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His eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he scanned my face, once more tucking a loose curl behind my ear. Without realizing it, I leaned into his touch. My eyes closed and I took a deep breath. Just like when we were in the kitchen, I had a moment of complete peace. He placed his palm against my cheek, his thumb lightly caressing my face. I relished in the feeling, in the quiet, in the warmth that I felt in my entire body any time he touched me.
“Are you okay to drive home, solnishko?” His question broke me from my trance, and I momentarily forgot where I was.
“What? Oh. Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Sorry,” I said, quickly looking down at my bag to dig my keys out.
“No need to apologize. I think you need more of that in your life,” he said with that sexy smirk back on his face. If he only knew how correct he actually was.
Chapter Three
Sephie
I woke the next morning, well before my alarm went off, feeling like my throat was on fire. I stretched and immediately regretted it, as my entire body felt like I had been run over by a very large vehicle. Repeatedly.
“Well, that sucked,” I said out loud to myself. Instantly regretting my decision to speak, I started coughing uncontrollably.
I got myself to stop coughing and got out of bed.
No more outside thoughts, Sephie. Just inside thoughts.
My phone started ringing as I was walking out of the bathroom. I looked at the caller ID. It was Mr. Turner from across the hall. I immediately answered the call.
“Hey Mr. Turner, is everything all right?” I said in a half-whisper, hoping I didn’t cause another coughing attack.
“Good morning, Miss Sephie. Listen, I don’t want to alarm you, but there was a very large man standing outside your door this morning when I left for work. I asked him what his business was there and he said he’d been assigned to guard you, but he wouldn’t tell me anything else.”
“Well, that’s weird,” I said, biting my lower lip. I tried to think why anyone would be “assigned” to me. Reflexively, my hand went to my neck. “Mr. Turner, was this man the size of a house, with black hair, crew cut and a beard?”
He chuckled and said, “That’s a fitting description of him, yes. You know him?”
“I think I might have an idea. It’s okay, Mr. Turner. He’s one of the good ones. At least I think so.”
“Okay, Miss Sephie, if you say so. If you need anything, you call me right away. I got my old buddy’s son on the force on speed dial. I’ll have him to your place in no time if you need him.”
“Thank you, Mr. Turner. I really appreciate it, but I hopefully won’t need that. I promise I’ll call you if it’s not who I think it is.”
We said our goodbyes and I walked to my balcony door. I peeked outside and noticed the black SUV parked in the parking lot below, a few parking spaces from my car once again. The windows were tinted so dark that I could only see a giant hand resting on the steering wheel. As quietly as I could, I walked to the front door and looked through the peep hole. I couldn’t see all of him, but you can’t mistake a physique like that. It was one of the bodyguards that had delivered Anthony’s karma the night before.
I opened the door. He turned around as I said, “Good morning, sir. Can I get you a coffee?”
He smiled warmly. “Good morning, Miss Sephie. Thank you, but I’m fine.”
“Don’t be a martyr. You can’t have slept much if you’ve been here since Mr. Turner from across the hall left. Wait, are you on meth? You’re on meth, aren’t you? Is that how you’re awake right now? Don’t lie to me. You might be four times as big as me, but I know kung fu.”
That got a belly laugh out of him.
“No, ma’am. Not on meth. I still have all my teeth—see?” he said in his thick Russian accent, showing me his teeth as proof of his abstinence from meth.
“Touché. But you’ve still gotta be tired. C’mon. You basically saved my life last night. The least I can do is make you a cup of coffee.”
His warm smile stretched across his face once more and he ran his hand through his buzzed hair. “Sure, Miss Sephie. That would be great,” he said.
“Does your pal in the parking lot want one too? You know, while I’m at it, can I get your names? For the coffee order, of course.”
He chuckled and said, “I’m Viktor. The guy in the parking lot is Andrei.”
“How very Russian of you both. Please, Viktor, come inside while I make the coffee. It’s weird to have you standing outside my door. I already give my neighbors enough gossip as it is without a gigantic Russian statue outside my door.”
Another belly laugh from Viktor made me smile as well. He looked like he could kill you with his mind, but I could tell that Viktor had a heart of gold. He walked into my apartment, slightly nervous, but scanning the room like the dutiful guardian he is.
