Lev opened his door and stepped out. The driver stayed still. My men waited beyond the elevator, eyes turned away from the back seat because they valued their lives and because I had trained them well.
“I’m going to carry you inside,” I said. “You can try to walk if you want, but you nearly fainted twice. I would rather have your anger than your skull on the garage floor.”
“I can walk.”
“I believe you.” I pushed the door open and stepped out first. Cold garage air slid under my coat around her. “Then walk beside me.”
She stared at me, suspicious because I had given her what she asked for.
Good.
Suspicion would keep her sharp.
I held out my hand, palm up. She ignored it and swung her legs toward the open door. Her bare feet touched the concrete.
She sucked in one breath.
I took my coat from around her shoulders, crouched, and laid it under her feet before she could step down fully.
Nadia looked at me.
The garage lights put shadows under her cheekbones. The pale silk clung to her from breast to thigh, and every man in thatgarage kept his face turned away because they knew what would happen if they didn’t.
“You’ll ruin your coat,” she said.
“I have others.”
“That must be nice.”
“It is useful.”
A sound almost escaped her. Not a laugh. Not close. But the first edge of something human that had not been fear.
I lifted her before she could argue again.
She stiffened at once, both hands bracing against my shoulders. “You said I could walk.”
“I said you could try. Your feet are bare on concrete, and I’m done letting tonight take skin from you.”
“You don’t get to be angry about my feet when you just stole the rest of me.”
The words hit exactly where she aimed them.
I carried her toward the elevator. “I didn’t steal the rest of you. I stopped the transfer.”
“Is that the polite Bratva word?”
“No. The polite Bratva word would insult both of us.”
Lev’s mouth twitched once and vanished before Nadia saw it.
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside with Nadia in my arms. Lev followed. One guard stayed outside, one came in, and both faced the doors. Nadia felt the shift. Her fingers pressed harder into my shoulder.
“No one in this elevator will touch you,” I said.
“I didn’t ask.”
