“No,” I cut him off. “You stay with Dina.”
“But—”
“Amir, I’m quite capable of getting myself home.”
I got behind the wheel, her scent already filling the car. Sophie sat stiffly with her arms crossed, legs angled away from me and chin tipped up in defiance.
I shifted into drive and sped out, Vlorë sliding past us in streaks of light—bars, vendors, tourists already drunk—while she watched the road like her life depended on it.
“You wanted to talk,” she said, breaking the silence. “Talk.”
“You learned something about me,” I started, flicking her a glance, then returned my attention to the road. Driving in Albania required vigilance, nerves of steel, and preferably no attractive complications in the passenger seat.
She scoffed. “You could say that.”
I turned onto the coastal road. The villa gates were visible in the distance, black iron against the moonlit white of the cliffs.
“Do you have questions?”
“Honestly, Kian, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
I clicked my fob as I slowly approached the gate. “Okay, then I’ll start. Initially, I was annoyed that you crossed the border into Albania.”
She whipped her head my way. “You’ve been stalking me?”
I let out a sardonic breath. “I guess so, in a way. Your cousin asked me to keep an eye on you when you took off to Croatia.”
She shot me a surprised look, her voice somewhat high-pitched when she said, “He didwhat?”
“Kristoff was worried,” I started slowly. “Initially, he hired a team of agents from my security firm to watch over you,” I continued, “but nobody had jurisdiction in Albania. So I stepped in.”
“So our little snake encounter wasn’t an accident.”
“Well, you jumping me wasn’t my plan. But I was there to scout you out, yes.”
“And you put the snake there to scare me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said flatly. “I was there to see you, not to outsource the job to a reptile.”
“God, I feel like an idiot now.” She huffed. “Kristoff gives you a babysitting job, I basically climb you, and… wait, does Kristoff know who andwhatyou are?”
“He does.”
I could feel her wide-eyed gaze on me. “And he’s okay with it?”
“He knew I could keep you safe.”
“And who’s going to keep me safe from you?” she blurted out. “You have a fingerless, dead man in your basement. That’s not normal, Kian.”
I didn’t think it was wise to tell her I didn’t belong in the same sentence asnormal.
“I feel very protective of you, Sophie,” I said as we passed the gate. “And I mean it when I say that I’ll protect you from anyone.”
She brought her hand to her mouth and gasped. “Oh my God, did you tell him about Sienna and?—”
“I did.”
“Oh no, no, no. Why?”
