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“What’s supposed to happen today?” She asks, her brow crimping.God, she looks cute when she does that. Did I ever notice that before?“What are you expecting?”
I take another drink of my coffee, shifting to look out the window, at the rain-wet yard and forest as they slowly begin to materialize in the earliest touches of dawn light. “I’m expecting Konstantin to make his first move. And that might indicate just what kind of a war we’re going to have on our hands.”
“You mean…you want to see if he’s going to play the long game and lay low, or if he’s just going to show up here and try to gun me down.”
I arch a brow. “More or less, yes, I suppose that’s what I mean. Which reminds me. You said that someone approached you—someone was following you. One of my men, who you could tell was Russian.”
“In the bar, yesterday,” she says, her eyes narrowing slightly. “He came up to me.”
“What did he say? What did he look like?”
“He looked rich. Russian, like I said. Blue eyes and blonde hair—really blonde, like almost white.”
“Konstantin.” I close my hand into a fist, feeling rage kindle behind my ribs. I try to tamp it down. It’s not like I didn’t know he was here, or why. But knowing now that he had the gall to approach her…he doesn’t want to kill her. He wants to play with her—to torment me. He wants to play with her, and then, only then, will he kill her. “What did he say?”
“He knew my name.” She shivers, wrapping her arms around herself. She looks pale, her eyes dull with fear. “He…he threatened me. He asked about Adam. He asked if—” She stops herself suddenly, with a hard jolt, and looks at me with wide eyes.
“He asked if what?” I press, pissed, barely keeping my anger at bay. “What, Kat?”
“Nothing. Just…he just asked how old Adam is now. He was just fucking with me.” She quickly takes a sip of her coffee, and I get the bizarre sense she might be keeping something from me. But what the hell could she be hiding that Konstantin would also know? Maybe she’s just shaken. “And…”
“And?”
“I, um…” she flushes crimson, and to my surprise, gives me a sheepish smile. “I might have told him that if he ever threatens me or my son again—I’ll, um… kill him.”
I stare at her, resisting the startling urge to return her smile. That’s more like the Kat I knew. A little wild, a little dangerous. And that smile—God, that smile. I remember that. I haven’t seen it since I saw her again last night. But even before I knew her as a lover, when I knew her as a girl with a crush on me, or even before that, when she was just James’ kid sister,thatwas her smile. It was a frequent thing, jarringly sweet and almost naïve.Sunshine, that’s what my mother would have called it. A sunshine smile.
“Would you?” I ask, softly, after a moment of studying her. “Kill him?”
“To protect myself and my son, I would do much more than that.” She says it with a hard resolve, but the glint of the smile is still in her eyes, and she looks more, then, like a woman than a girl. She looks realized. Actualized. “After that night, I was scared. I was scared of something like this happening, if I’m completely honest. I bought a gun, and learned how to use it. I still re-up my license and go to the shooting range once a month to make sure I’m brushed up. Just in case.”
“Just in case,” I repeat, and this time I can’t quite manage to keep the admiration out of my voice. “That’s prudent of you.”
“You almost sound like you respect it.”
“I do. And I’d like you to keep it close. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone—”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong,” she says, cutting me off. She touches her fork to her plate, drawing its tines in slow, smooth little circles. “I wouldn’t say that I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Her eyes flick up to meet mine. “Konstantin threatened my son. I’d go so far as to say I’m activelylookingto hurt someone—just someone specific.”
I study her. Something in me sparks, catches. It begins, low and shadowed and hot, to burn. But I force myself to be prudent. “Don’t get any ideas, Kat. Your safety comes first.”
She nods once. “Yeah. It does. My anger comes closely after.”
I say nothing. Because what I want to say is something reverent, something admiring. So, I bite my tongue. Kat eyes her food, but it’s clear she’s thinking of other things. Things like killing Konstantin. Making him pay for throwing this grenade into her life.But really—aren’t I to blame for that?Maybe Kat wants to make me pay, too. I couldn’t blame her if that were the case.
She begins to eat. Behind the storm clouds, the sun is rising. The day is breaking. And it’s time for me to go. I stand, and Kat looks up at me in surprise.
“I have things to take care of. If we’re lucky…I’ll find Konstantin today, and kill him so you don’t have to.”
She blinks at me, maybe trying to figure out if I’m joking or not, which I kind of am. “You’re leaving.”
“Yes. But my men will be here. All day, every second. You will be safe.” I brush past her, going to the front door and grabbing my coat, which she must have put there when she woke up. I hear her follow me to the door. “I put my phone number in your contacts. If you need anything, anything at all, call or text me. You have your gun but if you want heavier artillery, I’ll see to it that you have it.”
When I turn, I find her close to me—very close. Close enough that I can see the flecks of amber in her wide brown eyes, and smell the shampoo she used to wash the rain out of her hair last night. To wash the scent of me out of her hair.God…I’d love to put it there again. The right way.Putting my coat on her is one thing. So is being inside of her.
“When will you be back?” Already, she sounds worried that she’ll miss me. But I know it’s simpler than that. She wants theprotection and safety that I offer, and how can I blame her for that? Especially given that I’m the harbinger of the very danger she’s running from. “I assume I’m not cleared to go see—”
“You’re not cleared to go anywhere, Kat. Period.” I look at her hard, and she looks away from me, her gaze far away, thoughtful. “Kat,” I repeat, more firmly, and when she doesn’t look at me, I take her by the shoulder, gripping hard. Her soft brown eyes slip to mine. “You’re not going anywhere. As soon as you can see your son, trust that I will get you to him. In the meantime, need I remind you that you swore to do as I say, when I say?”
