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When she turns to face me and then tips her head back into the spray, working her hands through her auburn hair, I have to bite my lip to keep from groaning.
Fucking hell, this woman is incredible.
I reach out with a finger and draw a line down her sternum to the barest hint of a bump in her lower abdomen.
She looks up at me sheepishly. “I’m sorry I told Kreshnik about our baby. I’m sorry I put your child at risk. I just wanted to be useful. I wanted to help.”
I switch off the shower and grab the towel hanging behind me. I lay it over her shoulders and start drying her off. “Piper, you don’t have to do anything to earn your place in my life. You help me by existing.”
“I know.” She lowers her head, staring down at her feet. “But your life is different. I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want to be extra weight that you have to—”
“I don’thave todo anything,” I grit out. “I’m here with you because I want to be. You don’t have to earn that, Piper.”
“Neither do you,” she says softly. “You have taken such good care of us, Timofey. You take care of everyone. But that’s not why… I love you because of who you are. Because of how you make me feel. Even if one day, you aren’t there when something bad is happening or—”
“I will be,” I growl. “I’ll always be there.”
She lays a damp hand on my shoulder. “Even if you aren’t, I’ll still love you. Always.”
I turn and kiss her knuckles. “Always.”
Rooney was right on the phone. I am in a good mood. I have everything I need right now. Everything I could ever want.
Which is why I finally know exactly what I’m going to do next.
“Get dressed and be ready to go when I get back,” I tell Piper. “I have one more thing to do.”
As I turn, she grabs my arm and pulls me back to her. Our lips meet in an easy, sensual kiss. Then she pushes me towards the door.
“Give them hell.”
I smile and hurry back into the hallway.
53
TIMOFEY
There isn’t a single other sound in the long, echoey corridors. Whoever Kreshnik paid off to get into the building is doing their job. They are keeping the employee areas quiet.
I check three supply closets on my way back to the room where Kreshnik is lying dead. The first two are a bust—mostly seasonal wreaths and candle holders—but the third is precisely what I’m looking for.
Shelves and shelves of bulk chemicals sit in front of me. Industrial tubs of powdered bleach, dish soap, furniture polish, and other cleaning agents are stocked from floor to ceiling.
I grab any container I see with a flame printed on the side. It’s meant as a warning, but it’s a green light for what I have in mind.
I carry the containers all the way down the hall to the room where Sergey first took me. The door is cracked open. I see his legs splayed on the carpet, one of his shoes untied. I unscrew the cap from a metal container of acetone and splash it through the open door. Then, carefully, I trail it down the hallway to the storage room where I found Kreshnik holding Piper and Benjamin hostage.
The smell of the mixed chemicals is strong. My eyes burn, and I try to take shallow breaths.
When I finish one bottle of acetone, I toss the empty container into the room with Kreshnik and open another. I continue the trail down the hallway until it’s a reasonable distance from the locker room where Piper and Benjamin are getting ready to leave.
The lighter slips out of my pocket like it’s nothing. A flimsy piece of plastic, but one capable of toppling empires. I flick the lid open and press my thumb to the igniter.
Sergey did everything to protect his legacy. To lay claim to the company and the Bratva he built. It feels right that it should go down with him.
He’ll be swallowed by his own creation.
And I’ll be free.
