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“What the hell just happened?” I finally asked after a moment.
“There’s been a hit placed on you, and many people want to cash in on it,” he said, his jaw clenching as if the idea appalled him as much as it did me.
“And you’re here… why?”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t let the people I care about get hurt.”
He still cared about me? I pushed away the thought with a deep breath. “Okay…” I cleared my throat. “And why would there be a hit on me?”
He hesitated. “Did you know that your father died?”
I nodded but didn’t react. “I got the call yesterday.”
He examined me as if he waited for some level of sympathy or grief to cross my face, but there was none. My father deserved what he’d gotten. After years of allowing me to watch death and suffering unravel, followed by him trying to ship me off to another Irish mafia boss in Chicago without consulting me, I’d left without looking back, and I didn’t regret a moment of it—especially after learning that he planned to keep Sean as his future underboss.
“You don’t seem bothered,” he replied tersely.
“When he tried to marry me off to another boss in Chicago without my consent, he burned all the bridges between us.”
Viktor clenched his jaw. “He tried to arrange a marriage?”
“Hetried,” I said, “And then I left.”
He took a deep breath as if to calm himself, and I took a moment to look him over. He didn’t look exactly the same. Hard lines now crossed his forehead, and he’d lost the youthful look of his twenty-four-year-old self. I supposed I didn’t look like a twenty-one-year-old anymore either, but it was still a surprise. Though he looked older with more tattoos and age lines, he didn’t look worse.
He’d aged like a fine wine and looked as strong and healthy as ever.
When he moved closer, brushing a hand up my arm gently, chills sprang to life across my skin, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Is that why you left me? Because you were to be married to someone else?” he asked, his tone low and questioning.
I found it difficult for words to escape my lips, and all I managed was a hoarse, “No.”
He wound his arm around my waist and brought me to his chest, still giving me the same intense look. The deep green of his eyes appeared darker than before—the kind of swamp green that looked nearly black under the stars. The green remained only at the edges of his irises, nearly entirely encompassed by the darkness that had my legs trembling.
“We were good together,” he pushed. “I know you were attracted to me. You still are.”
“You have a lot of confidence,” I breathed, but his other hand moved to my face, a long finger stroking down my cheek. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning into the touch and recalling the wild nights we’d experienced together. The moisture that welled between my thighs felt traitorous, and I knew that if he dipped his finger there, he’d find precisely how much I still wanted him.
“I have good reason to be confident,” he whispered, stepping away and glancing toward the room. “Was it because you didn’t want to bring me around your kid? You didn’t tell me about him.”
Relief coursed through me, blanketing the arousal that he so easily brought. Was it possible that he just hadn’t connected the timelines? If I played this right, I would never need to address the issue. “I don’t bring strange men around my kid,” I replied, narrowly avoiding the lie I was trying to weave. “It’s not something I’m willing to expose him to.”
Viktor nodded slowly. “Well, for now, you are both staying here, and I’m going to take care of this situation before it gets out of hand.”
I didn’t push him any further about the threat to my life, knowing that with my father’s death, it meant I was a threat to whoever took his place. I understood that. I didn’t understand why Viktor would care about me enough to come to my rescue, especially when I’d left him without any explanation.
More than anything, though, I hoped he never thought too deeply about the timelines. If he did, he’d realize that they lined up too perfectly, and I couldn’t let him know that Sean was his kid. If he knew that Sean was both the heir to the Irish mob and this one—if anyone knew—it would put him at risk.
I wouldn’t let that happen.
Chapter Three
Viktor Nikolaev
I stationed a guard outside Sean’s room and one outside the sitting room where she slept for the night, and I stationed a second one at the windows outside. Paranoia crept into me, and the thought of anyone getting to Ciara felt like a vital concern—one that kept me up all night, despite knowing that my best men were on the job and no Irish mobster would dare to approach my residence.
But just because she stayed here, it didn’t mean people would stay away. I wracked my brain for ways to keep her safe, and only one idea had blossomed—an efficient strategy, but not one she’d agree to.
