Page 13 of Twisted Desire

I blow out a breath, blinking away the rest of my own tears, but not before Nikolai catches the look on my face. He’s standing at the stove, stirring what looks like a pot of pasta sauce. “Smells good,” I say.

“Yeah.” He wipes his hands on a towel then tosses it on the counter. “You good?” he checks.

“Yep.”

“Sky.” He gives me a knowing look.

“Nik.”

He sighs. “Good talk,” he remarks dryly.

I crack a smile. “Can I help?”

Shrugging, he points to a cutting board set up on the counter. “Shred some cheese if you want.”

Making my way over to the counter, I glance over my shoulder. “What happened with Monica?”

“She was talking about The Experiment and Max, and she sort of lost it,” he explains. “Allison’s got her back, though.” He lifts the wooden spoon to his mouth and takes a quick taste. “There’s definitely something going on there.”

Grating the cheese into a bowl, I say, “Good for them. If they can find some semblance of peace in this situation, more power to them.”

“How uncynical of you,” he says with a quirk of his lips.

I stop grating and turn to face him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He walks closer to me, stopping a couple feet away. “You’re absolutely fine talking about other people having a meaningful, romantic relationship, but the moment I mention—”

“Can we not do this right now?” I cut in.

“Case in point, kitten.”

“Yeah, how dare I not want to talk about my feelings when our world is going to shit. That’s my bad.”

He shakes his head. “Forget I said anything, Skylar.” He walks back to the stove, leaving me staring at his back.

“Gladly.” I wipe my hands clean and storm out of the room.

5

After lunch, we spend the afternoon telling Monica everything. Allison took care of most of it before we got here, but she left out what Monica’s part in all of this would be—should she agree.

“It’s your choice,” I tell her. “There’s no pressure to join us. You’ve made a life for yourself here. No one is asking you to give that up.”

“Right.” She glances around the room as if she’s wondering what it would be like if she left. “My brother died because of these people,” she finally says, her eyes landing on me. “I want in.”

“Who on this list has the most information we could use?” Nikolai asks.

“Leigh. He’s a friend of mine—has been forever.”

“You trust him?” Nikolai asks.

“I do,” she replies without missing a beat.

“All right, fine,” I say, ready to get on the road. “He knows we’re coming?” I check.

“Yeah, I figured you guys would want to meet with him. I didn’t know exactly when, but I’ll give him a call on the way. He’s always home.”

Okay then. “Let’s go.”

---