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)
“I’m not ignoring him. I’m protecting him.”
She shook her head, clearly not buying it. “You can protect us just fine from—what? Six feet further from the door? This house is tiny.”
“Nikolai and I don’t have a future.”
“Bullshit. I’ve seen how you look at him and how he looks at you. I may not know a lot about love, but I saw that look on my sister’s face when she looked at one of my father’s guards. He tried to help her escape, but my father killed him. Shot him through the head right in front of her. They didn’t have a chance, but you could.”
“No.” I spoke much too loudly, and we both turned to look at Niko’s door. He must have heard me, but he stayed inside and didn’t say anything.
“Why not?”
“Because Remington has forbidden it. Once we’ve taken out his father, we’ll help him get settled somewhere else, but staying here with me isn’t an option.”
“So you’re just going to listen to Remington.”
I realized how that sounded to her, a woman who’d risked her life repeatedly to escape from her father, who was far more of a monster than Remington would ever be. “I disobeyed Remington’s orders years ago. I thought I should be able to have whatever or whoever I wanted. The man I wanted betrayed us all. My cousin died, and I spent two years in jail. Two years when I couldn’t protect my brothers.”
“Your brothers are grown men who can protect themselves.”
“Rafe had just turned eighteen. He thought he was invincible.”
“But he’s alive and well today.”
She was right. And he’d told me not to let go of Niko, but…
“I listened to Remington and Dante talking about you while you were talking to Lancelot.”
My pulse accelerated. “What did they say?”
“They were watching you and Lance, and Dante said, ‘You may be the king of New Orleans, but that’s not a fight you’re going to win.’ Remington blustered and tried to act all shocked that Dante would speak to him that way, but that didn’t stop him. He said, ‘Didn’t you see the way Lorenzo looked at him, and the way he obviously worships Lorenzo?’
I knew Dante was all for me having what I wanted, but he’d really said those things to Remington. Was he the fool here, or was it me? “How did Remington respond?”
“He said you shouldn’t be tangled up with the Russians, and Dante reminded him that the Russians would be busy restructuring once you made a strike against them. They weren’t going to worry about the son of a fuckup who was never trained for the business. Remington didn’t argue because Dante was right. Now, go in there and get your man.”
“But what if—”
“Lorenzo. I’ve been through a hell of a lot in the last twenty-four hours. Don’t cross me.”
The fury in her eyes rivaled anything I’d ever seen from Remington. Maybe we could recruit her to work for us.
I glanced toward Niko’s door and back at her. “The house is, as you said, very small.”
She smiled and patted the crossbody bag she’d had with her when she sneaked into my house. “I have noise-canceling headphones in here. I won’t hear a thing, and if Remington interrogates me, I won’t be able to confirm or deny what happens between the two of you tonight.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Just go to your room.”
“Yes, sir.” She stuck out her tongue at me before closing the bedroom door behind her.
What was I going to say to Niko? That I was there for today’s payment? I let out a long breath. If it helped him relax and let go, I was happy to keep pretending he was paying me for my services, but that was so far from the truth. I could pretend he was my prisoner too, but in reality, he was with me to be protected, pleasured, and comforted.
Was I really going to defy Remington? Was I going to insist that Niko was staying with me, that he didn’t belong with the Russians or on his own, because I wanted to make him part of our family? And was it fair to him to ask, because he wouldn’t be able to escape from my life of crime. He’d still be around danger.
You can protect him.
Could I?
Hadn’t the Theriots managed with their men?
So far, Remington, his brothers, Ambrose, and his twin, Dax, had all found love, and they hadn’t let the harshness of the family business keep them from enjoying it.
Love. Was that what this was? Was that what I wanted?
I knew the answer even before my heart screamed “yes.”
27
NIKOLAI
Iclosed the door behind me and hurried to the far side of the room. I did not want Lorenzo to hear me cry. I sank down in the corner under a tiny window and dropped my head onto my knees as the tears came. I bit my lips to keep my sobs quiet as my body shook.