“I’m going to shower,” he says, kissing the back of my neck. “Do you want to wait for me to head down?”
I don’t. I’m feeling a bit raw. “I can find my way to Dimitri’s apartment.”
“To discuss Sver?” he asks, and I see him straighten, tense.
Is he worried? About what? “No. To visit my niece.”
I see him relax. “I’ve got to be honest, she’s the cutest little thing.”
My eyes widen, and thoughts I should not be thinking start to push to the front. Me with a child of my own. Me and Ryker and a… “She is. And so sweet.” I turn back to the sink, scrubbing the pan he used to cook the bacon.
“I bet,” he replies before he disappears into the bedroom. I finish up the kitchen, wiping the counters and putting all the dishes away.
I enter the bedroom just as the shower turns off. Heading to the closet, I slip on a pair of flats, and head for the door. I know that Ryker will be ready in a few minutes, but I’d like a bit more time to myself. To sort out my thoughts.
With that in mind, I press the elevator button, the doors slide open.
Stepping inside, I hit Dimitri’s floor, losing myself in my thoughts as the doors close. I wasn’t really built for a casual, temporary relationship, unlike Ryker. I can feel how much trouble I’m already in.
It only takes a few seconds to move down the two floors then the doors slide open again. Stepping out, I enter the hall, stilldeep in thought. My old apartment is just to the right. Dimitri’s to the left.
At the end of the hall is a window. I start toward Dimitri’s door, but instead of knocking, I step up to the bulletproof glass.
I can see the cameras swing, making their ninety second turn. Beyond, Vegas sits quietly in the sun. Or it looks quiet from here.
I touch the glass, marveling that in just a day, this building stopped feeling like a prison and started to feel like the one place in the world I was safe.
It’s starting to feel…like a home. What am I going to do when this is all over?—
“Hey,” a strange male voice calls from the other end of the hall. “What are you doing down here?”
I turn, confused by the words and the noise.
I’ve done it again, gotten lost in my head, but still, I can’t make sense of the words. He’s charging toward me, his face set in angry lines. Am I not allowed to move floors? “I’m visiting my brother?—”
He grabs my arm, yanking me away from the window. “You need?—”
I cry out, not hearing the rest of what he has to say. That’s when the elevator door dings.
Ryker steps out, the guard dragging me toward him. “Sir?—”
Ryker stops, his nostrils flaring. “You’ve got one second to take your hands off my wife.”
“But sir, she’s not?—”
He doesn’t even pull back. Instead, he just pops the guard in the nose with his fist.
The man instantly lets me go, doubling over as he covers his face with his hands. “You hit me.”
“I warned you first,” Ryker snarls as he grabs my hand and pulls me, not to his side, but tucks me behind him.
His stance is wide, his fists clenched.
Is it any wonder this place feels different? I skate my fingertips down his spine as I step deeper into his shadow.
Maybe I never wanted freedom. Maybe I always just wanted to be safe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
