He’s giving me space to do what I’m good at, but his patience has limits.
“You need rest.”Frankie releases my arm.
“Abort mission, Mama Bear,” Wolf says.“The angry marshmallow won’t rest until Dove’s back.”
My mouth curves despite myself.
“Neither will I.”He rises from the couch and approaches the back of my chair.
Frankie drops a bottle of pills next to my keyboard and plants her hands on her hips.So much attitude for such a tiny woman.
“You.”She fixes Wolf with a withering look.“Don’t let him overdo it when you’re… You know…” She makes a jerk-off gesture.
“When we’re… What?”Wolf mimics her hand motion.“Buffing a breadstick?Starting a lawnmower?Slapping the bass?”
She sighs like she’s tired of all of us.“When you’re banging.”
Heat coils between my legs, unwanted, unhelpful, entirely Wolf.I set my jaw and keep typing, my heartbeat loud in my ears.
“Solid advice.”He nods.“I’ll add it to the pile of bad ideas we’re actively considering.”
Frankie rolls her eyes and pivots toward Leonid.He’s already striding toward her.
“Thank you.”Wolf watches her, his fingers tucked in the pockets of his lounge pants.
She turns back and closes the distance, taking Wolf’s face in her hands.
“Thank you for not dying.”She lifts on tiptoes and kisses his brow.“Now go get your girl back.”
Leonid stops by the door like he’s thinking about leaving something behind.He doesn’t posture or threaten as his dual-colored eyes stare at me long enough to be awkward.
Whatever he sees must pass inspection, because he nods.
“You did what most wouldn’t do.You surrendered your control when it counted.”He pauses, considering.“You don’t have to like how we live.You don’t have to agree with it.But if you stand with us, you stand all the way.No half-steps.If you’re all in, welcome to the family.”
Frankie squeezes my arm on her way past, already planning my recovery, like I belong to her workload now.She gives Wolf a look that says behave and disappears with her Viking husband into the night.
The door shuts.
The last time I stepped onto this island, I was escorted off by armed men.And now?The treasured jewel of the Strakh family patched me up, and a man built like a saga welcomed me into his bloodline.
That kind of turn doesn’t happen by accident.
Wolf’s reflection flickers on the dark screen in front of me.He hasn’t spoken or moved closer, but I know that look.He’s inside my head.
“They saw the video of the attack at the tattoo parlor.All of it.”His hands rest on my shoulders.“You didn’t try to save yourself.You gave up everything for Dove without knowing the outcome.”He bends closer, blanketing my back with his body heat.“If there’s one thing my family respects, it’s loyalty.You’ve been proving yours for over twenty years.”
Acceptance.Belonging.That’s what this strange elastic band is around my chest.
I didn’t hack my way into this family.Didn’t break into it or outmaneuver it.
I earned it.
A swallow sticks in my throat.My jaw aches, and my eyes burn to the point of pissing me off.
The Strakhs have claimed me, but my life is no longer my own.
I made a deal with no escape.I’m dangerous, compromised, and hunted.But I’m not alone.
