“Mila.” He said my name with so much meaning it literally made me want to cry.
“Good night, Axel.”
I walked into my room and then burst into tears.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
AXEL
Viktorand I walked into the back alley and stood under umbrellas in the pouring rain.
“I know you didn’t want any contact with me.”
I stared at my brother, drinking in the familiar sight of him. It didn’t matter that I matched him in size and height. I always felt like his younger brother. “I’m trying to keep everyone safe.”
“I’m not doing surveillance on you, but our team recently stumbled over some information that has some relevance to your life.”
I was curious more than anything. “Okay.”
“I heard you were looking for a dog.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “How do you know that?”
“We do pro bono work for some animal shelters, and our system flagged a specific search on the adoption of a dog named Bandit and then an illegal look at their security cameras at the exact time Bandit left the building.”
I didn’t even bother trying to justify my actions. “We traced the van that left with him, but it was a stolen vehicle with stolen plates. That’s where we lost track of the dog.”
“I’m not here to interfere but I think we can help.”
“My wife is devastated. I’ll take all the help I can get.”
He handed me a scrap of paper. “He’s a low-level dog fighter. He isn’t into big money yet and he’s fighting dogs in random places, but he always works the same underground fight that happens tomorrow night at this address.”
It had been so long since someone had truly had my back. I almost didn’t recognize the feeling. The hope of reuniting Mila with her dog felt unfamiliar in my chest, but not unwelcome. “Appreciate it.”
“We’re staying out of your business, but we’ve always got your back.”
He disappeared into the rain and dark, and when I got back inside, Mila had disappeared behind her closed bedroom door.
I spentmost of Thursday thinking about Mila while at work. The fiasco with the wine and Giselle was managed with a couple of phone calls. Giselle laughed it off and my clients accepted my apology with ease.
But things with Mila hadn’t been resolved at all. I knew she was worried about Giselle, and the fact that she’d found us dining alone had exacerbated those feelings. Mila and I shared undeniable chemistry and the draw between us was real, which is why I needed to keep stepping back. The deeper we moved into this, the more she’d get hurt in the long run.
The problem was that my willpower was slipping. Every time she pressed for more, my control frayed. And I had already crossed the line too many times with her.
I needed to reestablish the boundary between us.
So, I didn’t know how I ended up sitting in my truck in the driveway, staring at the lights on inside our house and wondering what Jordan had cooked today.
“Food doesn’t count,” I said out loud as I killed the engine, knowing full well that I wasn’t heading inside for the food.
I steppedinto the cozy warmth of the kitchen. Mila sat at the island, wearing a soft cream knit sweater and a smile full of trepidation. “You’re home early.”
“For once.”
I tossed my jacket over the chair and then poured myself a drink. “How was your day?”
She sounded shy. “Good.”
