Page 110 of Nemesync
Niko leaned against a nearby wall, and couldn’t hide his laugh, “I’d pay to see that.”
Ignoring him, Elijah’s gaze remained fixed on me, his voice like a whisper I could only hear. “I’m not joking when your life is in the line. There’s a threat, a big one, and I won’t let anything happen to you. Move in with me. It’s safer.”
I crossed my arms, surprised, “Are you sure you can handle having me around all the time?”
His tone was dead serious, “I can handle you. You’re staying with me.”
“Well, that escalated quickly. Didn’t know you two were so close. How surprising.”
Elijah shot Niko a glance that could freeze him, “Niko, I swear I’m going to throw you from this balcony.”
I looked at him trying to figure out if he was just worried about me or wanted me to stay with him because he wanted to spend time with me.
Maybe I was delusional.
But I didn’t care. Elijah Volkov wanted me to stay with him and I wasn’t against this idea at all.
“I’ll move in.”
“It wasn’t a question, Zanae. I didn’t need confirmation.”
Still an asshole, I see.
28
ZANAE
In the next few days and weeks my whole experience in Elijah’s penthouse changed.
I oddly find peace in his existence. It’s not perfect; we’re still learning to coexist.
We were both spider and prey, and the web we wove became harmonious, evenintimate. We could declare war in the morning and seek truce in each other’s touch at night. Even if the truce felt like a battlefield on the bed, or anywhere else in the house.
Elijah always made sure I felt valued, trained with me every morning even when he worked the whole night before, cooked meals with Niko and Ben most of the time, and even surprised me with books when I mentioned missing having new reads.
But when other people were around, he’d get a bit cold, which I totally understood. We were just hanging out, nothing too serious, I guess. I was the one who wanted to keep things quiet until we figured out what we were doing, and he respected that, even though he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.
Then, alone again, he would consume me, possess me completely, own me like he promised and drive me to the edge of euphoria through every possible way and position, all night long.
Nikolai teased me a lot about my sudden cohabitation with “Bodyguard Elijah” as he liked to call him.
One evening, after an argument between Elijah and me in the living room about something stupid, Nikolai commented, “You two are like a dysfunctional married couple.”
Elijah shot Nikolai a warning look, leaning against the wall with crossed arms, and retorted, “Never knew someone could be so fucking annoying and endearing at the same time.”
And I just smiled.
Our life evolved into a sort of routine. I continued my training regimen with Nikolai and him. I didn’t think it was possible to feel exhausted to the point where you’re about to collapse just by drinking water before, but now I know how it feels.
When neither Niko nor Elijah was working, we had dinners with Ben, breakfasts too at Miranda’s coffee shop, they even met June.
Miranda has gotten to know Elijah pretty well by now, and she was still kind of intimidated by him. Perhaps the horde of men surrounding the coffee shop every time didn’t help either.
But that’s only because no one else knew just how attentive he was. Sure, there were times when I wanted to punch him for getting too wrapped up in his work, to the point where he would be literally sick of it. Or when he would show up with bloodstains on his clothes, but I guess being a Pakhan wasn’t just about giving orders.
He wasn’t that insufferable.
I never felt weak around him even during training. He always had that little glucose meter handy and every now and then, hewould check my pulse and my levels, especially if I’m feeling tired or dizzy. It was like he got a sixth sense for it.
