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“Hmm.”
“You think her Italian boyfriend got to him?”
I keep my stare pointed at the water where the ripple was, watching it still. “Probably so.”
“That’s too bad.” Roman sighs. “I’m sure Sergey left the bastard no choice.”
We sit in silence for a long time, both of us staring at the water. I get the sense that Roman is waiting for me to come clean, and I wonder if it wasn’t Olive he came looking for but me.
“How long have you known?” I ask at last, turning to face him.
He takes a deep breath like he’s pondering. “Since the very second I heard news that she’d been rescued from a hit.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
His lips twist like he’s contemplating that. “You want the truth?”
“Would I ask for a lie?”
He smirks a moment then drops it. “It was cute watching you go rogue. And forlove, no less.” When he smiles mockingly, I face the water. “Plus… I think it’s time we started looking out for each other. Don’t think it isn’t unintentional the way Nikita pins us against one another. There’s a reason I knew it was you who spied on me. He wanted me to know. So that I won’t trust you.”
I scoff. “You understand I killed two made men, right?”
Roman shrugs. “Soldiers.”
“I’m a soldier, you idiot,” I grind, my jaw clenched as I turn to him, my hands preparing to clench.
Roman’s eyes slowly lower to my hands before moving back to my face. He reaches into his pocket while I stiffen, preparing to strike, but he just pulls out a pack of gum. He removes a piece for himself then offers the pack to me. I say nothing as I keep my narrowed eyes trained on him.
Hiking up a shoulder, he puts the pack away then unwraps his piece. “I like that you aren’t such a pussy with me,” he says, popping the piece into his mouth then chewing obnoxiously. “Yes sir, no sir,” he mocks in a flat tone, his hand to his forehead in a salute. He laughs and shakes his head. “It shows our bond.”
“We—”
“Just shut the fuck up,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Look, Sergey and Pavel could take care of themselves. They tried to kill your girl, and you killed them for it. Too bad for them. Are you feeling guilty over this?” He laughs and looks around. “Is that why you’re sitting out here by yourself, sulking like a fucking crybaby?”
I don’t respond, instead opting to stare ahead. Maybe if I stop talking, he’ll leave.
His amusement seems to die down. “That isn’t it, is it?” He twists his body to look behind him at the house. “Oh… Is she…?”
I shake my head. “No… Just gone.”
He nods slowly and faces forward. “Sorry, man.”
I run my hands over my face and lean forward, my thoughts racing. “I’m going to find a way to get Nikita out, and then I’m going to leverage it to get him to let her live. It’s the only thing that makes sense anyway. Now that he’s been arrested, it would be insane to kill the SAC’s daughter. The Bratva has to lay low.”
I lower my hands to the dock and turn to Roman. “I want you to have my back.”
His stare lingers on me a few seconds before he nods. “Okay.”
My mouth opens to thank him, but movement behind us pulls my attention that way. Olive stands a distance away by a tree, a box in her arms. She darts behind the trunk when she seems to realize I have company.
Roman’s brows raise. “I guess you still have some things to work out.” He turns to me and gives my hand a shake before getting up and leaving, keeping a safe distance from the tree as he goes. As soon as he’s gone, Olive’s form reappears.
I can tell by the sway of her hips and the pity on her face that it isn’t really her. It’s the other one.
But she still has Olive’s face. Her gorgeous eyes. Her soft skin. She still smells like her as she kneels behind me with the box, eliciting me to pull my legs onto the deck and turn. She’s so much like Olive that pain twists my chest at her phantom love, yet not enough like Olive to fill the hole that’s opened inside my heart.
“Hey,” Not Olive whispers, her lips tilted in a sympathetic smile.
