and you, of all people, should hate Yaro for the heartless bastard he is.”
“He’s not a heartless bastard! He’s kind and good.”
“Don’t make me laugh. Was he kind and good when he shipped you off to live in a godforsaken place where they raised you like a wild animal?”
“I’m sure Yaro had his reasons.”
“He did. He’s a cruel tyrant who must have things go his way. Why do you think you’re here after eighteen years? Because he cares about you?”
I should have made my presence known and thrown Camilla out, but something held me back. Daisy’s response to her harsh criticism. She was right, didn’t tell a lie, but Daisy refused to believe any of it.
Why was he so optimistic after all he’d been through? He knew I killed Polina and Joe.
“I don’t know, but I trust him.” Daisy crossed his arms and raised his chin, his stance defiant as he squared off with the woman my servants feared. It was why I’d kept her around for this long. She had a backbone. She was ambitious and devious. Someone like me deserved someone like her. I had even contemplated marrying her, since we seemed compatible.
Until Daisy.
“Yaro’s kind,” he snapped. “He took care of me when nobody else did. He defended me when people cheated me. K-killed for me when people abused me. You can call me an animal or anything else you want, but don’t talk bad about him. I thought you loved him, but you don’t deserve him!”
“And you do? You think I don’t know what you’ve been trying to do all this time? From the moment you showed up in his bedroom naked, I pegged you for a whore.”
Andrei moved around me, his intent clear, but I caught his arm and shook my head. Daisy wasn’t his concern, and that he even thought to step up annoyed me.
“Leave.”
“I thought you wanted me to throw her out.”
“It’ll be my pleasure to do it.”
His footsteps thudded behind me as he walked away.
“If you felt that way about me, why did you take me shopping?” Daisy asked.
“To cozy up to Yaro, of course. Since you showed up, he’s been distracted.”
“That’s because he’s probably already in love with me now instead of you.”
I sucked in a deep breath, and my heart beat fast. Was that what he truly believed? Or was he goading Camilla?
“Will you still be so infatuated with him when you find out what he did to your parents?”
“What?”
She laughed. “That’s right. You don’t know. If it wasn’t so terrible, why is he hiding it from you?”
“Yaro will tell me when he’s ready. Nothing you can say will make me not like him. And by the way, he must not be satisfied with you because he slept with me!”
Emotions warred inside me. Anger at Camilla for the way she tried to tear Daisy down. But more so shock that Daisy could be so frank and deliberately cruel. He must have known Camilla wouldn’t respond well to those words.
“You shameless bitch!” Camilla smacked Daisy across his face.
“How dare you!” The words flew from me as I stepped out of my hiding spot behind the stone column.
Daisy smacked her back hard.
Camilla clutched her cheek. “Yaro, did you see what he just did? All I’ve ever done is be nice to him, and he slapped me.”
