His Contract, page 1
His Contract
Kelli Callahan
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
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About the Author
Also by Kelli Callahan
Chapter One
Cason
There’s always a line at Kotov Bakery. You’d think I’d learn to come earlier, but it never seems to happen. But any line would be worth it if I can see Josie’s smile before I go to work for the day. The man in front of me finally decides on an order and steps off to the side while one of the baristas starts to fill it. That’s one of the perks of this place, specialty brewed coffee to go with delectable baked goods.
“Good morning! What will it be today, Cason?”
My gaze meets the baby blues of Josie’s as she grins at me. That’s the thing about her, never once have I felt like her kindness or happiness has ever been forced. When she’s smiling it’s because she wants to, not because she has to be nice to the customer. Seeing her makes my lips pull into a smile. She has to be the only woman on Earth that makes me want to do so.
I hum and crouch, acting as if I’m checking out what the bottom of the display case has, when in truth, I can make out her shapely legs and rounded hips standing on the other side. Her jeans hug her like a second skin. I never thought I could be jealous of clothing, but they get to be wrapped around her; I’ll never have the luxury. After a moment, I stand and run my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know. Everything always looks so good. I guess I’ll have two of your famous peach scones with icing.”
She laughs, leaning onto the counter. “That’s what you always get. Are you sure you don’t want to try something else?”
It takes all my willpower to keep my gaze from straying down to her cleavage, as her arms press her ample breasts together, and her v-cut collar shows them off more. Part of me wants to get her a sweater to cover up. So that I know not every hot-blooded male in here could get an eyeful. I want her breasts to be mine. Again, it’s just a pipe dream. Even if she did want me, it could never happen. Besides, I’m almost certain she sees me as an older brother. I used to babysit her for heaven’s sake. I saw her as a sister until she came back from college last year, looking every bit a woman, and something inside me shifted. She was no longer the little girl that begged for piggyback rides and had me push her high on the swing. She had a woman’s body. Full of curves that I suddenly wanted to explore with my tongue and fingers.
I shrug. “I guess I’m just a creature of habit. I know what I like. My day wouldn’t be complete without your scones, Jo.”
Her eyes glitter in the sunlight coming through the large windows at the front of the quaint place. She pushes a strand of loose black hair behind her ear. “Well, I guess I should be glad for that. My day wouldn’t be complete without getting my daily dose of Cason. Do you want a coffee, too?”
I grimace. I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker and she knows that.
She laughs. “C’mon, I have a new cinnamon latte that would be right up your alley. It’s perfect for a chilly morning like today.”
I arch a brow at her. She knows cinnamon is a favorite of mine, but I’ll never give over to liking coffee. “Make it a chai latte to go and you have a deal.”
Josie’s plump lower lip juts out as if begging to be pulled on with my teeth. “You’re not staying around this morning? I reserved your table for you.” She points and I follow it to a table in front of one of the windows. She thinks I sit there to work on my laptop and watch the world outside, in truth, it’s the best seat in the house to be able to keep an eye on her and make sure that no one is bothering her.
“Not today, I’m afraid. Just stopped in for my breakfast. I have a meeting in an hour and you know how long it takes to get to the office.”
She sighs as she grabs a set of tongs and a paper bag. “I suppose that’s a good reason.”
My stomach flips a little at the fact she wants me to be here longer. God, if she could want me, too... No, I can’t let that happen. I pray every day to be able to see her with brother-glasses on. I never looked at her twice as a teenager. I had no problem finding a woman to spend my time with, but now that she’s no longer a child, I can’t seem to get hard by the idea of anyone else.
“Shannon will have your chai done in a few moments.” She lifts her hand to give me the paper bag with the scones and stops. Leaning to the side she looks around me, and I can’t help but turn my head to glance over my shoulder. I hadn’t sensed anyone walking up behind me, but when she’s in front of me, my normally acute senses dull. She becomes my world, and it makes my heartache.
No one stands there and I look back at her. “What is it?”
Her gaze meets mine and a mischievous gleam enters her eyes. “Come back here, there’s something I want you to try, a new buttercream I’ve been working on.
My cock twitches as her words; they instantly make me think of licking the cream off her body until she’s a quivering mass of wanton need under me. I move over to the swinging door in the counter that will let me join her behind it.
A throat clears near us and I pause. My gaze goes over to the burly man that sits next to it. I nearly forgot he was here. Her bodyguard, Sacha, is paid for by her father Michail. She doesn’t understand why she needs one, but I do. Her father has a lot of enemies as does mine and my family. We deal in too much crime for there not to be. She just thinks her father is a business mogul and that he’s overprotective of her. I’m not sure why she puts up with it, but she does.
Josie huffs. “Knock it off, Sacha, it’s Cason. He’s not going to hurt me and you know that. C’mon, Cason, don’t let that sourpuss stop you.”
Oh, I wasn’t going to let him stop me. I could wring his neck in two seconds before he could even try to fight me. I can’t stand him. There’s something about him that rubs me the wrong way.
I move past him, joining her behind the counter. She hands me the paper bag and then motions for me to follow her into the kitchen, where several of their assistant bakers work on batches of cupcakes and bagels for the lunch crowd that will be here soon. All of them are made with recipes Josie came up with. I’m certain both have to be nearly world famous at this point. Anyone who comes to Manhattan knows that they have to try one of her asiago bagels with cream cheese.
She leads me to the back where she works, and I watch her round ass sway. There I go again, getting jealous of a pair of jeans. I bet her plump ass would jiggle beautifully if I slapped it while it was bare.
She picks up a bowl from a mixing stand and faces me. For a moment, I think she might dip her finger in it and offer to let me suck it from the digit. Instead, she grabs one of her many test spoons and gets a bit of the cream on the tip before she offers it to me. She’s not offering me to take the spoon, she wants me to lean down and take it off the spoon. She barely comes to the middle of my chest, so even with her hand raised, I would have to lean down to take the bite.
I glance around, making sure Sacha can’t see us well from where he sits. If this got back to her father, my balls would be chopped off by him at the end of the day.
“He’s not watching.”
I turn back to her, she knew what I was worried about? Leaning down I take a bite. Something floral washes over my tongue first. I can almost smell it, shortly after it’s followed by something sweet like honey. I lick my lips. “Flowers?”
She grins so big, you would think I offered her a million dollars, not that she needs it. Her father owns nearly half the world with how many cookie jars he has his hands in. My family owns the rest of it, but not many people know that; we’re a silent part of the one percent. “It’s dandelion and honey frosting. I’m also working on a rose one, but it’s not ready for you to taste. It’s still too close to tasting like perfume.” She grimaces. “Anyway, do you like it? I’ve been experimenting with incorporating flowers into some desserts and I want to also adorn some cupcakes with edible flowers. I want to release them for the first day of spring in a few months.”
I nod. “It’s very good. I could eat a whole bowl of that, and you know I don’t have a huge sweet tooth.” She offers another bite to me, and I take it.
A laugh leaves her. She puts the spoon down to lift her hand, the pad of her thumb makes contact with my lower lip and she smears it across, then pulls back to suck the bit of cream off her thumb. My cock twitches more at the sight. Everything in me says to grab her and kiss her until all of it is off her tongue, but I can’t.
Thinking about a variety of things that aren’t as sexy as the woman in front of me, I take a step back from her and run my hand through my hair again. Lord, let this erection die before it makes itself known. “Thanks for the test sample.” I pretend to check my watch. “I have to go now, or I’ll be late for the meeting.”
Her smile falls a bit. “Oh, alright. I don’t want you to be late for your important meeting.”
It pains me to see her sad, but there’s nothing I can do about it. The
She nods and the smile comes back. “I’ll keep your table for you. You have a good day as well.”
I hold the bag up. “Put these on my tab, will you? Stop giving me things for free.” I turn on my heel.
Her joyful laugh meets my ears. “Never. Love you, be safe.”
I swallow hard at her words. I know she means it in a platonic way, she’s said it to me since we were younger. I used to say it back until I started to catch feelings for her, and then it became too much to bear. “I always am, you stay safe as well.”
As I get to the front of the bakery Shannon hands me my chai as I pass her. I smile at her. “Thanks, Shannon.” While leaving through the gate I not so subtly make sure the swinging door hits Sacha in the leg, hard. “Oops. Pardon me, Sacha. I don’t seem to know my own strength.”
He grunts at me and glares. What I wouldn’t give to be able to punch that look right off his bulldog-like face. I would love nothing more than to be in his place, watching over her all day. Even if we can’t be together, I would gladly do it, just to make sure she’s happy and safe. Sadly, however, I’m overqualified and her father would never dream of letting me take on that kind of role.
Exiting the bakery, I sigh. Speaking of her father, I have to go see the man now. The man hardly ever calls meetings with me, but when he does I know it’s because someone is on his hit list and he wants them to be taken care of the right way.
* * *
I get to my office with half an hour to spare. I wasn’t running late at all, but with Michail Kotov you never keep him waiting. I can’t help but wonder who he wants me to take-out for him. There’s a lot of people who hate him, but I can’t think of any at the moment he would want dead. Most of them are too high profile to make disappear easily. Even with the family discount I give him, he likes to hold onto as much of his wealth as possible.
A light knock comes from my office door as I’m pouring a twenty-year-old scotch into two tumblers. He’ll appreciate the gesture, and I want to remain in his good graces. “Enter,” I call over my shoulder.
“Mr. Kotov is here to see you, sir.” The voice of Cheryl, my assistant fills the room.
The door closes with a click and I turn around to meet the cold blue eyes of Michail Kotov. He and his daughter look similar. There’s no question he’s her father. I steel my nerves. The last thing I would want is to appear weak in front of him.
“Good morning, sir.” I motion to the empty chair before going back to my desk to sit across from him. I offer the scotch and he takes it with a nod of thanks. It doesn’t matter if it’s not even noon, the man in front of me will always appreciate a good drink. Honestly, at this point, having a glass of anything is like having water. It doesn’t affect me in the slightest. I need six glasses before I start to feel the buzz that comes with drinking.
“Mr. Bancroft.” He takes a sip of his drink.
He doesn’t seem in any rush, but I’m sure he’ll get to the point. I don’t push, knowing it’s better to let him speak when he wants to. The man is nearly thirty years my senior. He waited a long time to have Josie. With her being his only daughter he’s always treasured her, and for that, I have a lot of respect for him. Anyone who treats her like the flower she is is good in my book.
He takes another sip and swirls the amber liquid. His gaze meets mine. “I have a snitch in my midst and I figured out who last night. I need you to take care of him. Our usual.”
I nod. “Of course, sir. Our family discount is still in effect. Who is it? So I can start to get intel on him.”
His gaze goes to the large window behind me that overlooks a good portion of the upper East side. “I’m not sure how much of that you’ll need to do. You already know him.”
My skin prickles with goosebumps. Who is someone that I know that could’ve turned their back on Michail?
“It’s Sacha, Josie’s bodyguard. He’s been slipping information to the cops about our shipment times and that not everything going through the bakery is for baking. I’ve also had the DA sniffing around my companies. I’ve managed to create a few false trails for them, their eyes are no longer on the bakery, but it’s only a matter of time before he turns them back onto it. I don’t know what’s made him turn, but he needs to be put down.”
I nod and, tighten my grip on my tumbler as heat invades my veins. How dare someone who works so closely with my... Josie, turn their backs on the Kotov’s. Does that imbecile not have any sense of preservation? I gulp down my scotch, but it only serves to heighten my rage rather than cool it. “Understood.”
He looks me in the eye again. “Cason, I trust you’ll be discreet about this? Josie cannot ever find out. As far as she’ll know Sacha quit. She’s been making remarks anyway that she doesn’t like him, so it works out. I’ll replace him in a few days and that will be that.”
My heartaches at the thought of her. I want to offer to take over for him, but being the current head hitman in my family, I can’t do that. If I have to be absent from a job, it would leave her vulnerable and questioning. She thinks I run a security firm ranging from small-time guard to elite security, even cyber. In truth, my family works with the Kotov’s as two Syndicates who joined forces. One day, I’ll take over for my father entirely, running the syndicate side of things as well, but until then I work as a hitman and keep our cover business running smoothly.
I clear my throat. “I would never do anything that could hurt, Josie, sir. She’s too innocent to know what’s actually going on inside her family. You’ve done well to protect her from all that, and I don’t have any desire to tear down the veil over her eyes.”
There it is, his calculating stare. He’s been giving me that stare for years now. I’m certain he knows how I feel about his daughter, but he also knows I would never do anything to ruin my family, so she’s safe from me.
“Cason, you remember the promise our forefathers made, don’t you?
How could I forget?
Michail continues, “Our great grandfathers, when they banded together to create the empires we have now, they swore to each other Bancroft and Kotov blood would never mix to keep things pure between our families. We’ve held that promise for the last hundred years. Not to say some haven’t been tempted over the decades, but those people were taken care of.”
I keep my face stoic, not letting him know at all how that stupid promise affects my life now. I don’t think I could ever love someone else. I rather die a bachelor than pick another woman to be my wife. Josie is the only woman I want now, but she can never be mine. I have no choice but to subject myself to the hell that will be watching her fall in love and marry some other bastard. Whoever it is, it will take everything in me not to want to rip his balls off and feed them to him.
“I remember, sir. You have nothing to worry about. Josie is like a little sister to me.” A blatant lie, at least, now it is. I can’t tell if he’s bought it or not.
Placing the tumbler on my desk, he stands and buttons his suit’s jacket. “Good. And, Cason, make sure you have him dead before the end of the week.”
I stand as well and stride over to the door. “Of course, sir. I’ll have him done as soon as possible.” Opening it, I watch him stride through and leave.
Closing the door, I pinch the bridge of my nose. I wish I could get her out of my system.
Chapter Two
Josie
I crack my back as I enter my apartment and toss my keys in the bowl next to the door. It was a good day at the bakery; lots of customers and lots of money. I do this job mostly to make people smile and perhaps make their day a little brighter by getting to eat something nice and comforting before going on about their errands. However, I’m there from before the store opens at four in the morning to start on the first batch of bagels, muffins, and other things that customers like in the morning. Then I’m there until after we close at 7:30.
