“Perfect. Can I help?”
Aleksei shakes his head, answering the question I had for the other person. He dismisses them with a terse bark in Russian, but he makes a motion for me to wait. When the other man races away to arrange the next part of the festivities, Aleksei turns to me, but his eyes stay locked on where Sergey is.
“You look lovely.” He grins at someone over my shoulder, waving at them, but he talks softly to me. “Can you do me a favor?”
“As long as you’re not going to ask me to go sit with them, I’m all ears.”
“All ears? I don’t get what you mean,” he says, appearing confused.
I hide my laughter behind a tight smile. “It means I’m listening.”
“Why not just say that?” Which is probably the most Russian thing I’ve heard him say. “Anyway, I need to speak with Sergey, but the dogs…”
“I’ll do it.” I jump at the chance of escaping, even for a little while.
He walks off before I’ve finished saying I would, but I can feel all the attention of Sergey and his group on me again, which is all the heads-up I need. And because they are watching, I walk out of the room without saying a word to Kade or Santiago, making them chase after me.
The corridor is a hive of activity, and like before, nobody acknowledges me. Nalla leads us past everyone, and Roshka sticks close, as always. He makes it so I’m always walking with him on one side and the wall on the other.
I start freaking out that I won't remember the code to Aleksei’s kitchen as soon as I see the lock, but by the time we’re stopping at the door, the numbers are in my head and the latch unlocks.
Kade and Santiago follow me in. The door shuts behind them at the same time that I walk past the spot where the dead man was to open the back door. A blast of fresh, icy wind is the medicine I need after being around so many unknown people. I stand outside, breathing in lungfuls of the frigid air while Nalla and Roshka do their business.
When I leave them sniffing, Kade and Santiago are already busy with getting the dogs’ bowls ready.
“How much do they eat?” Santiago shakes his head as I add more to the bowl he already made up.
“A lot. Do you have pets?”
“No.”
“Do you want any?” Kade asks me, joining the conversation.
I think I once fed him some BS about being allergic, and given his question, I suspect he always knew it.
“I want a life where I get to choose if I do,” I say back softly, without looking at either of them.
Santiago and Kade both make a rumbling noise, and I twist around to see them better. “What? Did I say something wrong?”
Santiago is the first to move again. He comes in close enough that I get all the benefits of his Alpha scent and presence, but not close enough to leave his scent on me. “I guess your honesty just threw us.”
It takes me half a second to catch on. “Yeah, well, I figured we’ve been crossing lines all day. Why stop now?”
Kade takes advantage of the subtlety of his scent, and he brushes a piece of hair off my face. “That’s quite a flip, though.”
“Or Quinn’s finally ready to admit she’s succumbed to our charm,” Santiago teases.
His response is exactly what the moment needs. We leave our chat there.
I venture back outside to sit in the fresh air while the dogs eat. It’s a good chance to start trying to sort out if, and how, any of this is going to work. I can easily recognize I was swept up before by Aleksei, and in the torrent, I unwittingly dragged Kade and Santiago with me. Maybe it’s wrong, or maybe I need to lean in to the fact there’s a reason our paths have crossed.
“Come on,” Kade calls me inside again.
I step over the threshold of the door, and he catches my hand as I pass. “Shit, your hands are freezing. Lucky, I know you’ve got a warm heart, Quinny.”
Without even realizing, Kade says the sweetest thing.
Chapter Thirty-One
