Mikhail
Ileaned against the doorframe of Olek's office, arms crossed, watching my boss pace like a caged animal. It’s been two months since we'd pulled Shanice from that warehouse. Two months since we'd put a bullet in the bastard who'd orchestrated her kidnapping. Two months of radio silence.
"Nothing," Olek said, stopping at the window overlooking the estate grounds. "No movement from any of his associates. No chatter. It's too fucking quiet."
I grunted. I didn't trust quiet either.
"Katrina wants Shanice to be able to go to school," Olek continued, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "She's been asking about enrollment. She wants her life back."
"So let her go."
Olek shot me a look. "She's a liability, Mikhail. She was there when we took him down. She knows what happened. If any of those bastards surface and decide she's a loose end. If she ever tells the police what I did."
"Don't call her that."
The words came out harder than I intended. Olek's eyebrow lifted.
I straightened, uncrossing my arms. "She's not a liability. She's a witness, sure. But she's also—" I stopped myself before I said something I couldn't take back.
Something about how Shanice Williams had been living in my head since the moment I'd escorted her trembling body out of that warehouse. How every time she walked past me in the mansion, her scent—something delicious and sweet, like freshly bloomed flowers and her sassy demeanor—made my hands curl into fists. How I wanted to put my mouth on every inch of her skin and hear her say my name like a prayer.
"She's also what?" Olek asked, voice dangerously low.
I met his eyes. "She's under our protection. That means something."
Olek studied me for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "You're right. But that doesn't solve either problem. I can't let her wander around campus alone, not until we're sure there's no blowback. And I can't spare the manpower to babysit her indefinitely. I need a solution."
"I'll do it."
The offer was out of my mouth before my brain caught up. Olek's eyes narrowed.
"You?"
"I'll be her guard. Shadow her to classes, keep her safe, watch for anything suspicious." I shrugged like it was nothing, like my pulse wasn't hammering at the thought of being near her every day. "You need me here when shit goes down, but the rest of the time? I can handle it."
Olek was silent while he considered. I could see the calculation happening behind his eyes, weighing the risk, the resources, the trust.
"She still needs to clear out her apartment," Olek said. "The place was destroyed during the kidnapping. She can't go back there alone."
"I'll take her."
"And if someone's watching it? Waiting to see if she shows up?"
"Then I'll handle them." My voice was certain. I'd put down anyone who so much as looked at Shanice wrong. They didn’t want the smoke that I’d unleash if they tried me.
Olek held my gaze for another beat, then nodded. "Fine. You're on her. But Mikhail?" He stepped closer, voice dropping to that tone he used when he needed to remind people who was in charge. "Don't let this get complicated. She's Katrina's best friend, which makes her mine to protect. Which means she's off-limits. Understand?"
My jaw tightened. Off-limits. Right. I couldn’t agree to all that without defying him. Because I definitely wanted to complicate everything about her if that’s how he classified the situation. However, I’d bide my time until the right moment came along.
I thought about Shanice's laugh, rich and unguarded when she played with Katrina's little sister. The way she moved through the mansion like she owned it, head high, refusing to be small or scared despite everything she'd been through. The curve of her hips in those jeans she wore, the swell of her breasts under soft sweaters that made my mouth water. How damn good she looked in pale pink, and I was sure that it was her favorite color.
I thought about how badly I wanted to pin her against a wall and find out if she tasted as good as she looked. How I wanted to bury myself so deep inside her she'd forget every other man who'd ever existed. How I wanted to fuck her raw and careless until my seed took root and she carried my child, binding her to me in a way no one could undo.
"Understood," I lied.
Olek clapped me on the shoulder. "Good. Talk to her tomorrow. Make it clear this isn't optional. She goes nowhere without you."
I nodded and turned to leave, already thinking about how Shanice was going to react to that news. She wouldn't like it. She'd probably tell me to fuck off in that way of hers that made me hard and furious in equal measure. Like she had the right to be defiant. It only made me want to be balls deep inside her.
