Page 28 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
He nods. “Yeah, my whole life,” he replies grimly.
I think back to the way he launched himself into action when that explosion happened, the moment he smelled the smoke beginning to drift through the air, how he took care of everything like it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn’t even stop to grieve the loss of his home. Not when I was there. Not when I was in danger.
“I’m sorry you lost it, then,” I remark, trying not to let the emotion sound too obviously in my tone. He shrugs.
“It’s a house,” he replies. “What matters is keeping the family name alive.”
“I guess so...”
He flicks his gaze down to my belly pointedly, reminding me in no uncertain terms that I’m that very future he is talking about right now. I rest a hand on my belly. I know I need to get to a doctor, make sure my little one is growing as they are supposed to, but even now, I’m sure I can feel the slight flutter of movement in there, as if they are responding to that acknowledgement from their father. The thought draws a slight smile to my face, and I tuck in again, glad for the delicious dinner.
And maybe evenmoreglad for the company.
We talk as we eat—nothing too heavy this time around, just about the city, growing up there, our favorite places to eat and drink and go out. I’m surprised to find that he has an easy way about him when he is not in Pakhan mode, but I guess that’s part of the deal for a man in his line of work. He needs to make peoplefeel safe, so that they will trust him, because, if they don’t, they are less likely to give him what he wants.
“Good?” he remarks, as he looks down at my empty plate. I nod.
“Amazing,” I reply. “I’m going to have to show you that takeout place I used to go to when we’re back in the city...”
I trail off before I can go any further, wondering if that is a little more than he is ready to hear. I mean, I don’t know what he is going to want to do when we return to the city. Is he going to keep me close? Or does he see me as a liability, the reason he lost his home in the first place? I’m not sure I want to find out. I’m sure there is so much that is still unsaid, so much that he has no made sense of yet, and I’m not certain that it will do me much good to find out about it.
But, for now, I feel like I can finally relax. Finally get the sense that, in this place, at least, I’m going to be able to find a way through, find a way out, no matter how hard it might be. Because, as long as I have good food, good company, and the certainty that nobody will find us out here…
Maybe there’s nothing else I need to worry about at all.
And maybe the man sitting opposite me is not just a fearsome Pakhan, but the first man in so long who has stepped up to show me that he cares for me.
12
ANTON
She lingersin the doorway to her room longer than she needs to, teeth resting on her lower lip as she looks at me. And I can tell there is a lot going on inside her head, she just doesn’t quite know how to put it into words.
“What is it?” I ask her, drying my hands on the towel I used to finish up the dishes and tossing it back towards the counter. She has been looking at me like that all night, her gaze softening now when it meets mine, instead of tensing with the usual terror I’m used to from her.
“Nothing,” she replies, twisting her hands in front of her nervously. “I was just... just wondering if you would...”
She trails off before she can come out with it, some part of her still reticent about telling me exactly what is going on inside her head. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. After all that she has been through, all that she has born witness to, anyone would be nervous.
Even though she has nothing to fear out here with me. At least, from what I can tell.
My men, the handful that survived the attack on the mansion, are scattered across the city, each of them reaching out to me in turn to let me know their location and their survival.
I have about a hundred men stationed in the surrounding suburbs, keeping watch on the trading routes that lead in and out of the city, and I have touched base with all of them to let them know what happened, though I’m sure news of it has spread quickly.
I have not even gone back to the scene of the attack, not sure that I could cope with the sight of the house in ashes like that. I got a call from the fire department that I ignored, not wanting to talk to them or anyone about what happened there.
Only reason I would run it past them was if I wanted to claim on my insurance, and God knows, I’m not going to try and pull something like that out of the bag. The house is gone, that’s all that matters. The only thing I can do to fix it is making my brother pay for what he has done.
He has no idea about this safehouse, mercifully, nobody does.
I have kept it under wraps even from my own men, a cabin in the woods that I have had carefully stocked and prepared for a potential visit should I ever need to put some distance between myself and New York. Now, I’m glad I did. It’s kept her and the baby safe, and that’s all that matters.
As for me, I feel like I’m a caged animal, pacing back and forth behind the bars of my enclosure as I search for a way out. I don’t do well with playing it cool, especially not after an attack as brutal as that one.
Normally, I would have made a move to strike back the first chance I got, something to make the attacker pay for eventhinking that he could stand against me. But this is my brother I’m talking about, the one person who I need to be more careful with. He has an inside track to this world, to my world, and one wrong move could cost me everything.
“I was wondering...” she begins, mustering up every bit of certainty she can. “Uh. If you would mind sleeping with me tonight?”
