“It can be,” I said.
Viktor leaned into her shoulder playfully. “He’s trying to say he’s the safe option.”
I laughed. “Safe? No. But I am the one who thinks before he acts.”
“Thinking is overrated,” Viktor said, stretching. “Reacting is more fun.”
Katya looked at me again, eyes narrowing in a slow, assessing sweep. “Maybe you think too much,” she suggested. “Maybe that’s your fatal flaw.”
I leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees. “Or maybe it’s the thing that will let me keep up with you.”
She lifted her chin just a hair and that was the moment I realized something I probably shouldn’t have.
I could fall for her.
Easily. Quickly. Completely.
And I wasn’t sure I cared to stop it.
Her lips curved. “Careful, Andrei,” she said. “You’re starting to look like you want something from me.”
I didn’t blink. “I do.”
She swallowed, barely, but I saw it.
“And you?” I asked. “What do you want?”
Her breath hitched.
That was all the answer I needed.
CHAPTER 17
Dubai, one week ago…
Katya
The Dragunov estate at night felt different.
Quieter. Cooler. The courtyard was wrapped in a soft, golden glow from lantern lights and there was the gentle chirp of crickets hiding somewhere in the imported palms. The air smelled faintly of spice and sea salt and the city of Dubai glittered in the distance, all the tall towers shining like a cluster of jeweled knives pointed at the stars.
Inside, the house was all shadowed hallways, high ceilings, and the kind of expensive silence that made you hear things you weren’t meant to.
I’d showered again—Dubai heat was no joke—and slipped into one of the new dresses the brothers insisted on buying for me, this one a soft, draping champagne-colored silk that felt like cool water against my skin. I wasn’t used to luxury, but I wasn’t tooproud to pretend it didn’t feel good. Still, wearing it around the Dragunov brothers felt like wearing a neon sign that said ‘I’m up for grabs. Please fuck me,’ which wasn’t ideal, but whatever. I’d deal with the consequences as they came.
I padded barefoot down the hallway toward the kitchen to grab a drink when I heard Andrei’s voice talking softly. He was in the study at the end of the hall, door half-open. I stopped outside the door, just out of sight.
“…alone?” Andrei said. “Why?”
A cold sensation slid down my spine.
The tone of his voice shifted even tighter. “That wasn’t the agreement.”
Silence.
I pressed closer, heart thudding steadily beneath my ribs.
Andrei exhaled hard. “Fine. Yes, I’ll go. But if Revenant thinks making me go alone is going to?—”
