"It might be wise to find another apartment for Laurie..." He meets my eyes. "And if it’s okay with her, I’d like you to move in with me."
Surprise has my eyebrows flickering. "Move in? You’ve only known me two minutes," I exaggerate, because it might as well be true.
"Things work different in my world, trust me, two minutes is a life time, and I want all of my lifetimes with you." He is looking at me in that way again, and I have to swallow to make my mouth work.
"About that," I say, breaking eye contact as I try to figure out what I’m trying to say. "What is your world? Gangs and guns and danger?"
"Sometimes danger," he admits with a half shrug that saysit can’t be helped. "My brothers and I, we are Bratva, the traditional thieves-in-law. We don’t do trafficking of humans or weapons. That doesn’t mean what we do is legal. We work in the gray areas."
"Gray areas?" I ask, though I’m not sure if I’m ready to hear what that means.
"Sometimes the only way out of something, is through it. But being Bratva is in my blood. It’s a brotherhood. And it wasn’t something I was willing to let go of, which is why I never intended to take a wife or have children. When my brothers fell for their women, I told them they were all batshit…" he trails off, shaking his head with resignation.
"But…" I encourage him, not feeling entirely unperturbed by what he is telling me.
"Then I saw you. Told myself attraction means nothing. Then I met you and it got harder to tell myself it was a meaningless attraction. Then I saw you straddling Kaiden, beating the shit out of him and I was half driven mad with jealousy, but the other half of me thought you were otherworldly in your strength and courage. And that’s when I knew." He drops his fork onto his plate and pushes it away from him.
"Knew what?" I ask. He told me last night that’s when he knew I was his… but what does that actually mean?
He leans across the island and takes my hand in his. "You hold the other half of the thing that lives inside of me. You are the one person in the world who I would give it all up for. That I would cut out my heart and hand it to you willingly. You electrify mylife in a way I never knew possible. You woke up something else too…You make me want a legacy."
His phone buzzes, breaking the the moment as his words continue to weave around me, not quite sinking in. He checks it, and his expression darkens.
"What's wrong?"
"Zajmi." He shows me the screen. It's a text from an unknown number with a photo attached, a grainy image of what looks like a warehouse exterior. "He's taunting me. Wants me to know he's still operating."
"What are you going to do?"
"Hunt him down and end this." He pockets the phone. "But not today. Today is about you and your sister and making sure everyone's safe. Zajmi can wait."
"Will he? Wait, I mean?"
"He doesn't have a choice. I'm coming for him regardless." His eyes are cold when he looks at me. "And when I find him, he's going to wish I'd killed him quickly like the others."
A shiver of dark anticipation runs through me. I like knowing this man would destroy anyone who tried to hurt me or my sister.
Yakov
The drive to the safehouse takes twenty minutes. Laney is quiet beside me, her hand resting on my thigh, grounding me. She's back in her own clothes since I had her bag sent up to my penthouse suite. Even exhausted and bruised, she's beautiful.
I pull up to the house, a nondescript two-story in a gated community that's owned by one of my shell companies.
Maksim Vasiliev's SUV is in the driveway. Adrik must have called him.
"Ready?" I ask.
She nods, squeezing my thigh once before letting go.
Inside, the house smells like coffee and something baking. One of the women from yesterday appears, dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and pants, holding a tray of warm pastries. Stopping still when her eyes land on me and Laney, taking a moment to reassure herself we are safe people.
Then she smiles warmly at Laney. "Laurie has been asking for you."
"Where is she?" Laney asks.
"In the media room." She nods her head towards a door at the far side of the hallway. "She's okay. Just getting to grips with everything that’s happened…"
Laney's already moving toward the back of the house before I can say anything. I let her go, she needs this moment with her sister without me hovering. The woman with the pastries nods once at me, and walks to the living area where I hear a few women murmur their thanks as she hands them out.
