Page 60 of Devious Obsession
“I know,” I whisper.
“We’ll come up with a plan.”
I snuggle into his chest, wincing at the discomfort from my wound.
“All right. A plan.”
“But not tonight.” He holds me tighter, like he’s afraid I’m going to bolt from the bed, the cabin, the state.
I hold him back. “We’ll make a plan tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow then.”
Tomorrow turns into a string of tomorrows. It’s been two weeks since Artem said we needed to work out how to resolve my mess.
He’s been talking with my brothers. He’s not even trying to hide it anymore. His conversations no longer switch to Russian when I walk into the living room and find him on the phone. The past few days he’s been more adamant about making sure I know when he’s talking to Alexander.
He always offers the phone, and I politely decline. It’s been months, but I’m not ready to hear the lecture. Alexander is good at them, and they can go on for a long time. I’m skilled at ignoring most of what he says, but this time I deserve it. I’m just too much of a wimp to subject myself to it yet.
“Elana.” He towers over me as I work my needle through the fabric of my nearly completed project. Needlepoint had been a way to quiet my mind, but I’ve found in the last few weeks Artem has had the same effect.
He’s still overbearing, always watching me and demanding to know what’s going on in my thoughts.
When our gazes meet, cold runs down my spine. “What’s wrong?”
“Kaz’s wife, Sienna, was hurt.”
I drop my needlepoint onto my lap. “Hurt how? Did Janis?—”
“No.” He’s quick to answer. “Her cousin beat her badly.”
“Oh my god. Is she okay?”
“She’s healing, but she lost a baby.”
“Oh no.” Tears spring to my eyes. “Oh God.” The needlepoint falls to the floor as I jump to my feet, suddenly needing to move.
“Elana.”
“Why? Why did he hurt her?”
“She was unwilling to betray Kaz at her family’s demand.”
I stop short. My lungs freeze.
Before I can say anything, he shakes his head. “This is not on you. Do you understand, Elana? Her own family did this.”
I nod, because he seems to want a response, and my throat is closing around my words.
“We need to go home. You need to go home.” He emphasizes my part in his plan. “Enough hiding.”
“And if Janis follows me? I will have brought a whole new enemy to my brothers’ door.”
“Janis won’t be an issue.”
“How do you know that? We’ve been stuck in this cabin because of the bounty he put on our heads.”
“A bounty easily paid.” His shoulders drop. “Janis will be handled. You need to go home.”
