CHAPTER 32
Kara
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where Roman and Lev were taking me.
The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s crown jewel, the perfect lap of luxury carved right into the sea.
Roman parked his car with the same easy confidence he did everything else, the engine purring into silence. For a long moment, no one spoke. The air inside of the car felt thick with exhaustion and waning adrenaline. I could still taste the sea on my lips.
Lev opened my door before I could reach for it. “We should get you inside,” he said quietly. His hand brushed mine, warm and grounding.
I managed a tired smile. “You mean before ARCHEON sends us a welcoming party?”
“Exactly.” His mouth curved slightly, but his eyes stayed vigilant, scanning the quiet street.
Roman came around the front, his shirt still damp, hair wind-tossed, the edge of a grin tugging at his mouth. “We’re fine, Lev. We weren’t followed.”
Lev shot him a look. “Someone in this family has to be responsible.”
“Come on, let’s get inside,” I broke in, cutting off the tension between the two of them before it could escalate any further.
We went inside and the villa was absolutely stunning, the kind of place you’d see in glossy magazines and assume no one actually lived in. Pale stone floors stretched out beneath our feet, and the entire back wall was made of glass that overlooked the water.
Roman dropped his jacket over a chair and turned to face me. “Home sweet safehouse,” he said with mock grandeur. “Try not to fall in love with it. We’ll be gone by sunrise.”
I arched a brow. “You have a terrible way of making a girl feel at home.”
He smiled, the lazy kind that always carried trouble. “You’re safe, aren’t you?”
Before I could answer, Lev stepped closer, his hand brushing my arm, drawing my attention back to him. His touch was gentle but possessive, his voice low. “You did well tonight, Kara. Most people wouldn’t have made it out of that ship alive.”
I swallowed hard, heat blooming in my chest. “I didn’t have much of a choice. Dying didn’t feel like a great option.”
Roman came up behind me then, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck. “That’s the thing about you,” he murmured, his tone rugged but soft around the edges. “You always make it look like you do.”
My pulse stuttered. I turned slightly, caught between them, Lev’s quiet intensity and Roman’s smooth, magnetic charm. They were so different, and yet somehow, they made sense together. Two halves of the same coin.
Lev’s gaze flicked to his brother. “You’re crowding her.”
Roman smirked. “You had your turn at the wheel, Captain. Don’t get greedy now.”
“Someone had to keep us alive,” Lev shot back. “You were too busy trying to shoot at everything that moved.”
“And yet,” Roman said, leaning in until his lips brushed my temple, “here we all are. Alive. You’re welcome.”
I exhaled a shaky laugh. “You two really can’t help yourselves, can you?”
Roman’s mouth curved against my skin. “It’s a brother thing.”
Lev’s hand slid up to my waist, his thumb stroking small, absent circles through the thin fabric of my shirt. “It’s a control thing.”
I looked between them, my heartbeat quickening. The air felt different now, thicker, charged, the unspoken tension humming just beneath the exhaustion.
Roman’s hand came up, brushing my jaw, tilting my face toward him. “You scared the hell out of us, you know that?” he said softly.
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Instead, I found myself leaning into his touch, drawn by that charisma he carried everywhere he went. He kissed me once, slow and steady, tasting of salt and adrenaline and relief.
When he pulled back, Lev’s gaze caught mine. The question there didn’t need words.
