A week had passed since the party at The Eden Club. Irina had said goodbye to Thomas and Alfie not too long before two o'clock in the morning, heading home by herself.
She hadn't heard from either of the gentleman since, which she was glad about. Irina had been worried that by accepting Tommy's invite to the party, he'd think that the possibility of buying Irina's warehouse was still there, when it most definitely was not.
The party allowed Irina to enjoy herself, relax, and think about something other than work for an evening. She spent almost all of her free time alone and she'd grown happily used to it now, but polite and admittedly interesting conversations with the two men she spent her evening with at The Eden Club reminded her that having a social life wasn't a total sin.
Business had stayed the same, if not grown over the past week. Kristian had placed a stack of papers down on her desk moments after she'd taken off her long jacket and sat down, a heavy sigh coming from her lips at the sight of the workload.
"You might want to have a read of the top one now, Miss Zakharov."
Irina nodded at Kristian as he regrettably rushed out of the room, his cheeks red and face flushed with awkwardness when he closed the door behind him.
She peeled the top sheet of paper from the pile and held it in front of her, her eyes scanning the name of the order which only made her groan.
"Good morning, Miss Zakharov, or can I call you Irina now? I think we're on first name terms, don't you?"
Luca Changretta didn't bother to knock on Irina's office door before walking inside. He wore a thick black coat and a dark, rimmed hat with a slim tie hanging from his neck, a pick between his teeth and a five o'clock shadow shading his olive skin.
"Miss Zakharov," Irina replied, pushing the rest of the pile of paper to one side, "If it's all the same to you."
Luca flashed her a bright smile, though Irina knew it was laced with a devilish intent. She had first met Luca six months ago when he made an order for a hundred crates of vodka to be shipped over to New York every month. Of course, Irina snapped up the contract within less than a week of negotiations, tying them both down to a year's worth of interactions at least, before the contract was up.
Over the past six months, Irina and Luca had met up more than once for matters outside of business, the phrase 'don't mix business and pleasure' being completely disregarded.
It was casual at first, and it still was, though Luca had made a habit of visiting Irina at the most inconvenient times of her work day, leaving her being able to think about nothing apart from the pleasure he'd give her once she'd finished working that evening.
Irina didn't like Luca, at least not any more than she needed to in order to have casual sex with him. He was kind to her, provided business for her company and on top of that, she'd slept with men who had performed a lot worse in bed than he did, making the overall transaction valuable for both of them. Luca got his vodka shipped to New York, Irina got her money, and they both got satisfied. It kept the business relationship sweet, too.
"I was wondering if you could give us a little discount on the next six month's shipments, you know, since it's been half a year now?"
Luca sat back in the chair opposite Irina, head tilted to the side and his eyes narrow as he looked at her.
"I'm sorry, Mr Changretta, the contract holds a fixed pricing model. Maybe we can revisit this before we write up for the next twelve months?"
He chuckled darkly, a smile tugging at his lips, "I figured. What are you doing tonight?"
It wasn't unusual for Luca to visit Irina's office alone, even when it was for business purposes, but she knew that when he had no men loitering beneath her window waiting for him, that he was more than likely there to arrange an evening together.
"I'm working." She replied, signing her name at the bottom of the order form for Luca's shipment that month.
"You're working? All night?" He leant forward with a raised eyebrow, his dark eyes pulling Irina's gaze towards him.
"All night." She whispered, swallowing as she watched him sink his teeth into his lip subtly.
"That's a shame," he started, standing up from the chair and walking over to the window, "I wanted to take you out."
"Take me out?" Irina repeated with question.
Luca had never so much as bought Irina a drink, if you didn't count the vodka sales. He'd usually give her the name of a hotel and a time to meet in the lobby before they'd disappear upstairs together, Irina slipping out the door before dawn, and Luca, awoke.
"There's a beautiful Italian place I wanna try, critique the cuisine, y'know? I thought who better than to take to a candlelit dinner than the woman that I like seeing best in an intimate setting."
The sarcasm dripping from his tongue and the smirk on his lips played havoc with Irina's mind. If Luca wasn't so irritatingly charming, their casual affair might've only lasted the first month of the contract, but something about the way he carried himself made even Irina unable to keep herself away for too long.
"Why now? I won't give you a discount just because you buy me some pasta, Mr Changretta."
He laughed and licked his lips, walking back towards Irina's desk slowly before placing his hands down on the wood opposite her, lowering his head so their eyes met.
"I don't want a discount, I want all of you, Irina."
"Sorry to interrupt Miss Zakharov-"
The door swung open, making Irina jump but not startling Luca. He stayed inches away from her face, chewing on the pick with a sly grin.
"Yes, Kristian?" Irina said in a flustered tone.
"Sorry," he apologised again, "I have a Mr Shelby here to see you?"
Luca spun round on his heels faster than the blink of an eye at the mentioning of a Mr Shelby. Irina sat confused. She hadn't so much as had a phone call from Thomas since they said goodbye last week, and she certainly didn't remember organising a meeting for the both of them.
"Which one of them is it?" Luca mumbled, folding his arms at his chest as he stayed stood by Irina's desk, staring at Kristian who lingered in the doorway.
"It's uh," he turned his back, "Your first name, Sir?"
Irina rolled her eyes and got back to signing papers as Kristian conversed with Thomas behind the door. Kristian wasn't the smartest of people, but he had always served Irina well in her business and she liked his family. His awkwardness might've irritated her sometimes, but even she wasn't heartless enough to fire him. He was also one of the only men she'd ever come across that didn't want to fuck her, probably because he was far too scared of her to even look her in the eye, let alone sleep with her.
"It's Arthur," a man with a thick moustache and a flat cap stepped into the room, gliding past Kristian with a scowl on his face and his fists balled at his side, "Arthur Shelby."
YOU ARE READING
Devil | A Solomons
Fanfiction"I didn't think the Devil walked among us until I met you." [mature themes throughout]
