I shrug. “What can I say? It was a crime of passion.”
No way in hell I’d hand over Marco to anyone. After he put his hands on Evelina, he was mine to kill.
Elio’s lips twist. “Get your head in the game, Baronov. We have a Ghost to hunt.”
When I leave the club, Matvey’s sitting on the hood of my Bugatti smoking, Evelina already asleep in the passenger seat.
He looks up as I approach, expression dark. The streetlight catches the tension in his jaw.
“What?” I say, stopping at the driver’s side door. “Just say it.”
Unlike Dem, Matvey prefers more words, not fewer. But tonight he only shakes his head, takes one last drag, and flicks the butt of his cigarette onto the pavement.
“I don’t have to say it. You already know.”
He pushes off the hood and storms back inside the club, leaving me alone with a sleeping girl and the mess I’ve made.
I slide into the driver’s seat and pull away from the curb. The drive to Brooklyn is quiet except for the hum of the engine and Evelina’s shallow breathing.
Her head is tilted against the window, my suit jacket still wrapped around her. The adrenaline crash must have hit hard.
Can’t say I blame her. She fought off Marco, got fingered to orgasm while I killed her attacker, then walked out of that room full of armed mobsters with her chin up. Most people would’ve crumbled.
Maybe I should wake her and make sure she’s okay. But instead, I drive and think about how royally I fucked up tonight.
I almost started a war over her. Nearly threw away the alliance with the Valentis, nearly got my brothers killed, nearlyruined everything. All because some mafia piece of shit put his hands on a woman I’ve known for less time than some of the food in my fridge.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I glance at her. Even asleep, she’s beautiful. Wisps of hair falling over her cheek, lips slightly parted, one hand curled against her chest.
I don’t lose control over anything. Especially women.
She’s a distraction I can’t afford. Not with the Ghost operation happening so soon and everything riding on it. If I fail, Katya and I will have to live with my father’s choices. And I can’t let that happen.
I know what I have to do. Put distance between us. I just don’t want to.
It’s for her own good. The closer she gets to me, the more danger she’s in. Not only from enemies, though that’s real enough, but from me. I’m not built for whatever she’s looking for. Can’t be the guy who takes her to dinner, remembers her birthday, makes her feel safe.
I kill people. I run an empire built on violence and fear. Sooner or later she’ll see that the man who made her come with a soon-to-be-dead man watching isn’t some dark fantasy.
Her street is empty when I pull up outside her building. I cut the engine and the silence is immediate, though Evelina doesn’t wake.
I reach over and touch her shoulder. “We’re here.”
Her eyes open slowly. She blinks, disoriented, then sees me and her expression changes. Like she’s remembering everything.
She sits up and pushes hair back from her forehead. “How long was I out?”
“Twenty minutes.”
She turns to look at me. Waiting. For what, I don’t know. An explanation? Comfort? Some acknowledgment of whathappened between us tonight? When I give her nothing, she hesitates.
“About what happened earlier?—”
“You should get inside,” I say, looking straight out the windshield. “It’s late.”
She huffs out a small breath. Better she hurts now than gets caught in the crossfire of my world.
