Page 63

LOUISA

Paloma walked away from the head of security at the house. She wasn’t smiling when she faced me, but as soon as she neared me where I sat with Brady, she cranked up the wattage on what might have looked like a happy expression.

Brady bought it.

“Paloma, do you want to color with me?”

He climbed off the couch from the cozy spot next to me. Book forgotten, he clambered away from me to get the coloring books and crayons that were stacked in a tidy storage bin.

It warmed my heart how much he adored this housekeeper. She didn’t seem like one. Sure, she helped keep the house clean, but with me and Brady here, and my insistence that my son learn how to be self-sufficient, we all kept this house looking like a clean and well-maintained home.

Paloma was a stand-in for a grandmother too. A friend. A confidante. I never could have anticipated meeting a kind soul like her at the residence of a lethal Mafia man. But she was a large reason I couldn’t see myself ever giving this up.

“Sure, honey. You go get the things set out on the big table and I’ll be right there.” She took his spot on the couch, sitting next to me.

I leaned over, elbows on my knees. Hunched inward like this, I was reacting with self-defense. Balling up. Curling to protect myself. No one was coming to hit me or attack me. But when Brady said he saw a drone nearby, I felt like someone was going to strike out at me.

Paloma rubbed my back, comforting me but also seeming to not overstress about how worked up I was.

“What did he say?” I whispered, setting my hands under my chin but turning my head so Brady wouldn’t see the frown on my face or hear the tremor in my voice.

“They shot it down,” she whispered back. “I’m so glad you saw it.”

“I didn’t see it. Brady did.”

She nodded, well aware of what was going on. As soon as Brady looked up and pointed at the tracking and recording device in the sky, I rushed him inside and alerted Paloma. She contacted the security staff while I got Brady showered and changed out of his bathing suit from playing in the sun and at the kiddie pool.

“It’s a good thing you were there with him when he did,” she added.

On that note, I agreed. Brady might not have mentioned it to me. Since I was with him, though, I’d been able to call the proper staff members to attention.

“They were looking at the device. Due to the serial number and an ID on it, they think it’s a drone that belongs to the state police.”

I winced at her, hating that I’d brought danger here. Here, in this idyllic vacation villa where it seemed like all my fantasies could come true. Here, where we were supposed to be protected and hidden. That drone shattered all illusions of secrecy. It was nothing but an invasion of privacy. “And I was looking in their systems all morning…” It had to be linked.

She nodded, sage and calm. “Nikolai and the others will be updated about it,” she stated. “You have nothing to fear, Louisa.”

“I know, but what if they saw us? If they saw me? If someone wanted me dead before because I saw that video from the security firm, they’ll still want me dead now.” I couldn’t help but cringe. “What if they know I’m here and they come to⁠—”

“If anyone comes, they will meet the force of the Volkov Bratva,” she whispered sternly. “Nikolai will not take chances with you. Or Brady.”

I nodded because I agreed with her. She didn’t need to campaign to convince me of how serious Nikolai was about keeping me safe. I’d lived through his demonstrations of lethal protection. He’d shot men dead for me. He’d killed a man by snapping his neck with his bare hands for me.

Nikolai had shown me how dedicated he was to keeping me alive.

Yet, the fear of that drone coming close wouldn’t leave me.

“It’s hard to have faith,” she said, likely assuming I needed more of a pep talk to lose this expression of terror.

“No. It’s not. I do have faith. In him. In this family.” I lowered my head and buried my face in my hands for a second. Come on. Keep it together. I jerked my head up to look at her again. “I think I just had too much faith. I came here so scared and shocked that I didn’t know what to think. And I adjusted to being safe here. To being removed from that apartment where those men were waiting to get to me. This is safe. I have felt so safe and secure here. But now that’s shattered. The idea of security here is no longer valid.”

She nodded, still rubbing my back. “Then perhaps when Nikolai comes home, he can discuss with you the idea of moving again.”

I furrowed my brow. “But what will that do?”

She opened her mouth to reply but I cut her off, sitting more upright and checking that Brady was still at the other side of the great room, out of earshot while he got his coloring books out. “It would be another run. Another escape. Then something could happen there.” I sighed and let my shoulders slump. “I’m realizing that running and hiding will never keep me safe. So long as those men want me dead for seeing that video…”

“Nonsense.”