Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve never talked about a guy like this before,” Rafe said.
Dante must have sensed how close I was to losing it. “That’s enough. We’ve got to make a plan. It’s not going to take a genius to figure out this is one of the places Nikolai might’ve gone.”
“Well, Dimitri is certainly no genius, as far as I know.”
“He’s not,” I said, “but he’s vicious. He needs this alliance. The last thing he wants is for his son not to show up at the wedding. So yeah, he’ll likely come here.”
“Why would Nikolai come here? Was he that sure you’d protect him?” Rafe asked.
Dante gave him a pointed look. “Where else was he going to go? His father kept him isolated. It’s not like he has friends or any of his own money.”
“True, but why would he think an enemy family was going to protect him?”
Dante huffed. “Have you met Lorenzo? He exudes protectiveness. He’s the first person most people who’ve met him would come to if they needed protection.”
“He’s also scary as hell when he wants to be,” Rafe said. “But I bet he was gentle with Nikolai. I bet he made it so good for him.”
“Oh my God, shut up,” I yelled. “Show some fucking respect.”
“For you or for Nikolai?” Rafe asked.
“Both.”
“All right, can we meet him?”
I frowned. “You’re not waking him up.”
Dante grinned, and I knew I was letting my possessiveness show.
“Do you actually know that he’s asleep?” Rafe asked. “We’ve been pretty loud.”
“He should be. He’s hurt, and he hasn’t been eating. He needs to rest.”
Dante laid a hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you go check on him?”
“Without the two of you hovering over me?”
“We want to meet him,” Rafe insisted.
Dante glared at him. “We’ll stay right here. He’s been through enough trauma.”
“Meeting me would not be traumatic. It would be—”
I growled. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
They both grinned at me. I’d let them see through me again. I had to get it together. I needed to treat Nikolai like anyone else I was assigned to protect. I’d worked my way up in this business. I’d been a bodyguard for the Theriots before I’d been given my own responsibilities.
I open the guest room door, trying not to make a sound. Nikolai lay on the bed, curled in a ball. He stirred when I entered, then sat up suddenly, looking terrified.
I should’ve known he’d be a light sleeper. He would’ve had to learn that as a survival instinct, just like I had. “It’s okay. It’s me, Lorenzo. You’re at my house, and you’re safe.”
His eyes were still wide, but he nodded. “I guess I fell asleep.”
“That’s good. You need to sleep. My brothers are here, and I’ve got men guarding the outside of the house. We’re going to make sure you’re safe. I was just checking on you.”
“I wish…” He looked down at the sheets and twisted them in his hands.
“What? What do you wish for?” It was a dangerous question, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking it.
“I wish you could stay here with me.”
I wanted to badly, but I needed to be on alert, and if I was curled around his warm body, I couldn’t guarantee that. “I’ve got to make sure we’re prepared in case your father or some of his men come. We will not let them get to you, but we have to be ready.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, not for wanting to be taken care of.” Fuck, I was in trouble. All he had to do was look at me, and I wanted to pull him into my arms and promise him everything. “I’m going to go talk to my brothers, then I’ll come back. They want to meet you. How do you feel about that?”
He frowned. “I’m a mess.”
“They’ve seen people far messier, and you still look beautiful to me.”
He smiled but still seemed uncertain.
“They’re going to keep hounding me until they see you.”
“What are they like?”
“Dante is the middle child. He didn’t want to be a part of the family business. He went to college, graduated early, and continued on to graduate school. Now, he’s a professor at Dumonde University. He manages to straddle both worlds, even though he wishes he could just teach, do research, and be left in peace. Anytime we need him though, he’s there for us.”
“Is he as hot as you are?”
I narrowed my eyes at Niko as he gave me a cheeky smile. I couldn’t decide if I was happy to see him looking better or if I wanted to choke him for asking. “Hotter, probably, but you don’t need to be looking at him like that.”
“Really?”
“Nikolai.”
“So what about your other brother?”
“Rafael or Rafe is the youngest, and he’s… Fuck, I don’t know. He’s a lot smarter than he acts. He turns everything into a joke. He runs our casino, and he loves to party. I keep thinking eventually he’s going to settle down, but I don’t know. He’s a good guy, even if he doesn’t show you that.”