My friend’s eyes rounded. “Wow. Who’s the client? If you’re allowed to tell me that is,” she hurries to add.
“Keke Novak.” I take another sip, reveling in Hannah’s shocked expression.
“The model?”
I nod. “She’s doing a marketing tour. A bunch of cities and different events.”
Hannah tilts her head, studying me more closely now. “Just you?”
“No, Liev will be with me.”
Her eyebrows come together. “I don’t think you’ve mentioned him before.”
“He was the guy at my apartment last week.”
Her eyes light up. “The sexy, scary dude?”
I choke on my coffee. “Liev’s not scary.”
“I’d cross the street in the dark.” She purses her lips. “Or maybe not. He is pretty hot.” She pauses. “He doesn’t look like any bodyguard I’ve ever seen in celeb pictures.”
“He’s new to Elite,” I hedge. “But he’s worked security before.”
“What’s with the tattoos?” she presses. “Was he… you know, in jail?”
I blink. “No. Why would you ask that?”
She shrugs. “I dated a guy with tattoos like that once. Before Chad. He told me he got them in prison. Claimed hehadto join the Russian mob for protection.” She makes a face. “Another one of my many fantastic life choices.”
My laugh comes out a little strangled. Hannah’s eyebrow lifts slowly. “Okay, what aren’t you telling me?”
“He might have… connections to all that,” I admit, instantly regretting the words as her face tightens. “But he’s not involved anymore. That’s why he’s at Elite.”
“And your brother is all right with that?” she asks.
“Absolutely,” I say. The lie slips out smoother than I like.
“And you’re traveling together.”
“It’s work.”
“Right.”
The silence that follows is brief but loaded. It reminds me that my life doesn’t look like most people’s.
“Is he violent?” Hannah’s voice is quiet, and suddenly it all makes sense. She is still recovering from her last relationship. A man like Liev probably sets off every internal alarm.
I reach across the table and squeeze her hand where it’s resting on the table. “He’s not like that.”
She stares at the table not meeting my eyes.
“He’s not dangerous,” I insist, pressing my lips together. “Not to me… He’s… complicated,” I admit.
“The way you say his name…” Hannah says. “You don’t just work together do you? And he was at your apartment.”
An awkward silence stretches across the table.
I try to pivot. “How was your week?”
