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)
“She ordered him carried out into the street like a bag of garbage.” Still Aiden kept on with that infuriating calm tone. It made Dmitri want to shred something.
“He cornered Keira in a fucking dark hallway and acted like she was shit on the bottom of his shoe. I don’t know how you operate within your household, Aiden, but in mine, we take care of ours.” He hung up before he could say something truly unforgivable, and sat back.
What am I doing?
He never let emotions control him, even within the relative safety of this house, let alone calling out to essentially announce that something had gotten under his skin. Never. And yet here he was, fighting the desire to drive to that piece-of-shit motel and beat some respect into Mark.
It wouldn’t work. Dmitri knew the type. Ex-military. Loyal to a fault. He could beat the man within an inch of his life, and it wouldn’t get through the thick barrier of training and loyalty. To try was insanity.
It didn’t change his desire to do exactly that.
He ran a hand over his face. Keira is fine. She’s not hurt. She’s not damaged in any way from the encounter… but she could have been. If Pavel hadn’t been close. If Mark was just a little more volatile. If, if, if. He could have hurt her. He could have fucking killed her.
The traitor still could.
Dmitri inhaled, held it for several seconds, and exhaled. She is fine. He couldn’t let what-if scenarios cloud his judgment. Keira was well, and if he locked her up for her safety, she’d never forgive him. He had to remember that.
It might be worth earning her hate to know she was safe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Keira couldn’t quite believe she’d been so brazen to demand a date with Dmitri. It seemed immature now. Oh, please, husband, please take me on a date. They had so much shit going on, and little of it good, and she was dragging him off-site and distracting both of them.
“Keira.”
She turned to find him standing at the bottom of the stairs. He looked just as fresh and crisp as he had earlier, his suit jacket perfectly pressed, not a hair out of place. It gave her the silliest urge to rumple him a little, but she clasped her hands in front of her to keep from doing exactly that. “Hey.”
He frowned. “What changed since I saw you last?” There was a dangerous edge to his tone, as if he’d go to battle on her behalf against whatever had dampened her excitement.
Which was a problem, since she was the issue.
She didn’t bother to force a smile because he’d know she was faking it. “I’m just wondering if maybe we should save this date for when we’re not on the verge of a plan that may or may not get everyone killed.”
“Is there anything left you need to do to prepare for tomorrow?”
She gave the question more thought than she normally would have before shaking her head slowly. “It’s all ready. Just a matter of last-minute details with the caterers and florist that we can’t do until tomorrow anyway.” She saw where he was going with the question before she even finished speaking. “This is a distraction.” They’d done as much as they could to prepare for tomorrow. There wasn’t a single reason they couldn’t occupy themselves tonight—distract from the nerves fluttering in her stomach.
“Nothing so simple.” He opened the front door for her. “I want to spend more time with you. You want the same. We’re not neglecting any duties in the meantime. There’s no reason not to go to dinner—unless you don’t actually want to.”
“I want to.” She answered quickly—too quickly. Why pretend? Keira grabbed his hand as she moved past him, tugging Dmitri into step beside her. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here before something else goes wrong and ruins the night.”
He squeezed her hand and kept their fingers interlaced. “Walk with me.”
“Without a babysitter? Color me surprised.”
“Pavel will be along shortly.”
“Naturally.” The walk and the almost frigid air didn’t change her enjoyment of being with Dmitri and out of that damn house for a little bit. She loved the house. She did. But going from one cage to another wasn’t Keira’s idea of a good time. Dmitri had said she’d be a full partner, and they hadn’t had the opportunity to test that out. His bringing up the Krav Maga gym was a positive sign, but it was easy enough to say the right words without having any intention of following through with them. Get through this crisis and deal with it after that.
She hadn’t paid much attention to the area when they arrived the first time, but now Keira looked around with curiosity. She’d been to Manhattan a few times over the years, but it felt different now that she actually lived here. When the current threat was dealt with, she’d take some time and walk down these streets and get to know the area better. There was plenty of foot traffic, and she and Dmitri blended into the flow of people. They could have been anyone, just a couple holding hands as they walked to dinner. She liked the feeling. A lot.