“Well, I’m not volunteering to kill that motherfucker myself,” Maya says, her tone acidic. “Not alone, at least. And we all need Lebedev dead.”
“She doesn’t,” I hear myself say sharply. “She needs information to trade for her father’s life.”
“Yeah,” says Maya in amusement. “Information Lebedev will only surrender on pain of death. You understand that, don’t you, Nikolai?” Her expression shifts, and she sits up straight, leveling us both with a hard, uncharacteristically serious stare. “Look. I know him, OK? I know all of them, and I’ve spent every minute since you two idiots ran me off the road yesterday contemplating how exactly we can save all our necks, take control of our fathers’ mafia, run it into the ground, and rebuild it better, safer than ever before.Thisis the only way.”
I open my mouth, but Zane grabs my arm. “Nik. We can pull this off.”
“Not without backup,” I say, hoping that if I stall long enough, I can get Zane to safety, or figure out some other ticket into Lebedev’s presence. One that doesn’t require directly endangering her life.
“Yeah, well,” Maya says. “You just said yourself we don’thaveany backup, so—”
“Wait. Wait.” I run a hand over my face. “We’re not the only ones who want him dead. Not by a long shot.”
“No,” Maya says sharply, and I know I don’t imagine the flicker of fear that goes through her eyes, there and then gone quick as a bolt of grounded lightning. “No fucking way, Nik.”
So, she knows exactly who I’m talking about. “Oh, what? You scared of your ex?”
“And right to be,” she snaps back. “He’s fucking dangerous. Why do you think I haven’t talked to him in five years?”
“Fitz?” asks Zane, surprisingly brightly. “I thought you loved the Irish, Maya.”
“Fuck off,” Maya says, with more panic than anger. She stands up and dusts her hands. “Fuck it. We don’t need backup—”
“We do if we want to kill Lebedev and survive.”
Her eyes are daggers, bright and dangerous. “Why wouldhehelp us?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, enjoying seeing her squirm a little. Good to know she’s still human under all that cocky hubris. “We have you. Why wouldn’t he want to do a favor for his old flame?”
“We didn’t exactly end things on good terms.”
“I think it’s as good a plan as any,” Zane says, with more cheer than the situation calls for. She’s always been that way though—waiting to jump in and break me and Maya up before things get too nasty. “Besides, your dads are probably following us. And they probably realize by now that Maya’s with us. The only reason I can imagine they’re not fucking with us now is because they assume we have a plan, and they don’t want to interfere.”
“Lebedev dead is good news for the whole family,” I mutter, thinking bitterly of how callous my father was on the phone, willing to endanger Zane for his own revenge and power. “Let’s get going.”
“I fucking hate you guys,” Maya mutters, but she grabs her jacket and storms out without further prompting, no doubt realizing this is, in fact, our best entry point.
Zane catches my arm when I move to follow. “Hey. I need you to trust me.”
“I do,” I say, and she cocks a dubious eyebrow. “I do, Zane. But I also know you. And I trust you to throw yourself on a grenade to protect your father, and I’m not going to let you do that.”
“Why? Because I’m your fake wife?Fakeis the key word, you know. You don’t owe me anything.” Her hand slides from my arm, and I act without thinking, catching her with one palm against her voluptuous waist. Her eyes widen, swinging to me.
“I don’t care if everyone else wants to be reckless with your life. I’m not going to be.”
“Where’s this coming from?” She asks it mildly, but I don’t mistake the waver in her voice or the pink rising to her cheeks. Or the way her eyes dart, furtive and involuntarily to my mouth. “You stood back while they held a knife to my neck, Nikolai. You were angry then. You’re angry now. You’re angry with me for leaving. Whatever you’re feeling right now, in this moment, whatever kindness, it isn’t real.”
It’s a gut punch. I tighten my grip on her waist, pulling her ever so slightly closer. Her body is flush against mine, her eyes wide and her palms against my chest. But she doesn’t pull away. I lift a tentative hand, brush my thumb over her bottom lip. She trembles slightly in my arms.
“I don’t feel kindness,” I say softly. “I feel protective. You said you never stopped trusting me. Well, I never stopped protecting you.”
Her eyes widen, and I think she realizes that I mean what I’m saying. She sways toward me, rising on her toes. I lean down, intoxicated by the soft lavender scent of her hair, by her warmth, by the satin of her skin—
“Hello? You guys can fuck later. We’ve got some Irish dudes to wrangle. Chop, chop.” Maya, having appeared in the doorway, claps her hands sharply and stomps back out, rolling her eyes.
Zane steps away from me, chastened and smiling awkwardly. Her face is a lovely, tempting shade of rose. “Like I said, I just need you to trust me. OK? No matter what.”
I don’t like the sound of it, but this time I nod, savoring the relief that floods her expression.
