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Which also means she can’t be any more than…shit; eighteen? Nineteen?
“I need to keep her somewhere safe,” David informs lowly, taking Tessa by the shoulders and positioning her before him. Her chin now tipped down, but slowly, she looks up at me with dread in her eyes.
She must already know where her uncle has brought her to.
I stride carefully around the desk, not looking to spook this little girl on my account. David seems on edge, half-temping me to ask him what the fuck is going on—what the hell has happened.
“She can stay here,” I offer, getting out what is looking to be asked. I’m well aware I have the room to spare.
David seems uneasy but quickly nods, knowing it’s what he wanted. Although, I’m still unclear as to why he’s come here.
The Estate is grand and armed—however, although it’s equipped with full security, keeping a family member hidden at our Headquarters damn well exposes them to threats.
But David and I both know there are little threats these days. Kristina did well in stunting our enemies, even with that shit Jude pulled on her right before she stepped away. After he ran off with her target, she decided to let him go, pushing the fact he was no longer ofvalueto us anyway—said it wasn’t worth the manpower to exhaust in tracking him down.
And as for the Gusev’s, they decided to get smart and back the fuck off our territory after Luca’s fiancé went missing, and then his cousin, Vlad, ended up stumbling back home with a few broken bones. Enough to shake the prick up for now.
David walks off from the girl and she flinches. My eyes narrow in on her, observing her discomfort. She’s taking in the room, searching the corners of the place. It’s late afternoon, and darker than usual in here with the rain rolling in.
Tessa crosses her arms and slowly looks at me, only to then quickly turn back away.Mmm, a shy little one.
This should be fun.
Suddenly, my face goes blank as I recognize the girl my dick is twitching for now.
“Tomas,” I call, voice steady. The door opens, and in steps the man himself. “Would you please escort Tessa here to the kitchen and make sure she gets something to eat?”
He nods, and the girl looks confused before looking to her uncle, who then points at Tomas. Silently, the princess starts trudging her way towards the looming figure now waiting for her at the door.
My eyes cut back to David the second Tessa disappears. “She looks like she could use a good meal.”
The girl is thin—too thin for my liking. But recalling her mother now, she was delicate.
Although Tessa…she’s different. She looks as if she’s missed a few meals, and with that thought in mind I keep a questioning gaze on David.
“Where is she from?”
“Chicago,” he sighs, remorse in his voice. “She was attending college there. In her sophomore year, I believe.” My old friend is starting to look much older than our shared forty-two years. We were born a few weeks apart, and so for most of our youth, we would end up ripping into cities to celebrate.
But not anymore.
Shit has changed. Now, we lead the pack, sparing not a wasted minute on bars, girls or gifts, even.
“You never mentioned Irina had a kid.”
His sister was a few years younger, always following us around when we were growing up. A brash little girl with a loud mouth, there’s no arguing that. But when she realized how deep David was in the Russian mafia, she cut all ties with him—and by default, cut all ties with me.
“I didn’t know myself until the girl reached out,” he grimaces.
Irina passed a few years ago now. She discovered she had stage-four breast cancer before anything could’ve been done to stop it; or at least, slow it down. But when I found out she had passed, I never caught wind of a child she left behind.
How did I miss a fucking kid?The question tears out of my mouth, causing David to shake his head.
“She was living with her father for a few years. Then the dirtbag got arrested—a gambling addiction, it turns out. He’d robbed a few convenience stores, enough to put him away and leave Tessa on her own.”
I start tapping my foot as the princess resurfaces in mind…that distracting little bow of her upper lip and even her savory fresh scent that filled the office the second she entered.
“…and reached out.” David continues to speak, and I’m now attempting to catch up. “She’s practically a stranger,” he grunts, sounding frustrated by it. “But thinking of Irina, I couldn’t say no. I decided to grab Tessa shortly after she called.”
