Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (53 page)

CHAPTER
TWO

Lexi

"
Josh
?" I called as I entered the
apartment and saw suitcases sitting near the door. "Josh? What's going
on?"

"Oh hey,
Sugar," he said as he flashed me his biggest and brightest toothpaste-ad
smile. "I wasn't expecting you for another hour!"

"How many
times do I have to ask you not to call me that? You know I hate it," I
said, then turned and looked at the packed bags."What's going on? Are you
going somewhere?"

"Uh,
yeah," he replied as he dug through the junk drawer in the entryway table,
pulling out rubber bands, a comb, a handful of peppermints we'd gotten at an
Italian restaurant in the Chicago Loop, and a stack of notepads from every
hotel we'd ever stayed at. "I'm going on a trip. I was kind of hoping we
wouldn't have to do this, though. Not tonight."

"Do what?
Where are you going?" I asked as I watched him dig deeper, looking for
something specific.

"Um, well,
see…" he trailed off as he pulled out a rainbow-colored super ball, a
travel flashlight, and a handful of AA batteries. “Look, I didn't want to do it
this way, but since you're here, I might as well go ahead."

"Josh? You're
scaring me," I said. I looked from him to the contents of the junk drawer
that now laid spread out on the top of the table.

"Lexi, I got
a call from an agent in LA. I got a part in that sitcom I auditioned for last
fall and they want me in LA by next week to get fitted for the wardrobe and do
some readings with the rest of the cast."

"That's great
news!" I exclaimed. "We've been waiting for this break for so long,
and now, you've got the part! Oh, Josh, that's so awesome! When do we move?
God, I'm going to need to get boxes and call the movers! How much time do we
have?"

"Well, see,
that's the thing," he shrugged hesitating a little. "Look, it's been
a good run, Lex, we were good together, but this is where our paths diverge and
we go in different directions."

I stared at him in
stunned silence.

"Wait, are
you trying to tell me that you're breaking up with me?" I said. To say I
was surprised was the understatement of the century.

"Yeah, I
guess I am," he shrugged. "It just seems like the right thing to do
at this point. I don't want to keep you hanging on here in Chicago while I head
to LA and pursue my dream job. Long distance never really works, you
know."

"So, you're
breaking up with me as you’re packing to leave?" I shouted. "You
couldn't have given me any kind of warning that this was coming?"

"No, not
really," he said calmly. "I mean, I didn't know if I was going to get
the part or not, so I didn't want to act prematurely."

"So you
thought you'd just hang on until you heard yes or no, and then you'd break the
news?" I was furious, but tried to channel the calm that I'd learned in my
improv classes. "And now that you've found out that the answer is yes,
you're leaving me behind?"

"Yeah, that's
exactly how it worked! Man, you're really something, Lex!" He moved toward
me to give me a hug, but I backed up and held out an arm.

"Do not come
any closer or you will most likely lose a part of yourself that you will
probably need in your new sitcom," I said through clenched teeth.

"What's
wrong, Sugar? Found it!" he asked as he took another look through the junk
drawer and turned triumphantly holding up the item he was looking for. It was a
small troll doll with neon green hair wearing a rainbow tunic I'd made for it
when Josh and I were undergrads at Northwestern.

"Do. Not.
Ever. Call. Me. That. Again," I said in a staccato voice as I pushed my
back against the wall and tried to remain standing. I would not lose my cool
while he was standing in front of me.

"Jeez, Lex,
lighten up a little," he said as he tucked the troll into the outer pocket
of the larger suitcase and zipped it in. "Look, I didn't do this on
purpose. It just happened. I have an opportunity to do what I've always wanted
to do, and I'm taking it. Is that so wrong?"

"It is if
you're leaving me behind to clean up your mess," I said.

"What's that
supposed to mean?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"What about
the rent here? Have you thought about the fact that there is no way on earth I
can afford to pay it on my own and that we have eight months left on our
lease?" I said no longer containing my fury. "You're going to run out
and follow your dream, but you're going to stick me with the bill?"

"Oh yeah,
that," he said. "Well, I'll try to send some money to you as soon as
I get paid for my first episode or something, but don't expect too much. LA is
really expensive, and I've got a whole bunch of things I need to do out
there."

"Josh, you
are…you are…" I sputtered as I tried to come up with a word that would
accurately describe him without relying on vulgarities. I couldn't come up with
anything, so I yelled, "You're an asshole!"

"Yeah, well,
I'm sorry you feel that way," he said and flashed me a sympathetic look
that I recognized as one of the expressions I'd helped him perfect when he was
auditioning for the role of a pediatric oncologist.

"How can you
do this, Josh?" I shouted as I held back a sob. "How can you just
pick up and leave me like this? Don't you love me?"

"Oh, baby, I
love you," he said, reaching out to ran his fingers down my cheek. "I
just feel like I need to explore the options being presented. It's only fair to
take advantage of the opportunities after I've done so much work to get where I
am."

"But what
about me?" I said as the tears welled up. "Don't you want me to come
with you? We've worked hard together to get this far."

"Sugar, look,
it's been a fun ride and we've been good together," he said as I felt the
anger boiling under the surface. "But we're just not meant to walk the
next path together, you know. There are some walks you have to take
alone."

"Are you
fucking quoting Hunger Games while you break up with me?" I asked,
narrowing my eyes and shooting him a drop-dead look. "And, don't call me
that. You know I hate it."

"Yeah, I
guess I am," he grinned. "Well, it works for just about everything,
now, doesn't it?"

"You're
unbelievable." I shook my head as I stepped back and looked at him with
fresh eyes. "I can't believe that I loved you enough to want to make a
life with you."

"Oh c'mon,
Lexi, we were never that serious," he said as he impatiently checked his
luggage tags to make sure he had his LA address on them. "We were college
lovers who knew that some day we'd go our separate ways."

"You're
delusional," I said. "Don't you remember that night on the roof of
the Carlton Hotel when we had drinks and watched a movie under the stars and
you said you hoped our whole life together would be just like that?"

"Huh? What
are you talking about?" he said as he pulled out his wallet and
double-checked that he had enough cash for the curb check-in. "Oh, you
mean that night when it was too hot to be inside and we decided that a free
movie was better than being stuck in a sweltering apartment?"

"You're
rewriting our entire relationship!" I cried. "It wasn't like that! We
were in love!"

"You were in
love, Lex, not me," he said as he looked up at me. "I love you, but
not like that. And, I'm certainly not going to throw away a chance at a real
acting career out of guilt or a few words I said after one too many martinis on
the roof of the Carlton."

"You're
heartless," I whispered. I wanted to scream at him, pound on his chest,
and make him admit that he had felt something for me. That he had loved me and
still did, but my pride won out and I kept silent as he slung his travel bag
over his shoulder and grabbed the handle of his suitcase before heading for the
door.

"I'm not
heartless, Lex," he said as he turned the knob, opened the door and
stepped out into the hallway. "I'm pragmatic, and there's a huge
difference between the two. Take care of yourself, Sugar." And with that,
he pulled the door toward him until the latch clicked quietly.

"DON'T
FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" I screamed at the door as I grabbed a sculpture
from the hall table and threw it so hard that it shattered into a million
pieces when it hit the wall. Then, I sank to the floor and sobbed as if my heart
was breaking, which I was almost certain it was.

CHAPTER
THREE

Max

I
quickly cleared my head
and got back to work unpacking the inventory I'd ordered. I had a lot to
accomplish before the store was scheduled to open in two weeks and I didn't
have the time to have a meltdown over my brother's threat. As I inspected each
piece of jewelry and placed it back in its box, I thought about how to best
handle this situation. Visiting my father was out of the question. He'd sent
Kristov to bring me back, so confronting him wasn't going to be a viable
option. I knew I needed someone to help me plead my case, though, so I made a
quick decision to head up to see my grandmother. If anyone could help me, it
would be her.

"Hello,
Babi!" I called as I knocked on her screen door and pulled it open. Babi
had lived on the bottom floor of a two-flat walk up on Newgard for as long as I
could remember. She'd come over from Moscow when I was small, but she hadn't
wanted to live with us like most grandmothers. She was a stubborn woman, which
explained a lot about my father, but she lavished love in the form of
traditional Russian food on all of her children and grandchildren. I couldn't
remember a time when Babi wasn't cooking and today was no exception.

"Maksimka!"
she called from the kitchen. "Come in here and give your Babi a
kiss!"

I laughed as I
crossed the front room and headed for the kitchen. Babi's house looked like it
had been picked up and transported directly from her apartment in Moscow. The
room was wallpapered in blue and gold foil that ran from the ceiling to the
floor and made me feel like I was on the inside of a fancy box of chocolates.
Her furniture was heavy oak that was intricately carved and faithfully polished
by the housekeeping crew my father had hired to make sure she wouldn't have to
do anything but cook and visit friends and family. Babi rolled her eyes at this
luxury, but she allowed it because she knew it made my father feel good about
providing for her.

"Babi!"
I said as I pushed open the door to the kitchen and found my grandmother taking
a piping hot loaf of bread from the oven. I leaned down and kissed her on the
cheek as she set it on the cooling rack and closed the oven door.

"Maksimka,
give me a hug!" she demanded as she grabbed my arm and pulled me to her. I
was more than foot taller than her, but she had strong arms and if she wanted a
hug, she got a hug. When she was satisfied, she looked up at me and said,
"I've got a pot of
ukha
on the
stove, sit down and let me give you a bowl!"

"Babi, I'm
not hungry," I protested, knowing that it would be futile.

"Nonsense,"
she dismissed me as she pulled out a bowl and began ladling out the rich fish
soup that reminded me of holidays and happy times with my family. "You are
always hungry, and I always feed you."

I threw my hands
in the air, but sat down at the kitchen table to watch her bustle around
ladling soup, cutting a thick slice of hot, dark bread for me, and putting it
on the table with butter. She was right, of course, I was always hungry, but
I'd come to discuss a serious matter with her and I didn't want food to
interfere with the talk I was about to initiate. I had no idea how my
grandmother would respond, but I was desperate for a solution that wouldn't
tear the family apart.

"Babi, this
is delicious," I said as I dipped the thick bread into the broth and
tucked it in my mouth.

"Of course,
it is," she smiled. "Your Babi only makes delicious food! Now, why
are you here, Maksimka?"

"You know me
too well," I laughed as I continued dipping bread and putting it into my
mouth. "I have a problem, Babi, and I need advice. Only, I'm not sure if
there is a solution that will make anyone happy."

"Stop beating
around the bush, tell me what you need," she said as she worked the dough
for another loaf of bread.

"Papa wants
me to join the family business, and he sent Kristov to make me do it," I
began. I felt stupid once it came out of my mouth, but Babi had never been one
to judge before she heard the whole story.

"And, what's
the problem with you saying no?" she asked as she flipped the ball of
dough and began pounding it on the counter.

"Kristov said
that I am not going to be allowed to say no," I said. "He told me
that Papa wants me to get my stars and become
vore y zakone,
but I don't want to. I don’t want to be part of the
brotherhood of the Russian Mafia. I just want to run my jewelry business and
stay out of the way."

"I
understand, but why don't you want to be with family, Maksimka?" she
asked. "It's an honor to be
vore y
zakone.
Your Dadushka ran a very efficient organization in Moscow. He was a
good man, Maksimka. Your papa is a very good man, too."

"I know,
Babi," I said quietly as I finished my soup and watched her move across
the kitchen and cut into the cooling loaf. She sliced a big piece and set it in
front of me.

"Eat. The
coulibiac
is best hot," she
ordered.

"Babi, I'm
full!" I protested as I lifted my fork and cut into the delicious mix of
fish, rice, hardboiled eggs, mushrooms, and dill. It had always been my
favorite dish and no matter how full I was, I always had room for
coulibiac
.

"Maksimka,
your father has built a loyal following here in Chicago, and it has taken him
many years to do it. He wants to leave his business to his sons, the same way
his father left the business to him many years ago,” she said as she turned
back to her dough and began shaping it so she could stuff it with sweet goat
cheese. “You need to understand that the family business is not just money or
paper. It's blood. It's honor. It's tradition."

"I know,
Babi, I know," I said nodding my head as I chewed. "I'm not trying to
deny the tradition or the importance of it, I just don't want to be a part of
it! I wasn't made the same way Kristov was, I don't have that ability to be
cold and calculating the way he and Papa can be. I don't want to do what they
do."

Babi nodded as she
worked the dough and then added the cheese before folding over the edges to
form a rounded crust that would puff up and brown around the cheese. As she
worked, I could see that she was thinking, so I didn't interrupt her. When she
was ready, she turned and spoke.

"Maksimka, I
know you want to go your own way, but I'm not sure you can," she said. My
eyes widened as I listened to her explain my options. "I think you're
always going to have to have one foot in the family business, even if you don't
want to. Otherwise, you are going to find that it is a very lonely world out
there and that it's not very safe when you don't have family backing you up. Do
you understand what I am saying?"

"I think
so," I nodded as I swallowed hard. "But, Babi, I can't do what they
do. I don't want to do it."

"Sometimes,
you have to do things you don't want to do, Maksimka," she said giving me
a knowing look. "Sometimes, you have to put family first and swallow the
idea that you can step out on your own and do anything differently."

As she spoke, I
began to feel hopeless. I didn't want to be a thug or a mafia boss, but it
didn't look like I was going to have much choice in the matter. What Babi was
telling me was that family always came first and what I wanted would be shoved
aside to make room for the needs of my family. I felt the anger rising from the
pit of my stomach, so I swallowed hard and waited for it to pass.

"Maksimka,"
Babi said as she crossed the room and took my face in her weathered hands.
"It's not fair, I know. Believe me, I know. But in the end, all we have is
family and what the family needs, we have to give. In the end, the sacrifice is
worth it. And no matter what you think, you have to know that your Papa loves
you and Kristov more than anything on earth. He will do everything in his power
to protect you and make sure you live well."

"So, I owe
him my loyalty," I muttered as I looked away. Seconds later, I felt the
sting of Babi's hand as she pulled back and slapped me hard across the face.

"Don't you
ever mock your father's loyalty," she warned in a stern voice. "This
is not a game, Maksim, this is our life. You are part of the
vore y zakone
whether you like it or
not, and I will not have you disrespecting it."

"I'm sorry,
Babi," I said as I suppressed the urge to bring my hand to my face and
feel the cheek where she'd delivered the blow. I knew then that my only way was
to get onboard as best I could and then look for an out when the time came.
Babi might love me, but she wasn't going to be my advocate in my attempt to
free myself from my father.

"Just do what
is best for the family, Maksimka," she said as she leaned down and kissed
my still stinging cheek. "Always the family."

I nodded as I
began to plot my way out.