Page 23 of Demitri

He smiles. It’s small, but it’s there. Like he’s pleased I just willingly gave him a little piece of me. Maybe one day I’ll tell him why I left Montana. Maybe.

CHAPTER EIGHT

DEMITRI

“I’m goingto work with you tonight.”

Mia looks up from the table where she’s going through her bag. “What? No. It’s not safe.”

“Fuck that. I’m going with you. If it’s not safe for me, it’s not safe for you. So you’re either calling in or I’m going with you.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?”

Her anger takes me by surprise, but it really shouldn’t. She stares at me, waiting for an answer.

“I’m only trying?—”

“To control me? To tell me what to do? To take charge? Fuck you. How about that? You do not control me. No one will ever fucking control me again, do you understand? I am going to work and your ass is staying in this fucking house.”

“So I can’t tell you what to do, but you can tell me what to do? How’s that fair?” I challenge.

She deflates in front of me, all the fight leaving her body. Her mouth snaps closed, the argument she was getting ready to make gone. I walk as close to her as I feel like I safely can before I speak again.

“I don’t want to fight with you. But I want you safe, same as you want me. Now that I know Andrey is out there lookingfor me, the thought of you being out of my sight makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to control you. I don’t even want to be in charge. But the thought that there is even a possibility that you could end up like Mika fills me with a dread I can’t fully express.”

“And I don’t want you to leave the house for the same reason. If something happened to you, would I even know? Or would you just disappear and I’d never know? If you’re home, I know where you are. I would know if someone was trying to get in. I would know if they took you. I would know.”

“Can we compromise?” I ask in a last-ditch effort.

“How?” The look on her face is priceless. The lack of trust would hurt if it were anyone else.

“What if I stay in the office all night? I’ll do some work, you do your thing, no one will see me, and I’ll know you’re safe, you’ll know I’m safe. Everyone is happy, right?”

She squints at me, pursing her lips. “I don’t hate it,” she finally replies.

“Please?”

She lets out the sigh of someone weary. “Fine. I still don’t like it, but if you’ll stay in the office, we can compromise.”

I smile, feeling like I’ve just won something, when she sticks her finger up and narrows her eyes at me.

“You will not turn the microphones on and listen to me all night. You will not get mad or jealous because you think I’m flirting with someone. You will accept that this is my job and what I do during my work hours is separate from whatever this is.”

I clench my jaw to keep from laughing at her. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay then. And I’ll send Brodie in every once in a while to check on you.”

“Brodie? You sure about that?”

“What’s wrong with Brodie?”

“Nothing. But if no one is supposed to know I’m there, Brodie would be a someone, right?”

“He doesn’t count. I know too many of his secrets. Come on then, let’s go.”

She stands from the table and slings her bag over her shoulder, whatever’s inside it clunking around. I swear she actually does have a kitchen sink in there. I asked her once what she carts around in the bag and she completely shut down on me. But it’s never very far from where she is.

She locks the door as we exit the house and starts walking toward her car.

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