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She nods and leans her head against my shoulder for the rest of the drive. We stop and grab some hamburgers and fries since none of us have eaten, and when we get to our building, I wrap my jacket around her because I’ve seen her walking around half-naked in front of other people for far too fucking long. She smiles and then kicks off her heels and pulls the wig off as soon as we’re inside.
“Thank god,” she says. “My feet are killing me, and that damn wig is hot as hell.”
“I’ll rub your feet later, solnishka,” I tell her, already running my hands through the dark, silky strands of her hair.
“My feet are kind of sore too,” Vitaly says, raising a brow at me.
“That will never fucking happen,” I say with a laugh.
Emily and I start grabbing plates while Danil opens his laptop. We’re all anxious to see what he’s found out. I don’t even pretend to understand his hacker ways, but he’s somehow managed to gain access to David’s system. He barely looks at his hamburger before taking a bite. All his focus is on the screen in front of him.
When he realizes we’re all staring, he looks up and says, “Yeah, this is going to take a while. I’ll let you know when I find anything.”
Patience is something we’ve all gotten very good at, but it doesn’t mean we like it. Lev grabs a plate of food and heads for the couch to watch something, but before he can grab the remote, Vitaly takes it and grins while he puts it on some ‘80s comedy that we’ve all seen a million times but still somehow manages to make us all laugh.
Before Matvey walks off, he stops by Emily and says, “Thanks for getting the tattoo.”
Emily looks down at my name on her wrist and then smiles up at me. “It’s not such a bad one to have.” She turns to Matvey and says, “It wasn’t worth making a fuss about and ruining everything.”
“A lot of people wouldn’t have done it.” And with that he walks off to watch the movie with the others.
“It’s not easy to get Matvey’s approval, but he likes you,” I tell her.
“I’m glad he does.” She looks up at me and takes a bite of her fry. “I mean, since we’re all going to be living together and everything.”
I smile and kiss her forehead. “We can go pick up your stuff tomorrow, and you can tell the Lighthouse you quit.”
She laughs and just shakes her head before grabbing another fry. I’d already texted Sergei and Timofey the other day, letting them know they didn’t need to watch her anymore since she’s with me all the time now. She’ll be safe here. She’ll be safe with me and my brothers. The thought calms me because no way in fuck could I survive if something happened to her.
We eat supper and then leave Danil to keep searching, knowing he’ll be at it all night long. After a soak in the tub where I rub both her feet until she can barely keep her eyes open, I put some antibiotic ointment on her tattoo and carry her to bed. We fall asleep with our bodies intertwined and her soft breaths hitting my neck.
The next day is spent packing up her apartment. We box everything she wants, and then I call some of the guys to come and pick everything up and drop it off at the penthouse. While that’s being done, we stop by her work so she can get her last paycheck and quit. I can tell she feels bad about not giving a notice, but there’s nothing to be done about it. We need to be at the club tonight, and I’m guessing it’s going to end up being a pretty regular thing.
As soon as we walk in a young blonde comes running over. She gives Emily a quick hug and then turns her attention to me. Her face is lit up in a smile, but she’s not being flirty, just curious. I laugh and hold out my hand to her.
“Hi, I’m Roman.”
She takes my hand. “I’m Nicole. So you’re the man who’s taking my best work buddy away.”
“I am.” I wrap my arm back around Emily and pull her close. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
Nicole laughs before running off to grab Emily’s last check. When she returns, Emily takes it and nods towards the bar in the back where a man is busy refilling someone’s beer.
“So?” Emily asks, and then does a cute eyebrow wiggle. “Did you work up the courage to ask him out?”
Nicole’s smile widens. “We’re seeing a movie this Saturday.”
Emily laughs and gives her another hug. “I knew he’d say yes.” She squeezes my hand and tells Nicole, “We’ll have to grab lunch here soon so you can give me all the details.”
“Absolutely,” I tell them. “We can come in whenever you want.”
Emily wraps an arm around me, waving bye to her friend before we walk back to the car. We both know everything is going to change again in just a few hours, and neither one of us is looking forward to it. Things were tense last night, and I have no desire to step foot in that goddamn club again. I keep thinking about Alina, and I’ll never stop looking for her, but it’s killing me to put Emily at risk over and over again.
Back at the penthouse while Emily starts unpacking her clothes, I sit down with Danil. “Find anything?”
He looks at me with bloodshot eyes, proving my theory correct that he hasn’t slept at all, and gives a weary sigh. He scrubs a hand over the dark stubble that’s grown in since he last shaved and turns the screen so I can see. My breath catches when I see the photos. Women stare back at me, naked and scared—all of them restrained with zip ties or handcuffs, and all of them looking absolutely terrified.
“Fucking hell, man,” I whisper, searching every face I see for Alina’s green eyes and dark hair.
