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“We were, until you made a scene and abducted her from her home. Fucking hell, Liam, do you know what you’re doing?”
I scrape my hand over my face thinking no, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I should bring her back to Lucy and Donovan and let them watch over her until Dimitri is dead.
“Dimitri found her. More than once.”
“How is it he found her, but you haven’t found him?” Niko’s words are accusatory. He’s not wrong. I’m failing Kate right and left.
“I have my men scouring the area. I’m going to keep her out of the way for a bit, but then…” Then what?
“Why not bring her to the compound? Elena and I are planning to go there now that the weather is improving?—”
“What about her safety?”
“Babichev won’t get anywhere near my place. Not with my wife and kids there. You know that. You can send some of your men as well.”
“Then tell him to stay the fuck away from Kate,” Lucy’s voice echoes through Niko’s phone.
“Lucy—” Elena starts.
“No. He only brings her pain. Dragging her out of her home, and for what? Each time, she ends up traumatized. Let us do what he sucks at doing, keeping her safe.”
“He said Dimitri contacted her twice,” Niko informs her.
“But he didn’t kill her. Face it, fuck face,” Lucy says, referring to me. “Dimitri used her to lure you out.”
Fuck. Kate had said the same. Is it true? Probably, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a danger to Kate. Dimitri was the type of man who’d get great joy at having me watch him torture Kate.
There is quiet on the other end.
“I’m assuming the baby is yours,” Niko says softly. “The other answer is that you finish Babichev and allow yourself some happiness.”
If only I could do that. I can see it. Kate basking in the happiness of motherhood, safe in my embrace. But it’s a pipe dream. I should let the fantasy go instead of entertaining it.
“I have to go.” I hang up before he can say more. For long moments, I sit in the small living area overlooking the woods. The place is peaceful and serene, but so had been my cabin that was now a pile of ash.
I slip my phone into my pocket and head back to Kate’s room.
“Why won’t you go away?” Her voice has lost all strength.
“I keep trying,” I admit as I sit on the edge of her bed. I want to reach out and touch her, but I don’t. All I can do is stare into sad, haunted eyes that hate me. Unable to bear the way she looks at me, I turn my eyes downward. “I broke all the rules when I met you.”
“You broke rules long before you met me.”
“Those were different rules. When I met you… something happened.” I wish I could figure out what the fuck I was trying to say. “I overstepped the boundaries. I let my personal feelings get in the way, and they made you a target.”
“Personal feelings?” Her tone is dubious. As if I’m incapable of feelings.
I glance at her. “I know you’re angry, but you also know what I’m talking about.”
“You lied to me. From the start. How can I know what you’re talking about?” She’s right. Or sort of.
“I never lied to you.”
She gaped. “You’re a Mafia hitman.”
“I’m a Bratva leader.”
She purses her lips as if the distinction isn’t important.
