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Emma’s gaze darts to the right. Then to the left. When I move towards her, she takes a step back. I try not to take it personally but it’s strange how that thorn under my skin just gets wedged in deeper.
How can she be so wary of me?
Me, the man who saved her.
Me, the fool who loved her.
“You’ve been following me,” she accuses.
“Your powers of deception aren’t quite as honed as you might think,kiska,” I drawl sarcastically.
“I’m not quite as good of a liar and con artist as you are? Gee, don’t flatter me,” she fires back with just as much venom.
Grimacing, I glance over her shoulder at the decrepit shithole she chose to house the children. “Of all the places you could have taken them, you chose to bring themhere.”
She bristles. “I did what I had to do. I did my best.”
“And this is your best?”
She tries not to react apart from a subtle flinch, but I know I’m getting to her. I’m just voicing all the doubts she’s already got banging around in that stubborn little head of hers. Her forehead vein is telling me so.
“What are you doing here, Ruslan?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
She stiffens. “I want a change.”
“One hell of a change you picked.”
Her eyes flare with anger. “What the hell do you care? You’re done with me, remember? You want me out of your life. Were those not your words?”
The fucking nerve of this woman. To betray me and then have the gall to be pissed off that I reacted, that I found out.
“And I meant every single one,” I hiss back. “But I do still care about those kids. And, considering you seem intent on dragging them out of the city in the dead of the night, I have every reason to be concerned.”
“You arenottheir father.” There’s pure poison in every word she spits. “You are not their guardian. You are not their anything. You want me out of your life? Well, right back atcha, buddy.”
I take a step towards her, trapping her between me and the passenger side door. “Let me remind you again.” I’m whispering at this point but she cringes back as though I’m screaming at her. “I’m not here foryou.”
She looks away from me pointedly but I still catch the glossy sheen of tears in her eyes. She tries to get away but I only press my body in tighter.
“Ruslan,” she pants, “let me go.”
“Trust me: there’s nothing I would like better.” Thank God my powers of deception are much better honed than hers because otherwise, she would see right through my bullshit. I don’t want to let her go anywhere. “But unfortunately, my world has gotten entangled with yours. I have to make sure that’s corrected before I can let you go.”
I adjust my position carefully so that she won’t notice the throbbing erection that pinning her against the car has caused.
I’m gonna need to find a way to kill this particular beast. It doesn’t want to die easily.
“W-what does that mean?” she stammers.
“It means that someone has their eye on Josh. And if they’ve noticed Josh, they’ve noticed you and the girls, too. You’ve got a target on your back, Emma, and I need to take out the motherfucker who’s holding the gun.”
Her bottom lip trembles. “That’ll take too long.”
“What are you in such a hurry to get away from?”
“You!”
