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Her meaning hits me all at once, and I rocket to my feet, shaking my head. “Absolutely not. No fucking way.”
“But if it means getting our daughter back?” she asks.
I hesitate. “Of course I would do anything to get her back, but—”
“No buts. Either you’d do anything or you wouldn’t. Which is it?”
I growl at her wordlessly, and she gives me a sad smile.
“I know you don’t like it, but we have to consider that it might be the only option.”
“The last option,” I say, wagging a finger at her. “Using you is the absolute last option. I will figure something else out.”
She opens her mouth to argue, but I don’t let her. I’ve conceded enough tonight.
Instead, I lie next to her, spin her around so her back is against my chest, and I wrap an arm around her middle. Then, I kiss the back of her neck and whisper against the shell of her ear. “Go to sleep.”
“You too,” she teases, bumping her ass back into me. “You need the rest.”
Eve’s breath goes slow and even again, but I can still feel the tension in her shoulders, as well as in my own. We are together, but each night, our troubles seem to crowd in closer and closer until there isn’t room for much else besides the fear of what is to come.
16
Eve
Knocks on the door pull me from sleep. I feel Luka stir next to me, and then we both curse at the same time.
“I overslept.” I grab the clock next to the bed and groan when I see that it is already 8:00 in the morning.
Luka opens the door and invites Kari inside. “She is running a bit late this morning.”
Kari presses her back against the door, looking like she would rather be anywhere else in the world but here.
Luka, still half asleep, walks back to the bed and kisses my forehead. “Give me a second in the bathroom and then it is all yours.”
Kari’s eyes widen at our affection and ease, and I stiffen. Such a stupid, careless mistake. I can only pray she won’t say anything to anyone else. I don’t think she will.
When the bathroom door opens, she holds out a red silk robe and a pair of black thigh-high boots. “How fast can you be ready?”
I run a hand through my hair and decide there is enough hairspray in it from the day before that I don’t need a shower. “I can get dressed and clean up in the sink. Ten minutes, maybe.”
She nods and then turns away while I dress. “You two seem comfortable together.”
“Yeah,” I say hesitantly, not sure how much to give away. “I suppose we are.”
She hums, clearly disapproving. I wonder how many times she has seen something similar happen at these auctions. “Heseemsnice.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your experience with the Cartel?” I ask. “I know you said you have been with them for years, but how did it happen?”
She stares down at the floor.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I have just been curious.”
“No, I can tell you.” She takes a deep breath and tucks her pale blonde hair behind her ear. “I fell in love with a man as soon as I moved to the city. I was young and had only been here a month. I didn’t know anyone, so we spent all of our time together. He was so sweet to me. And fabulously wealthy. He showed me a life I had never known before—fancy restaurants, nice cars, beautiful hotel rooms. I was pampered more than I ever had been in my life.”
“Sounds nice,” I say, waiting for the catch.
“It does, doesn’t it?” She stares straight ahead as though she is looking at a movie screen I can’t see. Then, she blinks and shakes her head. “I thought he loved me, so when he told me I should be more open to public affection when we were together with his friends, I listened. It was the least I could do after everything he’d done for me.”
