Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Keira set her notepad down on the table and crossed to him. “Be careful.”
With her looking at him like that, he could almost believe she was worried about him. Too much to ask. He took her hands and pressed a kiss to each one of her knuckles. “Stay in the house until we return.” He belatedly added, “Please.”
He half expected her to throw a fit, but she just raised her eyebrows. “You think this could be a bait and switch.”
“I think that there is little Mae Eldridge would like more than to see you dead.” It was all too easy to remember the head she’d had delivered to him and superimpose Keira’s features on it. No. I will not allow it to happen. He squeezed her hands, knowing damn well that if he tried to order her to stay, it would be as effective as waving a red flag in front of a bull. “I respectfully request that you stay put.” He hadn’t forgotten that someone had infiltrated the house, but Pavel could be trusted. That, Dmitri was sure of. “I’ll send Pavel in when I leave. He’ll hover, but allow it as a favor to me. Please.”
She smirked, even as her hazel eyes were concerned. “You’re being polite, which means you’re worried. I’ll be good and stay in my cage while you’re gone—this time.”
It was the best he was going to get. “Thank you.”
“Come back safely, Romanov. No one gets to torture you but me.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Keira lasted an hour. Sixty minutes before she went a little mad wondering what Dmitri had found. Or if it was a trap. If Keira were in Alethea’s situation, she would have guessed that Dmitri wouldn’t sit idly by. He might not be as superhuman as she used to believe, but he was still very, very good at what he did.
She just hadn’t expected… loyalty.
She flung herself down onto the couch in the library and picked up the book she’d left there a few days ago, before setting it down again. She wasn’t settled enough to read right now. She kept playing the look on Dmitri’s face when he spoke about Mikhail. They weren’t friends exactly—she got the impression that Dmitri didn’t have much in the way of friends—but it genuinely grieved him to think of his man at Mae’s mercy.
The temptation rose to call him, but whatever he was doing, he didn’t need the distraction. So she called Charlie instead.
She answered on the second ring. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey.” Now that she had her on the phone, she didn’t know what to say. They’d only had two weeks together after Aiden brought Charlie home, and it wasn’t like there was a ton of history to pull from. Maybe I should have called Carrigan. But she didn’t trust her sister’s anger at Dmitri. If Carrigan thought for a second that she’d get away with it, she wouldn’t hesitate to send Halloran men down here to snatch Keira and bring her home, and to hell with the consequences.
“Keira?”
She snapped back to the present. What was she doing? She didn’t normally mentally wander in spirals. “Hey.” Shit, she’d already said that.
“Is everything okay?” Charlie took a deep breath but seemed to reconsider before she offered an escape plan. Again.
Get your head on straight. Everyone is freaking the fuck out and you’re not helping with this space case shit. “Yeah, things are fine. I’m just bored and I was wondering what you were up to.”
“Ah. That, I know all too well.” Someone spoke in the background and Charlie must have moved away from them, because the sounds got quieter and then disappeared altogether. “Is he letting you keep going with Krav Maga?”
“He doesn’t have a choice.” She rolled onto her side and stared at the doorway to the library as if she could will Dmitri back safely. “We’ve talked about it, and he said he’d found a gym, but shit keeps hitting the fan, and my actually going keeps getting pushed back.” And rightfully so. Her restlessness was less important than the safety of Dmitri’s people, but that didn’t mean she was handling it any better. “I guess there’s stuff I could be doing in the meantime, but I don’t even know where to start.”
“That, I can help with. Hit me with your e-mail address, and I’ll send you over a few options for training plans to get your endurance and strength up. You’ll still feel like you were hit with a truck for the first couple weeks, but it’ll help.”
“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” She rattled off her e-mail address.
“I try.” There was a rustling in the background as if Charlie had settled into a couch. “I know I’m not supposed to ask, but how are you—really?”
The genuine worry in her friend’s tone had something clenching in her chest. Keira knew she was loved. She had never really doubted it, even if she was often swept aside in favor of whatever crisis the family was dealing with at that given moment. It made it easier to leave with Dmitri, because at least this time, she could be helpful in averting said crisis.