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I swallow. “Of Philadelphia? Or of me?”
“You.” He drops the word simply, like it’s a syllable, not one of so many casualties.
Then, Nick stands and calls Leo’s name. Leo runs over with Darya, his cheeks flushed from happiness and cold.
“We have to leave already? We just got here!”
“I have to make a trip to the warehouse in a little while. I’ll talk to Roman about borrowing Darya again soon. We can come back.”
Leo’s disappointment is short-lived. “The warehouse? Can I come?”
“Your mom and I will talk about it. Come on.”
Nick starts for the car with Leo right behind him. I linger in place for a second, watching the two of them walk together. I feel like a third wheel in my own family. But I’m not sure how else to act. I want Leo to have this time with Nick. I want Nick to have this time with Leo.
And I’m not sure how to act around Nick, honestly. We’re not a couple. We’re a step removed from strangers almost. Familiar in a few ways and so distant in most.
A burst of Russian distracts me.
The group of teenagers I spotted earlier are walking past on the path that runs along the far edge of the park, next to the parking lot. I can’t understand a word the guys are saying, but I can guess based on the suggestive gestures one of them makes. They’re older than I thought, probably early twenties. College age in the States. I’m not sure if the university system here is the same.
I’ve dealt with obnoxious men before. But maybe it’s the fact that I can’t understand exactly what they’re saying and speaking will let them know that, that has my tongue glued to the top of my mouth.
Suddenly, the smirks slide off their faces. I know, without turning around, what they’re looking at. Especially once the color leaves as well.
Nick barks something that makes them all jump, then hurry away.
As much as I never want to be the woman who doesn’t fight her own battles, I can’t deny the way I move closer to Nick. I’m drawn to him like a magnet seeks its opposite pole. It’s a chemical compulsion I have no control over.
“You okay?” His voice now is the complete opposite of whatever he said a few seconds ago. Summer’s thaw after winter’s freeze. Sunshine after a storm.
“What did they say?”
Nick shakes his head. He won’t repeat it.
“What did you say?”
“To watch their mouths if they wanted to keep their lives.”
“Death threats weren’t necessary,” I mumble.
“Yes, they were.”
That’s all he says as we walk back to Leo.
When most men say they would kill for you, it’s a figure of speech.
Coming from Nick, it’s a bloody promise.
It should terrify me, and it does.
But there’s also a part of me that likes it, and that scares me even more.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
NICK
Just past one a.m., there’s a creak outside my door.
