Gus’ brows were drawn together, but his eyes were wide in a confused expression.
“…do I speak Romanian?”
He sounded so bewildered that Nikolett laughed, some of her tension fading.
“I don’t think so. Though I used to speak conversational Italian, so maybe that’s it?”
Nikolett nodded slowly. “They do share a lot.” She’d have to look up the Italian word for poison to see how close it was to Romanian. She didn’t speak any Italian, though she could sometimes read written Italian due to the similarities to Romanian.
The fact that he knew about the shared lexicon of the languages, and the fact that he spoke so many languages, made it reasonable to assume he’d simply understood without consciously processing why he understood.
Gus’ gaze dropped to her leg. “You’re not wearing your green thing.”
“I don’t have to anymore.”
“But your leg…”
“The skin and muscle are just tender where it’s still healing, but the cast didn’t help with that. The cast was for the bone, which isn’t broken anymore.”
“I’m glad, lass.”
Nikolett moved away from the sideboard where she’d left the flowers, and Gus followed her. She picked up the room service menu, passing it to him. “We can order some coffee and dessert.”
“No wine?” He smiled.
Unease slid down her back again and she sat in one of the armchairs. “No. I clearly had too much the other night.”
Gus handed her back the menu, which she took on reflex, before stripping out of his coat.
Whoa.
She’d known Gus was big, strong, but this was her first timeseeingit. The tight shirt was definitely some sort of workout gear, with a faint hexagonal pattern in the stretchy fabric.
His arms and chest were massive—mounded with muscle.
Again, unease slid through her. There was a significant difference between knowing intellectually how strong a man was, and seeing it.
He looked like a threat.
Nikolett’s eyes slid to the closed bedroom door and the unease faded.
She was technically safe. Regina and Keanu would be monitoring the microphones in this room, even if the majority of their attention was on the operation to catch the Spaniard.
But shefeltsafe because Eric was on the other side of that door.
“Like what you see?” Gus teased.
Nikolett felt herself blush, but raised her chin. “I do.” She passed him the room service menu as he sat on the couch beside her.
His gaze slid briefly down her before returning to her face. “Did I tell you last time how lovely you are?”
“Thank you.” Nikolett opened her mouth to return the compliment, when something struck her. “Why are you single?”
Gus looked up from the menu. “What?”
“Why are you single? You’re handsome. Successful.” Had there been a faint noise from the bedroom when she called him handsome? “I’m surprised that you aren’t in a relationship.”
“I could ask the same about you.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Unless what happened when you were young means you don’t ever want to marry?”
