“Do you know I like it hard and fast as often as I like being romanced? I mean, doing anything with your partner is effectively being romanced, but…”
He moves fast, wrapping his hand around my throat, his hand pushing my chin back so I can avoid looking at him. “I get what you are saying, Quinn!”
I press harder against his grip, my eyelids fluttering to a close, all those pills I’d taken not doing a fucking thing for me anymore, not after today’s death lingers around us. Not after their promises of forever. But it’s not just Santiago that’s getting me in a flutter; he’s just the final piece in the puzzle. We still have a lot to figure out, a ridiculous number of issues need to be resolved, but with each piece slowly but surely falling into place, the completed picture is becoming clearer.
Roshka gets tired of waiting and starts forcing Santiago and me apart.
“This dog is an issue, as much as his master is,” Santiago hisses as he grips my other hip to stop Roshka from inserting himself between us, but it’s a losing battle. He doesn’t stop moving me until he’s happy. I swear it is blatantly obvious the more time I spend with Roshka that he mirrors his owner in a lot of his actions and thoughts.
He parks his butt on my feet, then stares me down.
He truly is an intimidating animal, and while I know his weaknesses—Aleksei and Nalla—and he already knows mine, we don’t sort out much because Aleksei interrupts us.
“Roshka,” he snaps, and the dog leaps into action, racing off. Aleksei calls me over, “Come, come.”
“Where are you going?” I ask.
All the questions are starting to get more important again.
The thought of us separating is the last thing I want, but it’s unavoidable. If anything, it matches the rest of the drama already happening.
“Santiago will help me. There are a few loose ends, and if he is with me and Roshka, it will back up our story.”
“What is our story?”
He grins. “It’s a horror at the moment. Maybe later, we will make sure some smutty romance comes into play?”
It’s a question, but not one too.
I slide into the space he provides, his arms welcoming, and they’re fast becoming one of my favorite places to be.
“Soon. I’ll be like Roshka, demanding all your time.”
I laugh as we walk into the kitchen. The place is a mess, like people left in a hurry, as opposed to the kind of mess left behind in the restaurant.
“Santiago and I will be a day behind you. Maybe more, maybe less, but there are loose ends that I can’t leave. You and Kade going to ground will help our story.”
“That I’ve been abducted?”
“Yes. I will say Kade and Nalla were killed in the attack on the restaurant. I need to mourn my brother and deal with the fallout, including calling Victor. I’m being overzealous in how I cover our tracks, but I’m not risking you,” Aleksei says, clicking his fingers impatiently for Roshka to take the lead. The dog trots past, giving his owner a fair bit of defiance that Aleksei sees. He whacks his butt.
“Aleksei,” I say, pushing his hand away.
He twists his hand, catching mine, bringing it up to bite. “No, Quinn. He is stressed, he knows he is leaving with me. He’s not in a shitty mood because Nalla is hurt. He trusts you. Like I do. But he needs constant reminders of who is Alpha here.” He drops his hand to my lower back, so relaxed and calm, it wouldbe easy to imagine him talking and acting like we're going to grab a coffee.
“Why is he upset?”
“He wants to stay with you. I need him first, though, for what’s coming next.”
“And what is next?”
“Tie up some loose ends, and then I will be with you.” He opens the driver’s door of a jet-black Audi coupe hatchback. “I have to be honest,maya, Santiago is still a maybe. He is lucky. I know you like him, so he is more than a maybe.” Aleksei is getting more and more settled in his skin, and I like his ego. A lot.
Santiago comes up behind me, only stopping when he’s so close I can feel him breathing against the back of my neck. He dips down and presses a kiss on the side of my neck. “Are you okay? Anything you want to ask or say before we split up for a while?”
“I’ve currently got a list of questions a mile long, but they can wait. I have one request—don’t call Victor. I need to figure out if it’s better for me to call him first. Once I have Kade fixed up and resting with Nalla next to him, I’ll give it the focus it needs, but not until then.”
“Of course. We can’t afford to leave contacting him too long, though, bebe, it will make him suspicious. I need to call him with an update within a few hours. Maybe that's the way to lead into what happened?”
