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He crumpled the last of the empty bags and stuffed them into the recycling bin, fixing me with an indecipherable look as he straightened. “Am I meant to interpret that comment as a question or a barb to push me away?”
“Interpret it however you want.”
Walking forward with smooth strides, he closed the distance on me in no time at all. Once again, he was calm, poised, and looked fucking incredible in a charcoal suit. Some guys really did have it all. “I’m not your enemy, Marek. And I’m not a child. You’re going to have to try much harder to hurt my feelings.”
“I’m not—”
He shook his head once, silencing the denial. “If you’re ready, we can go to the hospital to check on your brother.”
“What about them?” I asked, throwing my thumb toward the closed bedroom door.
“I’ll have Sveta come watch them and I thought Nadia would be enough of a distraction.”
“Well, shouldn’t we wait for her to get here?”
“She lives across the hall.”
“Oh.” Convenient. Maybe he had girls in his rotation too. Not that I’d ask—orcomment—after he called me out a second ago without even flinching. It was none of my business, after all. As long as the sheets were reasonably clean and there weren’t mice running around, I could crash pretty much anywhere. “Let me go wake them up and let them know what’s going on.”
He nodded and headed out the apartment door while I made my way to the guest room.
The dog was laying outside the kids’ closed door, panting with barely contained excitement. I reached over her and pushed the door open. She took off like a shot, running straight to the bed and sniffing around the edges with enthusiasm. Thank God she didn’t jumpinbed and scare the shit out of them.
Bri woke up almost the second the door opened, her dark eyes wide. I hated that fucking look. I knew that look, that feeling of dread, and I hated seeing it on my little sister. Would it be Crystal in a drunken rage? One of her boyfriends? A fucking dealer? There was no telling. The fact it was still happening made my goddamn skin crawl.
“It’s just me,” I whispered, padding to her side of the bed and crouching down next to it, trying to ignore the Border Collie when she rushed up next to me and started licking Bri’s hand. “This is Misha’s dog. He thought you might like her. I’m going to go check on Axel, ok? One of my friends from work is going to hang out with you guys until I get back.”
“What’s her name?” she asked, petting the dog with a small smile.
“I have no idea,” I answered honestly. “Something Russian. Nadia, I think he said? But the girl coming over is named Sveta. She’s one of the waitresses. I think you’ll like her, too.”
“Ok.” She didn’t sound the least bit sure but she was also smart enough not to argue. Not after last night, after her entire world had been knocked for a loop.
“There’s food in the kitchen but I’ll text you on the way home and see what you guys want for lunch, ok?”
“Ok.”
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Patting the dog on the head, I retreated to the door before Ezra woke up.
“Marek?”
I stopped, turning halfway to face my sister. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry about last night.”
“Me too, Bumble B.” I gave her a small smile and ducked out.
11
MAREK
“Before we goto the hospital, we should go back to the house and pack some things for your brother,” Misha said, maneuvering a third vehicle through traffic—a black Range Rover this time.
“Yeah, sure.” I glanced around the car, trying to determine if it was a rental. Probably not. If he could afford all of the other shit he had, what were three separate car payments? Except, he probably paid in cash. The question of why remained a mystery and ultimately not my concern, like the rest of his life.
“How did you sleep?” Misha asked, as friendly as could be, acting like it was another ordinary day, and glossing right over the fact we’d dealt with an overdose and abducted a couple of kids the night before.
I made a noncommittal noise in answer to his question, my attention turned out the window. The longer he drove south, away from the Chicago city limits, the shittier it got and the more my palms started to itch. Rolling through the streets of Colomb in an SUV like this was bound to draw unnecessary attention. The only perk was that it was early and most of the shitheads were still passed out from their drug or liquor of choice. If it was after sunset, there was no way I would have agreed to the trip. Connected Russian or not, the people there would jump him the second he stepped out of the car and take it all. Leaving us alive was optional.
