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“You know we can’t afford any distractions, no matter how beautiful they are,” I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper. “We’re here for a reason… to lie low, to survive.”
Logan’s gaze drifted toward the window. I saw it then, the faint glimmer of something crossing his face. Desire? Confusion? Or perhaps both.
“I know what we’re here for, Mason. Get off my fucking case,” Logan rasped. “I ain’t losing my head over a pretty face.” His attention snapped to mine, the hardened mask sliding back into place.
“Good,” I stated. “Because the girls are off-limits, especially Katerina.”
Logan grunted his confirmation, the darkness in his expression lingering.
A knock came at the door, then it pushed open, and Katerina stood there, looking utterly spooked with Bridge behind her. Her gaze swept the room as though she was searching for the reason for her attendance, then landed firmly on Logan.
The unspoken air between them rippled.
Deciding I’d find out later, I shooed the men out of the room, the door clicking shut behind them, and turned my attention to Katerina.
Her crisp white shirt, tucked into a bright blue loose skirt that fell to her knees, pulled across her bust. The small gap between the buttons revealed her cleavage, and I stared longer than I should have.
She was a striking beauty who was impossible to ignore.
Hair tumbling down her shoulders, it caught the sunlight from the window. Piercing green eyes studied me, as though I held the answers to making everything right in the world, melted something inside of me.
“Hello, Katerina. Take a seat,” I said with a smile to, hopefully, appear less threatening.
“Am I in trouble?” she asked, her voice soft as she slid into the chair across from me. She carried an air of vulnerability. It was easy to lose your mind to a beauty like her, with those lush lips, those perky tits, that ass to grab onto, so I understood what Logan saw in her. She honestly had no idea about how easily she could get us to fall to our knees for a taste.
“No trouble,” I answered. “But Officer Garcia called this morning, needing to talk to you urgently,” I said, sliding the phone across the table to where she was already fumbling with her fingers in her lap. “It’s protocol that I remain present during any external calls. If you’re okay with it, we can put it on speaker.”
When she nodded, I dialed the number and pressed the speaker button as Officer Garcia answered.
“Hello, this is Office Garcia.”
“Hey, this is Katerina. You asked to talk to me? Is everything okay?” She pinched her lips to the side, staring at the phone as if she could look through it and see the officer.
“I hope you’re settling in okay at Shadow Hill?”
“I’m... I’m doing alright. Walking away from my life still feels surreal.”
“I know it’s hard, but I hear you’ve already made a friend.”
“Yeah, most of the girls seem nice.”
The awkward tension in their conversation made it hard to listen to.
There was a brief pause, and then the officer murmured, “I’m calling because I wanted to update you on something... but I didn’t want you to worry.”
Kat leaned forward, her breasts resting on the desktop, the top of her shirt gaping open to the most beautiful sight.
Keep your shit together.
“Your stepdad has decided to press charges.”
Kat gasped, her face instantly losing color. She looked like she’d been slapped. “Wh-What do you mean?”
“He’s claiming emotional distress and restitution for damages to his car,” Officer Garcia explained. “But, Kat, listen to me. You’re safe. You’re protected by being at the institute for now. I will try to deal with it on this end, but when you get out, there might have to go to court if I can’t get him to drop the charges.”
Kat nodded, tears welling in her eyes.
My gut hardened, and I already brutally hated her stepdad. Every inch of me wanted to drag her into my arms and tell her she’d be fine, except who the fuck was I to offer her such protection? I had my own problems and couldn’t afford to get swallowed up by her petty stepfather’s issues. One wrong move and me and my men were dead.
