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He shrugs both shoulders. “Of course I can. If he hurt you, he deserves to rot.”
I can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.
“Don’t have him killed,” I say, just in case he’s being serious.
“Fine.” He tugs my earlobe. “For you, I’ll let the bastard live.”
“Don’t have him hurt either. Promise me.” I raise my eyebrows, making an attempt at the same stern face he makes when he’s trying to get my cooperation.
He runs the back of his hand across my forehead, wiping away the stern expression. “Fine, but I don’t want him in my building anymore. I’ll let Derek know that he’s not welcome here.”
“You’d do that?” I’m not surprised, not really.
“Of course.”
“But you don’t even know what he said.”
“Are you going to tell me?” he asks.
“It wasn’t anything, not really, just the same garbage that made me leave him to begin with.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you, Billie. Not even with their words.” He picks up my coffee cup. “Now. Did you really have lunch?”
“I ate.” I take the mug from him. “But I’d rather talk more about this party. Do you think your cousin Gregor should be there? I mean he comes down to Boston for work sometimes, right? Maybe he should be there.”
He grins, like he’s fully aware of what I’m doing.
“I’ll call him and see if he can come down. With Hanna pregnant, he’s more protective than usual.”
“A Romanov man overprotective?” I feign shock.
He reaches around me and gives my ass a hard smack. “Don’t be a smartass.”
“You’d rather I be a dumbass?”
“I’d rather you not use that language.” He lowers his chin, leveling me with a hard stare. He slips into his Daddy tone so easily, I almost don’t notice it right away.
“I’m at work. I can use any language I want.” I push the little boundary he’s drawn.
“I’m still your boss here,” he warns.
“Yes, but my boss can’t spank me. It wouldn’t be proper,” I point out.
“And you think I give a fuck about that?”
He has me there. I put my coffee back on the desk. “You win.”
He grabs my chin and lightly brushes his warm lips across mine. “I always do.”
Roman
It’spast nine when I step up to Billie’s apartment. She doesn’t know I’m coming over; I didn’t even know I was coming until I got into my car after my last meeting. Even though she was in a better mood when I left her office, I want to be sure she’s all right.
Derek gave me a complete report of her exchange with that ex of hers. He won’t be back in the building. And by next week, he’ll be out of hisgrownupjob. Let’s see how the big boy handles being blackballed for a while. He so much as takes a breath in Billie’s presence, any promises I made to her regarding the safety of his life will be voided.
A soft buzz comes only a moment after I press the doorbell to her apartment. I step back from the door, looking up at her apartment, expecting to see her peering out a window, but there’s nothing. No security camera, no intercom. Nothing that tells her who is standing on the outside of this door, and yet, she buzzed me in.
I push the door open and make the climb up to her floor. The stairwell smells of bleach and the lighting flickers on the first landing I come to before I turn and go up another flight.
