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The picture that greeted them on the outskirts of town wasn’t what Viking had expected at all. Nob Hill was a nice, quiet neighborhood that mostly catered to yups and white-collar people. The house Baran sent the coordinates to was in the center of a cul-de-sac.
To see his tiny wife taking on a guy in khaki pants was a picture that would never leave his mind. Neither was the defeated way Katya looked as Kristoff walked up to her car.
“This is for Katya!” Elena yelled while beating the guy with a bat. “And this is for all the other women you’ve hit before her, you jackass.”
A wall of trees separated the house from its neighbor. That explained why the police hadn’t been called in yet.
“She’s laughing,” Baran said, standing on the porch. “The psycho part of her brain must be activated.” He made an exploding sound. “Woman on fire. Abort mission! Abort mission!”
“Don’t need a fucking running commentary,” Viking growled as he walked up to his wife. “Elena.” She didn’t seem to hear him. Her eyes were on fire as she smashed into the guy. He snatched the bat from her hand.
She pivoted and finally seemed to acknowledge his presence. “What are you—? Give it back.”
When she made a grab for it, he held it away. “No. That’s enough.”
“Enough? You think this is enough? Of course, you do. You’re a man after all! But you don’t know what it’s like,” she croaked. “What it feels like when someone hurts you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The anguish in her voice tore him apart. He pulled her to him, securing her head on his chest. Little shivers wracked her body and he knew the adrenaline was leaving her system.
He wanted to ask her who had hurt her like that. Part of him feared the answer. Maybe her stay at the Morelli mansion hadn’t been a cut-and-dry paradise as he’d believed it to be. Maybe she hadn’t always been a willing participant. But she would have had to be, right? Because what would it mean if he’d been wrong about that?
No. She’s messing with your head again.
Don’t let her inside.
But she already was. He could try to deny it all he wanted, but she was inside his mind, infused in his blood again. And if he was being totally honest about it, he had to admit she had never left. He might not ever be able to forgive her for what she’d done, but he couldn’t go on like this either. Kristoff was right. He’d made the choice to marry her, and now he had to live with the consequences. Perhaps she had changed. Maybe one grave mistake sixteen years ago didn’t have to define her. Wasn’t she here on Katya’s behalf? Didn’t that show she could be loyal?
Suddenly Khaki Pants pushed himself off the floor. Before he got up, Viking kicked him in the face and the guy went out cold.
Feeling much better, he pulled Elena in his arms and took her outside. He nodded at Baran who passed him, going inside. Baran was already on the phone calling up a cleaning crew.
The fresh outside air allowed him to breathe again. In a way, it cleared his head.
It also awoke Elena, because her head snapped up. She was twisting her neck to look back inside.
“He can’t get away with this.”
He gently put her in the car. “He won’t.”
Kristoff was coming for him. His life was over. He just didn’t know it yet.
CHAPTER 25
ELENA
The late-night shower had cleansed her in more than one way. Viking had taken her into his arms after the Katya affair and dropped her into the shower. He’d washed her hair with a gentleness she’d almost forgotten, then he’d wrapped her into a huge towel she almost disappeared into.
Now he was talking on the phone in the living room, one hand on the mantle, and a frown that marred his face. He’d put on sweat pants that hung low on his waist, exposing his lower abs. His chest was bare, showing tattoos, and a few scars that had turned to gray. On the coffee table before him, he’d dropped his shirt. He’d placed his gun on the mantle next to a picture of him and Sy. It gave her the chills seeing the weapon, but it was a reminder of his life, of the man he was. Never mind the life she’d lived with Lorenzo; seeing a weapon out in the open still didn’t sit well with her.
She’d put on a simple, cotton nightie with owls on it. Another one of Katya’s gifts, which reminded her to do some shopping of her own. It was less than sexy to walk around in animal PJs.
Then Viking noticed her. When his eyes turned to a shade of dark blue, she forgot all about her nightwear. Judging by his eyes and the growing bulge in his pants, it didn’t matter whether she was wearing a sexy silk teddy or animals on her PJs.
Maybe it was the horrible night, maybe it was everything else that had happened up until this point, but she felt wired. Her body ached for him. She felt pumped and wanted to jump his bones. Their argument of less than a day before, when he’d threatened to go to a strip club, disappeared to the back of her thoughts. Seeing him like this, the way he was looking at her, she believed that he was going to honor their vows. Forced marriage promises or not, at that moment she chose to believe in them. Even if it would only be for a short while, she needed him.
She took off her pajama bottoms. When her hand went to her top, the doorbell rang.
Viking opened the door while talking on his phone.
