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“Oh, I won’t be moving in with her anytime soon. It’s too early.” “You’re seventy-one! If you wait much longer, the only place you’ll be moving into is the fucking cemetery!” “Nah.” He waves his hand as if it’s nothing. “My family is known for longevity.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper. “You’re safe.”
“Because her name is Angelina Sofia Sandoval,” I say. “She’s Manny Sandoval’s daughter, Roman.”
“Okay.” I head upstairs. “But you should know one thing. I’m keeping her, Roman.”
“Sergei is not naturally violent. He would never attack anyone under normal circumstances. He would never touch a child. Or a woman, unless she’s a threat. If an old woman is crossing a street, he’ll approach to help her. If a cat gets stuck in a tree, he’ll climb it and rescue the cat.”
Sergei grumbles something in Russian and stands up. “Albert had a fight with his girlfriend yesterday, so he’s cranky.” “Albert?” “That would be me,” Felix calls over his shoulder. “Sergei’s take on a Batman joke. He thinks he’s witty.” I raise my eyebrows. “Wasn’t that Alfred? In the movie?” “Yes, but he says that Alfred sounds aristocratic and I’m not sophisticated enough for it. So, he changed it to Albert.”
“I’m not sure what you are hinting at.” “Oh? Let me enlighten you. Remember Dasha?” My body goes stone-still. “Angelina is not a plant.” “You sure about that?” “She’s not an undercover agent, Felix. She is . . . too innocent for that.” “They all seem innocent. Until they try to slice your neck while you’re sleeping. Consider your late wife before you even think about tangling yourself up with this girl.”
I cock my head and regard her as she chuckles. There is something about her . . . something that makes my demons sleep.
It’s rather hard to connect the ruthless, crazy persona my father’s men described, with the guy who is currently rolling on the grass with his dog, and laughing.
Placing my palm on the window in front of me, I watch the man who’s been the center of my thoughts since the first moment I saw him.
I enjoy the way Angelina feels in my arms. Having her this close ensures she’s safe from anyone who might want to do her harm. When she tells me who hurt her, and she will eventually, I’ll have such a great time killing them.
“What are you thinking about?” Angelina asks. “Nothing in particular. Why?” “Because you have a self-satisfied grin plastered all over the face.” “Oh, just planning some extracurricular activities, that’s all.”
Never presume someone is dead until he’s sporting a hole in his head. That’s my motto. It even rhymes.
“They were covered in pandas, Roman. Regardless, you need to talk to her. If she can help Sergei, we need to keep her here.” “Have you been spending time with Maxim recently?” “No. Why?” “Because he’s usually the one with crazy ideas.” There are a few seconds of silence before he continues, “Okay. I’ll call Sergei tomorrow and tell him to bring his cartel princess over to the mansion. And she better not be a spy.” “What do you plan to do with her if she is?” “Kill her on the spot, Felix.”
Narrowing his eyes at me, he places a finger under my chin and tilts my head up. “I would never put you in any kind of danger.” He brushes my chin with his thumb, and instead of pulling away, I have to fight the need to lean into him. “If you’re afraid of riding the bike with me, we’ll take the car. But, I’d like to take you for a ride on my bike.”
“You want me to play therapy dog for Sergei?” I ask, incredulous. “Yes!” He hits the table in front of him with this palm, laughing. “A therapy dog. I couldn’t have put it better myself.”
side unit. An experimental project where they took in teenagers no one would miss, usually homeless, and trained them into becoming operatives for the government’s missions.”
“Perfect. I just hired a fucking librarian to watch over a trained killer.”
“He would kill anyone who gets close to him when he’s in that state, Angelina.” Felix looks down at the floor. “I don’t know why he reacts the way he does around you. I’ve been with him for fifteen years, and I don’t dare approach him when he’s out. You may have awoken some protective instinct in him. When he brought you here that night, he wouldn’t let anyone get close. We barely managed to convince him to let the doctor check you out, and for Varya to bathe you.”
“But you need to keep one thing in mind. If I’m right, and Sergei for some reason thinks he needs to protect you, he won’t be reasonable.” “What do you mean?” “I mean, he will kill every person he feels may be of any kind of threat to you. Real or imagined.”
“I will eliminate anyone who might pose even the slightest threat to you, Angelina. If I, even for a second, suspected that he recognized you, he would have been dead.” “Sergei . . .” “No one. Threatens. Your. Safety,” he bites out. “Got that, Angelina?” I blink, then nod. “Good,” he says, squeezes my neck, and slams his mouth to mine.
Until tonight, I didn’t quite grasp who Sergei Belov actually is. I listened as he killed six armed men, quickly and efficiently, with no hesitation. Now, I know. I’m falling in love with a cold-blooded killer.
“Because, when you look at me, I remember I’m still alive.”
I ended up preferring books to people.”
I wonder if she knows how madly in love with her I am. Kissing my way to the side of her neck, I nibble on her delicate skin. “You’re the only thing that keeps my darkness away, lisichka.” I kiss her shoulder. “If, one day, you decide you’ve had enough of my shit, just leave and never look back. And make sure you hide very well.”
“I plan on getting Angelina’s nana out of there if she’s alive.”
I ignore his yelling and step out of the room. “You may want to call Mendoza and see if he can double the quantity next month,” I throw over my shoulder. “Or find another supplier, because I’ll be killing Diego while I’m down there.”
“I think they threatened to kill you,” Felix says. I stare at the paused recording, my eyes glued to Angelina’s frightened face, and smile. “I’m going to slaughter them all.”
“It’s nothing a bit of C-4 can’t handle,” I say and head in the direction of the guards. “We drove all the way here with C-4 in a trunk?” he whisper-yells after me. “How much did you pack?” I look over my shoulder and wink at him. “All of it, Albert.”
He throws a look at the man Nana and I just shot, then turns toward us and raises his thumb. Yeah, he might be a little whacky, but I love him anyway.
“Sergei!” she calls again, jumps over a dead soldier, and leaps into my arms. “You came for me.” “Of course I came for you,” I say and kiss her like my life depends on it. “I will always come for you, baby.”
I look down into her eyes and crush her to me. “Marry me,” I blurt out. Angelina blinks, glances around us where at least twenty bodies are scattered, then stares back at me. “You really know how to pick the time and place, big guy.”
“Will you marry me?” I think my heart stops beating while I watch her with eyes glued to her lips, waiting for her answer. “Of course I will.” She grins and kisses me.
“Sergei smashed everything that wasn’t attached to a wall when you left, that’s why,” Felix throws over his shoulder. “Will you shut up already?” I snap. “She may change her mind and run away if you keep babbling on about how deranged I am.”
