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“It’s not snooping around if you left everything for me to find,” I sighed and slammed the documents on his desk. His eyebrow rose slightly, though he decided to ignore my little outburst.
“Why did you remove every single thing from my home? Did you need the furniture?” I asked.
My brother was silent for a while, before he poured us both a glass of whiskey. It loosened me up a little, though I was still pissed at him.
“Because if I didn’t get to wipe it clean first, our father might have found a lot of things that you didn’t want to be found.”
My brows creased. “There was nothing he could use against me.” I paused for a moment, before continuing, “Speaking of which, when were you going to tell me that it wasn’t you who was being targeted but me?”
“Ah, so you do know,” he murmured. “Of course you know. I was going to tell you as soon as I got rid of the people who ordered the hit.”
I sat in his chair, rested my feet on his desk, and sipped on the whiskey. “Shouldn’t you get rid of the hitman first? Or leave that to me. Give me the name and I’ll get it done by tomorrow night.”
“No.” His response was immediate. “There’s a reason I didn’t want you involved, Kaya.”
“I’m all ears, Aleksei.”
He gave me a knowing look. “I’m doing my best to protect you, and when I want you to know, you’ll know.”
“Does the protection part include Davorin taking me to live with him and not being invited to your birthday? Happy birthday by the way,” I fumed.
“Yes.” His honest response shocked me. “You will not come. I’m not telling you what to do—I’m asking you to honor the only request I have.”
“The event is in like three days? You have three days to give me the hitman’s name and I promise I won’t attend it.”
“Blackmailing me has never worked, Kaya,” Aleksei drawled, eyes fixed to my face, as if he was searching for the smallest hint that I’d drop the subject. He sighed when he found none. “And it won’t work now.”
“I’m not blackmailing you—I’m telling you. Besides, it would raise eyebrows if I don’t show up.”
“I’m aware of that, thank you.” He paused for a moment. “On another note, when I dropped by to see what needed to be destroyed from your place, I found Brianne Emmerson there. Apparently, she was grabbing most of your things in Davorin’s stead. I managed to snatch the most important documents, but I can’t guarantee that she didn’t see them.”
“Did you look inside?”
“Yes,” he said. “I won’t tell a soul what I’ve seen, Ekaterina. You can trust me on that.”
He threw the word trust around like it was a plaything. It was a serious matter, fully trusting someone, and I’d never had the luxury of experiencing it. We all had secrets, and we all paid the price. That was why the only person I could trust was myself. Dominik had been on the spectrum somewhere until recently, but not anymore—not ever again.
Trust was fragile, and once broken, it couldn’t be repaired.
“I don’t care if you tell anyone, as long as he doesn’t find out about it sooner than I want him to.”
Aleksei’s response was a nod, and another issue came up. The documents had been kept securely inside my safe, though it wouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to open it. Brianne was already snooping too much, and I’d decided to get rid of her as soon as Aleksei’s party was over. I didn’t want any attention on myself prior to that.
“What happened to your knuckles?” His voice was flat.
Glancing down, I saw the slight bruising from the strong punch I’d landed on Davorin yesterday.
“Oh, I punched your future brother-in-law,” I gritted out. “Who the hell do you think you are? Marrying me off?”
“I wasn’t marrying you off—I merely suggested to him that it might be a good idea to marry you.”
I snorted. “As if he would ever reject that. Are you insane?”
“He’s the only person I trust can keep you safe at all times. This isn’t a game, Ekaterina. It is very real and very serious. You’ve taken all of this too lightly, and who knows when they might strike? It’s a miracle nothing has happened so far.”
“And marrying a man who could snap at any moment is your solution? Seriously?”
“Temporary lapse of judgment. However, if you decide to accept his offer, you can get a divorce as soon as all of this bullshit is done.”
