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“Yes.” I wouldn’t turn down any help. “Tomorrow, if you and Brady are settled in, I’m going to start arranging for you to work more closely with the others. Trojan and Igor. Elena and Wren.”

She nodded, smoothing her hand over my cheek. “I’d like that. I don’t want to run and hide. I want to fight back—however I can.”

“You will. So long as you’re not in danger.” Because I knew that we didn’t have much time alone, I slid my hand into her hair and held her close for another deep kiss. She clutched me, leaning into me with her lips parted and her tongue dueling alongside mine.

The sound of footsteps coming near was the cue we couldn’t ignore. With reluctance, I let her stand and step aside.

An hour later, we were at my main residence. It was probably twice the size of this house, but I doubted that was what really mattered to either of them. Louisa was stunned by the size of her room—adjacent to mine—and Brady was over the moon to have a real pool.

We changed to swim, and while I suffered to stay in control with the sight of Louisa in a bikini, I was pleased to see Brady so happy. Paloma joined us, and all through the evening, we swam and relaxed. Dinner consisted of takeout on the patio. And the bedtime routine was the same as it had been at the other house.

Brady requested that I read to him, and I gladly acquiesced.

“You go on and get settled in bed,” I told him in the hallway. “I’ll be right there.”

“Okay!” He ran off down the hall to get into his room.

Louisa moved to walk past me, but I barricaded her with my arm and pulled her into a quick hug.

“And you should get settled in my bed.”

She lifted her sweet gaze to me and bit her lip. “I should?”

I nodded and playfully swatted her ass. “You definitely should.”

She pressed a kiss to my cheek and walked past me, a seductive siren as she emphasized the sway of her hips and tossed a sultry glance over her shoulder at me.

Like this, she was no longer only a protected witness at a safehouse.

She was just… mine. In my home.

And I will do everything I can to convince you to want to stay.

24

LOUISA

Nikolai went to Brady’s room to handle his bedtime story request, and I didn’t waste a second in going further down the hall. He’d told me to go to his room, and I didn’t have to wonder why.

A long night of that man fucking me was in my future, and I could barely wait.

Yet, as I entered his space, his room, his domain, I wanted to linger. Having the freedom to check out his most personal haven was not something I wanted to pass up on.

My God.

This is enormous.

I walked around the perimeter of the room, marveling at the square footage of the master suite. With walls of a dark brown and silver accents in the masculine décor, it was very much a man’s space. It suited him well, dark, dangerous, and with all the sharp edges. There wasn’t a lot that could count as soft where Nikolai Volkov was concerned.

Except with my son.

I smiled as I trailed my finger along the polished wooden edge of a large chair off to the side of the room.

When he was with Brady, he was gentle. Kind. Patient.

Earlier, he hadn’t hesitated to sit down and spend time with us, with Brady.

The macho, deadly killer sat with my child to color. The juvenile pastime should have fallen into the category of things he’d never want to do. But he proved me wrong. He continued to prove me wrong each and every day.