Page 47

NIKOLAI

Istand at the one-way glass, looking down at the VIP section, the dance floor, all of it cold in the light of day. Serena enters behind me, closing the door quietly. She looks raw and beautiful, her makeup from last night running around her eyes, her hair pulled into a messy bun. She looks like she needs a hug so she can sleep. Pressing her curvy body against me, finally letting go, realizing she doesn’t have to fight all the time alone.

“I shouldn’t have mentioned that in front of them,” I say.

“What are you even talking about?” she asks, hugging her arms around herself.

She’s wearing a thin cardigan over a long dress and chunky boots. Nothing sexy, but her shape says it all, those thick curves in all the right places. I need to get a grip. It’s like I’ve let out my Bratva fire and now I can’t bottle it.

“You’ll need to stay at the apartment complexes,” I tell her. “One location, more easily defended. We’ll move you all to the top floor.”

“Oh, really?” she says fiercely. “Just like that?”

My head pounds from exhaustion. I go to the coffee machine in the corner. “Want one?” I ask.

“Make it a double.” I hear her sit behind me. “I told you I was handling this.”

“This isn’t even a conversation anymore. You want Rosa and Pico and Zoe safe? Then you stay at a location I’m already guarding, so we can double up the manpower. The property will have at least two people on it at all times. You’ll be safe.”

“Who are you guarding already?” She asks as I place my coffee aside and press the button for hers. A pause. “Owen, the drive.”

“Yeah, well, we should be guarding him.”

I take the coffees over, placing hers down in front of her. She picks it up with both hands. It’s cute as hell, especially when she blows on it. What’s got into me? Perhaps it’s the lack of sleep and all the adrenaline dumping. I feel floaty and warm near Serena.

“There’s a lot I should’ve been doing that I haven’t. Now, it’s time for Cordero to wake up.”

“For the record, you’re telling me to move my family into the same house as Owen Price? A man they tried to kill?”

I lean back, clenching my jaw. “You’ve got a point. But the fact is, Serena, if there’s even a one percent chance he finds your new place, you’re safer with me. You want manpower when the guns come out. The Sokolovs are tough. Anton is tough. Even I have my moments. But we need to be smart.”

“Even I,” she repeats, rolling her eyes.

I smirk in that way she draws out of me, like the world could be burning and we’d still find a way. “What? I can be self-deprecating, you know.”

“I don’t know,” she murmurs. “About the move.”

I close my eyes and breathe slowly. What would Maksim do? Would he just make her move? Rachael was desperate for help, as were the other people I’ve helped in my years. I didn’t have to convince them. But none of them were like Serena. None of them had this explosive independence.

“You’re angry,” she says.

“Use your Iris mindset,” I tell her. “Logical. Like a spy. What’s the right move?”

“The right move is asking you what they were talking about down there. The code. The different way of doing things.”

What a subject change. I smirk at her, and she leans forward and smiles in the most melodramatic way. It makes me burst out laughing. She giggles, then sips her coffee like she’s angry at the moment of warmth. I want to kiss her so badly. I want to taste that double-shot Americano on her lips.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she whispers, but her voice is shivering. She can feel it too. This unspoken tension.

“Like what?” I growl.

My phone buzzes. It’s Dmitry.

Dmitry: One on school. One at her place. One on Price. Are you good, boss?

He’s asking if I can protect myself. I quickly reply.

Nikolai: Yes. Good.