Kade’s cinnamon scent brings me endless comfort. When he is near, my mind doesn’t race as much, and I feel calm and warm inside.
Santiago is as irrational and brash as the Russian Alpha. His blazing ego, coupled with his deeply ingrained confidence, ismaking him blind to the fact that he shares many of the same traits as the other Alpha. And it should be a turnoff, but I am besotted.
He sauntered back in with a hard look on his face, hiding the triumphant smirk on his face when he handed me back my engagement ring and a hoodie off my bed. I don’t need the extra layer, since being around him is like standing in the sunshine after surviving a bitter cold winter, but the ring is another matter entirely.
I had to walk past the drama happening near the back door to wash away the evidence of Santiago being a man of his word. He said he would come on my ring again, and he did. I know I’m super sensitive to his usual amber scent, but over it, I can also smell his pleasure drenching Sergey’s ring. I doubt anyone else would pick up on it, but I won’t take that risk.
I am also making a point when I wash his obvious reminder of our connection. I told him things would have to change if he was to stay, and that’s what I’m doing.
And then there’shim.
I turn around, resting my butt on the sink as I dry my hands on a tea towel and watch the Russian. I don’t understand a word he is saying, and his presence is like a punch in the throat—impossible to ignore. He is being completely over the top, even a little unhinged, in his method of getting information from the attacker, but it only makes him more attractive.
I have no doubt some people would be turned off by the way his scar seems to become even more obvious when he’s angry, but not me.
Nothing so far has made me question if I need therapy because of my attraction to him. Not even when the Russian used his heel to make my kidnapper talk; it took the knee joint popping until the man started answering.
A ringing cell phone breaks the tension. Santiago steps to the Russian, handing him the intruder's phone. From where I am, I can see the name flashing on the phone registering on both their faces. One looks triumphant while the other pales.
The Russian turns quickly to me and shields his eyes with his hand. The message, no matter the language barrier, is obvious. And while some would avert their eyes and avoid the scene, I stay and watch because it’s a fitting end to the whole encounter, which luckily for me could have ended way, way worse. As soon as I nod my head, he squats down and answers the phone.
Like before, the conversation is impossible to understand, but the threats he makes are evident. He finishes speaking and holds the phone out for Santiago to take. It’s easy to see where this is going; the interrogation is over. The way it ends is strangely without much emotion or noise.
The man who attacked me raises his chin before nodding once. There are no more words spoken before the Russian presses the nozzle of his pistol against the hand that touched me and shoots. The gunshot makes me jump, even though I knew it was coming. He doesn’t immediately kill the man. From my perspective, it looks like he wants the man to feel the pain of his injuries, the humiliation of his failure. It feels like time stretches until the Russian decides the man has felt enough.
He grabs the man around the head and pushes him forward before shooting him in the back of the head, execution style.
I make a noise, and the three of them twist to look at me.
Kade moves towards me first and comes over, offering his hand to lead me out of the room. His hand dwarfs mine, and the little tingle I always get when he touches me races up my arm. I plant my feet, though, watching as the Russian picks up the phone and says something to the man still listening before ending the call.
“What is going on?”
The Russian looks at me, and I swear I see things in his eyes that shouldn’t be there, but in the next second, I’m left face-to-face with the Alpha who acted like I was invisible after my room got destroyed.
“Not your business. Take your guards and go to your sitting room.”
I hate being told what to do and spoken to the way he just spoke to me, but we’re all stressed and only human.
“Please, don’t treat me like that. It’s been a shocking day all round.”
Something in him thaws. And I wait, with Kade holding my hand, Santiago by my side, Roshka in the space between, and the Russian’s mood levels out.
“He likes you,” he says after a few minutes.
I hum a response, glaring at the fluffy beast because he knows we’re talking about him. His tail swishes over the floor, and since it’s so freaking long, it’s hard to miss. “Honestly, I haven’t decided if I like him yet. He keeps scaring me.”
“He is just doing his job.”
I wait for him to look at me, this strange-as-fuck thing between us getting harder to ignore by the second. “And I get you were just doing your job, but I should know what we are up against. Or should I expect to get attacked by every person I meet here?”
He shrugs, a small smile ghosting over his lips before it disappears under his seriousness again. “Probably.”
“Really?”
“Mr. Petrov is a very successful and powerful man.”
“Surely, then, he’s the one that should be targeted and not me.”
