𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

47

~ ilya ~

I held Phoenix close to my chest as she slept.

One of my fingers traced my mark on her hip and every so often she would squirm and mumble her displeasure.

An irresistible smile formed on my lips.

Finally, she was mine. And I'd a fool if I didn't admit that every inch of my being belonged to her as well.

Fucking hell, I loved her. I couldn't and wouldn't ever imagine a life without her. God, it hurt to think about how painstakingly monotone my life was before this troublemaker appeared in her little sequinned dress at that club in Italy. I had never been happier to murder one of those Italian pieces of shit.

Aleksey would roll his eyes at how pussy whipped I was.

Speaking of my second-in-command, he was probably waiting in my office. Like magic, my phone began to ring.

I murmured my affection onto her ears before carefully, unravelling her arms from my waist. That took quite a bit of effort even though she was unconscious. Pride swelled in my chest; she was beautiful, smart and strong.

Reluctantly, I rose to my feet. I found my boxers discarded on the floor and in them, were two holes most likely from her nails. At the memory of the last hour, my groin began to harden. Ignoring it, I fished for the ringing phone in my pants before bringing it to my ear.

"Да?"

"Did you just get laid?" Aleksey questioned, amusement in his tone.

A smirk found its way onto my lips while my eyes found their way to my sleeping Phoenix. "How did you know?"

"I can hear the sex in your voice, Dimitri," he replied, smugly.

"Shut up," I barked, though there was humour in my voice, "and tell me why you called."

"The blonde just had a seizure."

I froze. "Tabitha?"

"Yes. The brunette is throwing a fit. And to make matters worse, Aliena and the Belarusians are paying another visit tonight before they leave. My men tell me they're bringing the cash."

"Fuck!" I growled.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Phoenix begin to stir. Guiltily, I strode into the en-suite.

"Yeah, don't worry, I already called Milena," he continued.

I heard the distaste in his voice. For some reason, Aleksey seemed to dislike my sister-in-law. I'd never made a point to ask and there was no time now.

"Good," I said, running an agitated hand through my hair, "Aleksey, I can't be at two places at once. I'll handle the Belarusians when they come and you handle the girls. We can't fuck this up now. We've almost cracked that Giovanni bastard."

"Да, I understand," he responded. "I need to go-"

I heard ruckus in the background. The muffled screams of a girl.

"-I'll update you before Aliena arrives at the club."

"Okay," I agreed, before ending the call.

In frustration, I tossed the phone onto the counter before leaning on my elbows against it.

A soft hand landed on my shoulder. "Ilya?"

The sight of her ruffled dark hair and her naked body in only my shirt did wonders to alleviate the tension in my mind. Wordlessly, I crushed her to my chest.