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)
“I wasn’t going to.” He let himself feel her breathing and matched his own to the slow inhales and long exhales. “He made the right call.” Easier to leave it at that, but in an effort to be honest, he said, “If it hadn’t happened in the house, or if I was there, Pavel might have reacted differently.”
“I know.” She laid her head against his chest. “But if you were there, you would have given the order and I wouldn’t have had to.”
She had so much faith in him. More than he deserved. He hadn’t done a single fucking thing to earn it other than open her eyes to something she already possessed. It was all Keira. It always had been. He sighed. “Someone—I suspect the Eldridges—has been blocking John Finch’s surveillance of this house.”
“What?” Keira straightened so fast, she clipped his jaw and he almost bit his tongue. “Did you just say John Finch?”
He released her with one arm so he could rub his jaw. “I did.”
“But he hates you. Is he pissed about Charlie or about Alethea pulling strings and getting Mae released?”
“Does it matter?” The end result was the same. Mae on the streets. John Finch their unlikely ally.
Keira nodded. “It matters. No matter how pissed Charlie is at him right now, she still loves him. If he’s sharing information for her, she should know.” Her hazel eyes blazed. “But if he’s doing this because he’s pissed Mae slipped through his fingers, then he can fuck right off. We’ll take his information and he’s on his own otherwise.”
So fierce and so fucking loyal.
He cupped her face and kissed her lightly. “I’ll find out.”
“Thank you,” she spoke against his lips. “Pavel and I would like to go over the placement of the men with you in the morning if you can fit it into your schedule.”
“I’ll make it work.” It was so very strange to have this conversation with her, something perfectly normal talking about schedules, when they were in the midst of such insanity. More so, when a couple days ago, they’d been at each other’s throats.
“Good.”
“There was something else?”
“Yeah.” She raised her eyebrows. “When were you going to tell me that you might have a traitor in the house?”
He rocked back on his heels. “Pavel told you.”
“Pavel told me that you trust him, which is why he’s been my designated babysitter. I connected the rest of the dots myself.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.” The thought of one of his men turning on him, doing something to harm Keira… He clenched his jaw. “When I find the traitor…”
“Oh yeah, I got it. Death and a painful one at that.” She didn’t sound too worried about it, which only made him respect her more. Keira went up on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I just wanted you to know that I know, and I’m not going to take any risks.”
“I appreciate that.” He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been about her doing exactly that until he heard her promise. Dmitri leaned back far enough to get another look at her, determined to lighten the mood a little. “I like this.” He ran his finger down the line where her blazer met the lace shirt underneath.
“Yeah, well, you bought it.” She gave him an impish grin, her seriousness gone in an instant. “Claudia and I have to deal with a couple more things, but I’ll be done inside of an hour. She’s more than capable of harassing the muscle into submission.” Keira stepped into him. “Tomorrow we have to play politics, wrangle my family, and avoid playing into the bad guys’ hands. Get done what you need to and come out with me.”
“Out.”
“Yes, out. Let’s just pretend for a few hours that we don’t have an evil empire to run and just be us. Pavel can play guard dog so no one gets any funny ideas, but I want it to just be me and you.”
The concept was more attractive than he could have dreamed. Just him and Keira, sharing a meal. In public. Dmitri couldn’t put his finger on why being in public made a difference, but it did. He wanted it more than he had a right to. “I’ll be ready by the time you are.”
“Perfect.” She leaned up on her toes and kissed him again, and then slipped out of his arms. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”
He waited for her to close the door behind her before he circled his desk and snatched up the phone. As expected, Aiden didn’t make him wait long. Dmitri barely paused for the man to answer to start in on him. “When I allowed your man into my home, I didn’t expect him to verbally assault my wife.”
A long pause. “You’re angry.”
The simmering rage that had struck the second he realized Keira could have been in danger in his own fucking home while he wasn’t there boiled over. “You talk so strongly about family first, but that idea doesn’t hold up the moment one of your siblings steps out of line. She chose, Aiden. But she is still your sister, even if she’s married to me. If you can’t remember and respect that—and order your people to do the same—you won’t be in contact with her.”