“Yes! You definitely should.”
The next package contains a massive butt plug. I wince, my ass cheeks clenching instinctively. Alex doubles over again. “Is the rest of it all sex toys?”
“More or less,” she says, wiping the tears out of her eyes. “I ran out of necessities, so I had to improvise.”
“So these are not your necessities?”
That makes her laugh again. “Maybe the first one. But the rest are just here for laughs. I thought you knew me better than that.” She winks at me and freezes, like she realized she shouldn’t have done that. Her smile drops, and she grows serious within a second. “Anyway, I’m sorry. I ordered that before you brought all those things for me. I was pissed and remembered I had your credit card.”
“You never used it before,” I state, and she shrugs.
“Why would I?”
“Because I was foolish enough to give it to you.”
Any remaining trace of laughter evaporates from her face. The corners of her lips turn down as she clears her throat. “Well, whatever image of me you’ve constructed in your mind—it’s wrong. You can’t ask me to explain why I don’t fit into it if I had no part in building it.” She wipes her face with a napkin and gets up from the stool. “If you’ll excuse me.”
I’m still holding the ginormous butt plug as I watch her retreat to her room. Guilt forms in my stomach, completely against my will.Why am I the one feeling guilty?
It’s just after dinner when I let Dom inside the apartment. He has something to tell me, and I haven’t shown my face in the office. Not with the little guest I have at home. Speaking of which, the only sign she’s here is the eaten dinner and my credit card on the kitchen island. Reluctantly, I place it into my pocket.
I enjoyed knowing she had it. I know she has her own money, but I enjoyed knowing she had that extra layer of security.Why the fuck do I care about this?
“Talk to me,” I tell him, hoping whatever news he has is enough to pull my thoughts away from her.
He glances down the hallway. “Why don’t we talk in your office?”
Hefollows me to my home office, and I close the door behind him. I rarely do any work in here, so it has about as much personality as a furniture store showroom. Still, I don’t need much more than a computer and a quality chair. The one I have here definitely justifies its steep price, and I get comfortable in it as Dom sits down across from me.
He interlaces his fingers in his lap. “I just got wind that Landers was arrested.”
“Arrested? Where? We were trying to find him for months.” I sit up taller, my brows lowering.
“In an abandoned warehouse outside the city. It was a setup. He was tied to a chair with printed proof of illegal things he did strewn around him.”
I perch my arm on the desk and lean my chin on it. “I don’t get it. Who would have done that? The Russians?”
“It’s not really their style.”
“Did they find any evidence?”
“Not yet. The investigation has just started. So far, they’ve only found some hair.” He clears his throat. “Dog hair.”
“Dog hair?” I feel like the answer is staring me in the face, but it’s too blurry to read.
“Yes. Two kinds of dog hair. One longer, cream-colored one and one shorter, darkish brown.”
I inhale deeply, trying to make some sense of this. There are too many similarities for it to be a coincidence. “You’re telling me that the man we wanted revenge on was set up to be arrested, and whoever did that had my brother’s dogs?”
“We can’t be sure they’re Luka’s dogs, but yes, that is what I believe.”
I would like to say none of this makes sense, but unfortunately — it does. Just before he went missing, Luka all but admitted he was in love with Sophie. In love with a girl we kidnapped and whose father we were trying to murder. “He killed Zvone for her.” A guard of our uncle’s tried to assault her, and he killed him without a second thought.
Dom dips his head.
“Sophie had a dog, right?”
Once again, Dom nods. With a million thoughts racing through my mind, I get up, swing the door open and march to Alex’s room. After a single knock, I barge in, startling her.
