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Ivan’s head popped up and whipped around. “Emmy?”
Callahan snapped his fingers. “That’s it. Emmy. On and on about that one.”
“Shit,” Nikolai exclaimed, slamming his beer down.
Ivan marched up to Callahan and grabbed the front of his shirt. “Tell me exactly what the fuck he said about her.”
Callahan tensed, as if preparing to toss Ivan through across the yard, but paused as he observed the almost crazed look on Ivan’s face. Ivan’s reaction was not based on aggression. It was based on fear.
Callahan reached down to remove Ivan’s hand from his shirt, and while Ivan complied, he stayed crowded in Callahan’s personal space, his eyes glittering with emotion. “You know this girl?”
Ivan jutted his chin toward the spot where Emmy and some high school kid were talking.
Callahan’s eyes widened dramatically. “Wait…Hannah’s sister? That Emmy?”
Ivan gave a short nod. “Tell me everything that fuck said.”
“I only met him a couple of times. He usually arrived before Alfonsi, no surprise. Alfonsi was a lazy piece of shit. Anyway, he would go on and on about ‘his girl’ this and ‘his girl’ that.”
That had Ivan’s fists clenching.
Callahan continued. “But then he’d slip and say, ‘when we get together’, or ‘when I finally have her,’ so I figured he wasn’t actually dating her, and honestly, who could blame her with that guy. I just assumed he was rambling about some girl who made his coffee at a Starbucks or waved hello at him once. He seems like the kind of guy who’d get obsessed with someone who barely knew he existed.”
Callahan had that shit right. It was concerning that Orlov had this fixation on Emmy considering he’d disappeared three months ago. While we had our feelers out, we hadn’t really been worried about him. This information about Emmy was definitely something we needed to worry about.
“Has anyone been watching over Emmy?” Ivan growled at me, his body rigid, tension coming off him in waves.
My eyebrows shot up. “No. Why would we be watching over her? We didn’t know Orlov was into her. Fuck, we shot that asshole before he got away and that was on top of getting lit up like a roman candle when the warehouse blew up. Who’s to say he’s even alive?”
Ivan shook his head. “No, she needs to be protected. You think that flute player, or whatever he is, is going to do shit against someone like Orlov?” Ivan said, jerking his thumb in Emmy’s direction. I had been wondering how he felt about her bringing a date to this party, but his thunderous expression told me everything I wanted to know.
“What do you suggest we do? I guess I could put a man on her for a bit, check out any guys hanging around her,” I said casually.
I knew where this was headed.
“You guess? We’re the reason she’s even on Orlov’s radar.”
“If you’re so worked up, why don’t you protect her?”
“No way,” Ivan said, looking spooked.
I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully. “Okay, then I guess I can put Will on her. I’ll tell her to pretend he’s her boyfriend, so it doesn’t look so weird with him around her all the time. I doubt Orlov will make a move on her if she’s with Will. If that lunatic is even alive.”
If possible, Ivan’s scowl intensified. “Her boyfriend? Will? No fucking way. Absolutely not. He’ll make a move on her. He’ll show her his fucking scars from when he got shot and act like some kind of hero. Forget it, I’ll take care of this myself,” he said, slamming down his beer bottle before he marched toward Emmy and the unfortunate man she had brought to the party. Though I was concerned about the situation with Orlov, I couldn’t help but grin at what I knew was about to unfold.
Ivan was done.
I got up and walked toward Kayta, chuckling when I saw Ivan walk up to Emmy and drag her into the small grove of trees at the back of the yard.
I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her toward me, dropping a kiss on her pouty, irresistible mouth. “What’s going on with Ivan?” she asked, darting a quick look over to where he and Emmy were talking animatedly.
I shrugged. “He’s finally facing his destiny.”
Chapter 1
Emmy
So, I’ve been listening to some really interesting harp and saxophone duets lately,” Jason Sizemore said earnestly, his preppie good looks twisted in a look of hopeful optimism.
