Page 144 of Mile High Ruin

I stare at her. “You think I’m involved.”

“I think my brother has survived this long because he doesn’t allow women to distract him from obvious danger.”

There it is. Not exactly what I expected.

I fold my arms. “And you think I’m distracting him.”

Nadia laughs quietly, without humor. “You arrived four days ago and he has already moved you into his home, cancelled your departure, put half his security team on your problem, and apparently forgotten that he normally has better judgment.”

Heat creeps into my face. I suddenly understand. This isn’t only about the tracker.

I look at her more carefully. “He brought me here because he still doesn’t entirely trust me, so if you imagine I somehow fluttered my eyelashes and convinced him to lose his mind, you’re giving me far more influence than I actually have.”

Nadia studies my face. “And yet you slept with him.”

My stomach drops. I say nothing.

Her expression changes just enough to confirm she already knew the answer, without me having to say it out loud.

“You think I’m his mistress.”

Nadia’s expression tells me I’ve finally caught up. “I don’t particularly care what word you use.”

For a second, I’m too stunned to answer.

Then, despite myself, I almost laugh. “That’s what this is about?”

“This is about my brother.”

“No, apparently this is about who you think your brother is sleeping with.”

Her jaw tightens. “You don’t know him.”

“Neither do you, apparently, if you think anyone can make Vadim do something he doesn’t want to do.”

That stops her.

I don’t know why I’m defending him.

Nadia looks at me. “I think Vadim has spent his entire life knowing that attachment makes people vulnerable, and I think you arrived at precisely the wrong time.”

The words hit harder than I expect. Not because she’s accusing me, but because somewhere beneath all the hostility, I hear fear.

Nadia is afraid for him.

I look toward the house. For the first time since she approached, my anger eases slightly. “I’m not trying to hurt your brother.”

Her expression remains guarded. “I hope not.”

She turns toward the house. I watch her leave, my irritation still simmering but mixed now with something else.

Vadim’s mistress.

The idea should be ridiculous.

Temporary sex with a man who still suspects me of being involved in an assassination attempt does not qualify as a relationship, and sleeping with him once doesn’t give me any claim on him.

Still, I can’t stop thinking about Nadia’s words.