Page 68 of His Forbidden Obsession

“This is so cool,” Alina said, eyes wide.

“Did you help build it?” she asked Landry.

He nodded.

“This is impressive.”

For the first time since we’d met, Landry smiled. He was looking at Alina like she walked on water. That was interesting.

“The kitchen has plenty of supplies for a few days. Landry has a tent out back, where it’s hardest to detect anyone approaching.”

I glanced toward the back of the house. “How would someone get through there?”

“It’s not easy, but Landry or I could do it.”

Damn. These men really were frighteningly skilled.

“I’ll be back in forty-eight hours, hopefully to lead you out. Call me if you need me before that.”

We said goodbye. Landry went to take up his post, and Ambrose vanished down the path faster than I’d thought possible.

26

LORENZO

Once Ambrose had left, Alina checked out both of the small bedrooms. “So which one do you two want?” she asked.

Nikolai glanced at me, and I braced myself for his reaction. ‘‘I’m going to sleep out here on the couch, so I’ll be able to guard the front door more effectively.” It was true I’d be both more alert and better positioned if someone approached the cabin, but the real reason was because I couldn’t sleep with Nikolai again, knowing I was going to have to send him away. The few times I’d spent more than a night with anyone, I’d never had trouble letting them go, but the thought of being parted from Nikolai had my stomach in a knot.

Nikolai looked shocked, but he covered it quickly. “Oh… um… okay.”

Alina looked from one of us to the other. “I’ll take this room.” She pointed to the door she was closest to. It’s smaller, so if you change your mind…”

“I won’t,” I said. “I need to be out here.”

The look of pain in Niko’s eyes almost made me relent. He took a shaky breath and then picked up the backpack Remington had brought for him. “I guess I’ll be in here.” He stepped into the larger bedroom and shut the door firmly behind himself.

Alina glared at me. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“What I have to do.”

She shook her head as she walked toward me, then whisper yelled, “If you hurt him, I will cut your fucking dick off.”

I stared at her, stunned. I shouldn’t have been surprised at her fierceness. She’d escaped her father, gotten into my house, and stood her ground against Remington and the rest of us.

I kept my voice low. “I’m trying not to hurt him.”

“By ignoring him after you’ve…” She waved her hands around as if that would somehow indicate all the things I’d experienced with Niko.

“I’m not ignoring him. I’m protecting him.”

She shook her head, clearly not buying it. “You can protect us just fine from—what? Six feet further from the door? This house is tiny.”

“Nikolai and I don’t have a future.”

“Bullshit. I’ve seen how you look at him and how he looks at you. I may not know a lot about love, but I saw that look on my sister’s face when she looked at one of my father’s guards. He tried to help her escape, but my father killed him. Shot him through the head right in front of her. They didn’t have a chance, but you could.”

“No.” I spoke much too loudly, and we both turned to look at Niko’s door. He must have heard me, but he stayed inside and didn’t say anything.