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“She handled it.” That was all he needed to know. But that curt reply spoke volumes.
He hummed a noncommittal sound, as if he could read between the lines.
“Was she scared again?” he asked. “Wanting to get away from all this?”
I stared him down, refusing to answer. It wasn’t any of his business that I slept with her.
“Because we got another report from Elena and Trojan. There is a direct link of transactions between Rico Johnson and Owen Bilsen. A direct link that’s covered up and hidden, but there is money passing between them. We might need her assistance with whatever was going on at Pickering Inc. to get behind the reasoning of anyone claiming that could have been Gregori in that body bag the camera captured.”
I nodded. “Well, she’s not going anywhere. She’s here.”
“If she’s becoming a bother, or if it’s cumbersome for you to stay here with her, we can have her relocated to another safehouse. That might not be a bad idea since someone found her here.”
“No.”
He raised his brows at me.
“No,” I repeated sternly. It was bizarre for me to fathom how she could make me want to commit, but I wasn’t going to convince myself that we’d only scratched an itch by letting her leave. “She’s staying with me. I mean, she’s staying here. It’s not cumbersome. Or a bother.”
As if she could be a bother. The only thing that “bothered” me was how badly I wanted her again.
And again. How was it possible to be this addicted already?
“She’s safe here,” I said, hoping he’d take that as a final conclusion to the matter.
I brought her here and I’m keeping her.
Because sooner or later, I was sure she would bend to hoping that she’d never have to leave.
That wasn’t a dreadful premonition I was trying out.
After how she’d surrendered to me last night, it was wishful thinking.
“Good. Then you shouldn’t have to worry about her safety with a few more guards in place. I need you to help Lev and Alexei track down a couple of the Konstantins.”
I nodded, always ready to do my duty. Knowing it would keep me away from here, away from Louisa and Brady, I wondered if the distance would help or hinder this development in what was starting to feel like our own little family.
Maybe she’ll appreciate the space.
Louisa could use the time to overthink it all and over-analyze what we’d done. Then I could correct her on how she was seeing it all wrong.
I smiled, already looking forward to that foreign concept of having someone to come home to. To spend the night with. To wake up next to, because I was sure I’d get her to accommodate me by staying with me until we got up.
“No problem,” I told my brother. “I’ll be ready to go.”
I’d be damned if he thought I was getting so comfortable with Louisa that I wouldn’t do my duty…
The sooner I could do whatever Adrik requested of me, whatever he would entrust me with for the Bratva, the sooner I could come back and devote all my attention to her again.
18
LOUISA
When I snuck out of Nikolai’s room, I hesitated at the spot in the hallway where I’d witnessed him kill that man.
He looked like a monster, a machine, using nothing more than his hands to take a life. It looked so cruel, so brutal, but I knew that it wasn’t as gruesome as when he’d shot the other men in my apartment.
It seemed so poignant, though, passing by this particular area. My bare feet barely made a noise on the runner. The impressions of my footprint wouldn’t last long in the springy bounce of the surface, the carpet’s ply so thick and dense.
