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He narrows his eyes. “Go back to the kitchen before I’m tempted to punish you for disobeying me about the shoes.”
“They’re my shoes!”
“I’m going to have them burned,” he announces.
“You’re trying to distract from your knuckles and the… the… your dirty shirt.” I wave a hand over his chest.
He looks down as though he hadn’t realized what a mess he was. With the back of his hand, he tries to wipe away the flecks of red.
“Hmmm.” He shrugs. “I’ll change before I eat.”
“What did you do? Why are your knuckles bleeding?”
He inhales deeply. “Pchelka, don’t ask questions I can’t answer.” He touches the tip of my nose with his forefinger. “Go back to the kitchen, take off those damn shoes and throw them in the trash, then finish your dinner. I’ll be there shortly.” There’s a distance in his gaze.
“Why do I need a driver?” I call after him as he saunters down the hallway toward the bedroom.
“Because I said so.” He raises a finger in the air as he walks away, which I suppose means the conversation is over.
I look down at my bowl and the delicious beef and mushrooms and noodles, completely void of my appetite now. He’s dangerous. This man I’m playing house with is a dangerous member of the Russian mob. What in the hell am I doing here?
This isn’t going to end well.
Luka
“What haveyou been doing to keep yourself busy while you’ve been in town?” Nikolai takes a drag of his cigarette while we wait outside one of his storage spaces. Stepan is due to meet us.
“I’ve been busy.” I shrug, shoving my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket. Fall is coming fast now. I can feel the chill on the back of my neck.
I hope Avery remembered to bring a jacket with her to school. Osip won’t let her stand outside waiting for him, but she has to walk between those buildings on campus.
“He’s been very busy,” Stepan comes up from behind me and interjects. “With a cute college girl.”
Nikolai raises an eyebrow. “Only one?”
“Just the one,” Stepan answers. His hand presses against his side where he’s healing from his gunshot. He’s damn lucky he threw himself to the right instead of the left, or his wound would be a hell of a lot worse than the graze to his side.
“Really.” Nikolai takes another drag of his smoke, then tosses it to the ground before grinding his heel into it. “That’s interesting.”
“No, it’s not.” I shake my head. “Stop being a gossip. You’re worse than the old women back home.” Their teasing isn’t without merit. When I come to town, I rarely have the same woman warming my bed twice. But it’s different with Avery. She’s different. Her fire and spirit challenge me, make me want to be better, stronger for her. I’ve only ever wanted obedience from a partner. A woman who would do as I said and not question, but Avery’s fight has breathed life back into my soul.
“You’re looking less dead.” Nikolai gestures to Stepan.
He presses his hand to the injury and winces. “A graze.”
“That graze nearly cut out a good chunk of your side. You’re lucky you didn’t open an artery.” I frown. “What the hell were you doing anyway?”
“I was making sure there was no blow back for Rodion.”
“So, there was?” Nikolai asks, his expression darkening.
“No. A fight broke out between two other assholes while I was at the club. They were drunk off their asses. The asshole who shot me was already halfway to the ground when he pulled the trigger.”
“You were shot by an unconscious asshole?” I hadn’t gotten the full story about what had happened.
“He was a piece of shit.” Stepan added. “But that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Nikolai.” Stepan gestures to him. “The asshole worked for Nico De Luca. You know him?”
Nikolai’s jaw tenses. “Casually. Our businesses don’t cross paths.” He nods.
