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So he could lock her away again for another few months? No, thank you. “I’m good here. I promise. You’ve got to let me stand on my own sometime.”
“But not when Noxx and her Order are out there burning witches, breaking into the secured penthouse where we live, hunting you.”
Fear sent shivers through her, making her heart race. “We don’t know that she came looking for me.”
“Of course she did. Noxx will never stop looking for you.”
She sucked in a breath through the tightness in her chest, forcing away the panic. “Alexei won’t let her get to me as long as I’m with him. He hates the Order for what they did to this city in the riots and burnings.”
“You might be right, but his vengeance isn’t for things Noxx has done to him personally. He doesn’t have the vested interest like we do.”
“He pulled me from the last tower the Order kept me in, carried me to safety no matter the danger he faced to do it.”
“For a debt he owed for our family’s help in rescuing his sister. He doesn’t have that kind of personal stake in keeping you safe now. You aren’thisto protect.”
Joelle didn’t want to believe him, but Alexei’s words haunted her.She’s not my mate. Nausea rolled through her at the finality of how he’d said it.
“You can’t trust him,” Josh insisted. “None of us can.”
ChapterEleven
Alexei paced the narrow aisles of the library. His control had frazzled thanks to the angel upstairs. How could he concentrate with her in the same house? He should’ve anticipated the issue yet he’d only focused on her safety. The witches couldn’t protect her, not as he could. But if he wanted to keep his sanity, he would have to delegate some of the responsibility.
He picked up his phone and called Eddie, cutting directly to the business at hand since his best guard would suspect trouble if he bothered with pleasantries. “What’s happening with Kyle and the sweep of his place?”
“The team’s still at his home, but so far they haven’t found anything worth mentioning. Kyle’s worried sick about his mom so we gave him a sedative to knock the edge off his powers for the night. A couple of guards will stay with him. He’s a low-grade telekinetic, but we don’t need him accidentally rearranging the building. What else can I do to help?”
Alexei fought the impulse to keep Joelle close, to not trust her safety with another, but he needed to let her go before he couldn’t. “Joelle needs a security detail, but I don’t want her to feel like a prisoner. She wants her freedom.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll tell her that I’m her driver. Given her history, I would bet she doesn’t have a license.”
Eddie made sense—his friend and most trusted guard. Yet leaving a man who’d already flirted with her, who’d watched her as though he might hope she could behismate? “You sure we shouldn’t assign someone else? Perhaps someone who doesn’t want to screw her?”
“She’s too good for that. I just want to date her, take her home to meet my mom, pledge undying—”
Alexei’s vision went red until he heard the teasing undertone. “Fuck you, Eddie.”
“You should make your move if you plan to keep her. Mates don’t come around but once in a lifetime. If you don’t want her, let someone else have a chance.”
“Not happening, and don’t try anything on her. She’s brilliant, but she’s been traumatized for years. That shit makes her vulnerable, fragile even.”
“I don’t know. When you pulled a gun on Kyle, I thought she might take it and shoot you. If she hadn’t managed to shock us with her magic, I’m not sure what she would’ve tried next. She’s a survivor, and that strength makes her even more attractive.”
“Stop now before I forget we’re friends.”
“Need me to start guard duty tonight?”
“Not if you want to live.”
Eddie huffed a laugh. “Then text me in the morning when it’s my turn to hang out with her.”
“Keep me posted on Kyle and any clues we can use to find his mom. We won’t let them mess with our people.” And he needed some retribution for what they’d done to Joelle.
“Agreed. I’ll report as soon as I know anything.”
Ending the call, Alexei settled behind his desk, delving into the never-ending stack of work that came with running the family enterprise from restaurants to tech to investment companies on the legal side. The rare jewels, black market valuables, and magical artefacts gained by less than legit means? Those the humans wouldn’t condone, but they’d served as the cornerstone of the Maronov dynasty for centuries.
Still, the discovery of the nastier side of demon hybrid politics? It would pull him and everyone he cared about into the muck. He couldn’t risk dragging Joelle down with him.
