Page 69 of Eternal
She shook her head, amused, clearly not buying it. “You’re really not going to tell me, are you?”
I smiled, almost as if I couldn’t help myself. “No.”
Her lips twitched like she might say something else, but then she shrugged and went back to eating.
After a few minutes her voice comes up. “The address is 1389 Winchester Avenue,” she said nonchalantly, glancing up at me. “Safe house, east side. Our thief’s hiding there.”
I chewed slowly, digesting both her words and the food. “Who gave you the address?”
She paused for a second, picking up a fry and biting into it. “The Don called me,” she said flatly, offering a shrug. “Guess he wanted to make sure I had it.”
I blinked, surprised. “The Don?” I repeated, eyebrows raising. That was… odd. Nikolai didn’t typically get involved in these kinds of things. He usually sent messages through Viktor.
“Yup,” she replied, focusing on her food again, looking completely normal. “I don’t know why he didn’t send it to Viktor, but whatever.”
I watched her for a moment, chewing thoughtfully. “I see. Did he say anything else?”
She leaned back on her hands for a second, glancing at me. “Nope.”
I nodded, my gaze lingering on her, she seemed at ease with me, and I don’t know why, but knowing it brought me some satisfaction.
A vicious little creature, but such a pretty one.
“What’s got you smiling?” she asked, eyes narrowing as she caught me looking at her.
Was I fucking smiling looking at her?
I forced myself to look away, my mouth pulling into a grin I couldn’t hide anymore. “Nothing. Just thinking how easy they made it for us now that we know where they hide.”
She chuckled softly, looking down at the food in her hands as she took another bite of her burger, her cheeks puffing out in the process.
Why do I want to smile even more?
There was something about the way she looked in that moment, with her cheeks full, her eyes half-lidded as she chewed, that hit me.
It was strange, cute, almost, in an oddly innocent way.
This is the woman everyone is so scared of? The woman I have to stop?
I cleared my throat, forcing myself to focus. This wasn’t the time for... whatever the hell I was feeling.
She shot me a weird glance, “What, you want to say something?”
I smirked, leaning back against the headboard, my voice deliberately casual. “You look cute when you’re not talking or threatening me.”
She did, pretty eyes, prettier lips, looking human in the sweetest way possible.
She froze mid-bite, her expression caught somewhere between surprise and annoyance, then she coughed, trying to play it off, but the flush creeping up her neck was enough for me.
“Too bad I like to talk and threaten people,” she shot back. “That’s my job.”
“Still look cute,” I murmured, the smile lingering even as I tore my gaze away.
A silence fell between us, she focused on her burger, and me on mine.
“We need to gear up.”
“Right,” she said, brushing crumbs off her fingers, her cold demeanor was back, but it felt... different. Softer, somehow.
