“Well…” Greer chimes before he can. “If my big bro doesn’t settle down, he can’t take over the business.”
“Oh…”
Harlan laughs. “What can I say? I want my kids to have the kind of love I’ve got with their mother, and if I don’t light a fire under their asses, they’ll all die old and alone.”
Greer rolls her eyes. “I don’t need a man, Daddy.”
“No, you don’t, honey,” Harlan says warmly. “But one of them would sure be lucky to have you.”
Sloane smiles. “That’s really sweet. You guys are fortunate to have parents who care, because believe me, many people don’t.”
I tighten my hand around hers, knowing she isn’t talking about just herself.
“Listen to the girl,” Harlan says, jerking a thumb toward her. “Wise words right there.”
My gaze drifts back to Lev by the fence, where Rue is still talking his ear off while he focuses on her, and I hate that a war could threaten their friendship.
But if Anton kills Thora, the war that follows will be long and bloody, and these two kids will never see each other again.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
SLOANE
The next day,after Kirill leaves for work, Lev and I stay out in the yard for a while, tossing a ball back and forth, enjoying our Sunday morning.
The pressure to find the safe hasn’t let up. If anything, it’s only gotten worse. I barely managed to sleep beside Kirill last night, lying tense in his arms and wondering if he could feel it: the strain running through me, the way my whole body seemed wound too tight after we had sex.
That’s why, before I even tried to close my eyes, I deleted every message from Eli and Mandy, emptied the trash, and then checked everything twice like some paranoid criminal trying to erase her tracks. I can’t risk him finding something and seeing anything other than the woman he thinks I am.
Lev throws the ball with surprising force, and it bounces past me.
“Whoa!” I laugh, jogging after it. “You’re good.”
He smiles at that, then wanders over to me with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Hide…seek,” he says carefully.
“You want to play hide-and-seek?”
He nods, already turning toward the house.
“Okay.” I rush after him. “We can play inside. You hide first.”
He giggles and disappears down the hallway the second we step in past the guard, and I turn toward the wall, covering my eyes as I start counting loud enough for him to hear me. This might actually be a perfect opportunity for me to look for a safe without making it obvious.
By the time I reach twenty, my pulse has already started to climb, especially with the guards posted through the house and that awful awareness of being watched no matter where I go.
“Ready or not, here I come!”
I start with the living room, calling his name as I move from one end of it to the other, opening doors and dragging it out so it sounds convincing.
“Hmm. Maybe he ran outside.”
A soft giggle floats down the hall.
My eyes land on Kirill’s study, the door cracked open.
“Lev?” I step inside, moving quietly past the desk.
