Page 27 of In Her Blood
He nearly glared at her just for asking. “Tell me.”
She straightened, wiping at her cheeks and wincing when she moved her arm in a way that pulled at the wound beneath the heavy bandage. “The worst part,” she began, “is that even assuming I find my own qualified person to help me sign everything I need before I run off for the weekend—which Iknow I shouldn’t even do, but dammit, I need to breathe—and even if I manage that, I still won’t be pakhan.” She lifted still-glossy eyes in his direction. “This all just means I’ll be a daughter claiming property. I’ll own, at most, half of the house where the Nikolaev Bratva convenes. Except that could easily change. Before my father, they met somewhere else I’m pretty sure. So, I just have to do this allon topof somehow outmaneuvering my bastard cousin.”
Otto strode forward and lowered to a crouch. He wanted to slide the computer from her lap, to pull her hands into his and rub his thumbs over her knuckles, but he didn’t trust himself enough to stop there. Not this time. So he didn’t start. “You’re right, you’ll have to do all that. But you’re forgettin’ something.”
Her brow dipped. “What?” The word was barely off her lips before she cursed. “Shit. I still need to research PIs in Fort Wayne. You’re right.”
Otto shook his head. “No, Lina.” She did, actually, but that wasn’t what he’d been saying. And while he knew that task was personally important to her, he also felt it was the one thing that could afford to be set aside for later. “Leaders don’tdo, they delegate.”
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Her eyes widened as the layer of tears in front of them finally thinned. “Delegate,” she repeated.
He nodded. “What you really need is people with connections. And I bet if you think, you might realize you have a few of those in your corner.”
Her gaze dropped down to the screen between them, moving rapidly, and she rolled her lip between her teeth. “Otto,” she said after a beat, “does your dad still know people in business?”
His lips twitched. “You know he does.”
“Will he help me?”
“I’ll pretend you didn’t ask me that.”
Chapter nine
Foundation
Delegation was perhaps Evelina’snew favorite word, because she doubted very strongly that she could have even found, let alone arranged the necessary meeting with, a qualified lawyer before the deadline. The deadline which her temporary and technically aboveboard lawyer agreed wasoutrageous.
Evelina found she liked the woman quite a lot, mostly. With the exception of how she couldn’t quite stop ogling Otto.
“And there you have it,” the fifty-something with the professional updo, practiced smile, and inclination toward the sexually taboo declared with a final tap at her keyboard. She turned the laptop around so Evelina and Otto could see. “The signatures have been submitted. Everything’s electronic these days, though they will ask for hardcopy backups, but that’s fine. These will be in by the due date because they’re in now. And this”—she tapped a manicured nail to the edge of the screen—“is the receipt, which I will forward to the email you gave me for your records. I strongly advise you keep multiple copies of everything, particularly if there’s any discrepancy about who’s coming into what. Not to pry, but just given what I saw in these papers, you have valid reason to be cautious. Even if you think relations with your cousin are good.”
Evelina smiled. She hadn’t gotten overly specific with the lawyer for the woman’s own well-being, but that didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate the tip. “I’ll be sure to do that. Thank you.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with? Other paperwork that wasn’t on quite such a tight turnaround you needed looking over?”
“No, unfortunately, it was all tied together.” Evelina stood as the lawyer tucked her device away.
Otto shifted behind her, moving to the door.
The women shook hands, and one more time, the lawyer’s gaze flicked over Otto’s form as he held the door open for them to pass.
She did a huge solid for me. Let her have a little eye-candy. Just this once.It wasn’t like Evelina had a real claim on him and she knew it. Just because he’d threatened her with … well, actually, she realized she had entirely assumed the intent behind his words the night she’d let her control slip. And while he hadn’t truly kissed her back, he had kissed her after. Differently.
She flushed a bit thinking about it.
The elevator doors swished open and the cooler evening air rushed over her as Evelina trailed behind Otto into the underground parking. The crisp air helped to chase the embarrassing heat from her skin, so she was pretty sure her newly increased entourage wouldn’t have noticed.
Artem stood at attention beside the door to the SUV, exactly where she’d left him over an hour earlier. “Any other errands, ma’am?”
Her lips twitched. She kept only having in-passing conversations with the man, but she was starting to hope his promised loyalty was true. Even if he’d adopted the ‘ma’am’ thing. “The hard part is done, finally,” she said as he pulled the door open. “Let’s go somewhere where the three of us can actually talk. No one knows when to expect me, so now’s the best time.” She really needed to chat him upbeforeshe left town, after all.
She almost missed the flash of surprise in his eyes before he inclined his head. “Of course. Location of preference?”
Evelina slid herself into the seat. “Ask my security guy.” She patted Otto on the chest before he could reach for her seatbelt. The overprotective ape insisted the stretch was too hard on her arm. At the frown he gave her, she added, “I’m delegating.”
His frown deepened.
Artem chuckled.
