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Baran turned to me. “Unless it was an immaculate conception, yes.”
I pursed my lips. “Well, that’s disappointing. I knew I shouldn’t have taken that extra bet about the due date.” Good thing I hadn’t spent even more money on guessing the gender of the baby.
“Take care of it,” Kristoff said. “Or I’ll take care of it for you.”
There was a certain tone to his voice that made me look up. A crazy idea popped into my mind, but I quickly disregarded it. Surely Baran wouldn’t undergo the same fate Viking had. The only way he’d been able to keep Elena was to adhere toVorylaw by making her his wife.
“I can think of a solution,” Viking said.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with crazy ideas. It made perfect sense, in a way.
Baran sent Viking a withering look. I was afraid this could quickly get out of hand. I wouldn’t wish a forced marriage upon anyone. It was the ultimate lack of control over your own life.
So I suggested, “Or you could marry someone else. You can’t marry this girl in Istanbul if you’re already married.” So maybe I had a bit of a mean streak. I still hadn’t quite forgiven him for calling Kristoff on me after my nightmarish date.
“There’s no need to nuke my entire life by removing a fly from my head with an ax.” His voice held an edge of steel.
“I’m just trying to help you out,” I said, keeping my face placid.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be, little hellcat?” Baran growled.
“Nope.” My mind reeled with the opportunity this situation suddenly presented me with. Finally, all those books on ancient tactical skills Kristoff had made me read were coming in handy. I silently saluted Machiavelli and Sun Tzu. I smirked at Baran, giving him a grin the Cheshire Cat would be proud of. His eyes flashed. Oh yeah, he knew I could make things difficult for him by casually suggesting to Kristoff that he should marry Baran off.
Baran pulled out his car keys and jingled them in front of me. My heart sped up as I recognized the Mercedes logo. It better be the McLaren.
I jumped off the bench. “Thank you, but I don’t want your car.” I snatched the keys out of his hand. Notjustthe car.
“I know I’m going to regret asking this, but whatelsedo you want?”
Kristoff was still going at the bag, pretending not to be listening to every word I spoke. Soon, we could be the co-founders of Pretendingville. That is, if I didn’t extract myself from his close vicinity soon.
“I want to go to college.Reallygo to college.” I leaned in closer. “He won’t let me get a room on campus. Supposedly it’s too dangerous.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He made a grab for the car keys, but I quickly pulled back.
“I don’t think so.” I smiled at my honorary brother. “Please help me out,abi.” I gave him a peck on the cheek and strolled away.
Kristoff and Baran returned to what appeared to be a tense conversation. Viking held vigil so they would spill no blood. The coast was clear.
It was the perfect time to take the McLaren for a test drive.
***
KRISTOFF
The moment I’d caught the mischievous glee in Katya’s eyes, I’d sent Damon a text. If she believed she could just take the McLaren, she had another thing coming. That car was a death trap for a closeted speed devil who’d only recently received her driver’s license. Things between us might have been tense, and her mere presence drove me mad with lust, but I would always watch over her. After all, I had vowed to do so.
Yeah, that’s the reason.
I wrapped things up with Baran and took a shower and then I went to the garage. Katya already sat in the car. I got into the passenger seat.
“Don’t even think about sabotaging my chance to drive your precious car again,” she warned me.
It was cute, really, how she uttered a threat we both knew was empty.
“I won’t. Not after the Machiavellian way you wrangled those keys from Baran.” I was quite proud that she’d achieved that. Perhaps I was rubbing off on her—in a good way, for a change. A resourceful woman was a powerful woman. I wanted her to be strong, confident, and, most of all, resourceful. She was going to need it.
No sooner had I put on my seatbelt and sent a message to Damon to open the gates than Katya started the engine. She didn’t just take the car out of the gate, she practically made it jump over the fence. Rubber squealed against the asphalt as we sped off.
