Page 21 of Sergei
“Is he married?”
“No.”
“Is he seeing anyone special?”
“He has his share of women, but no one special.” I won’t deny that her questions were getting to me, but I played along. “His focus has been on getting the casino off the ground.”
“And how’s that going?”
“We’re still sorting some things, but it’s going well.”
“So, you really did it.” A soft smile crossed her face. “You got out.”
“You know it’s not that simple.”
“But you left, and you’re still breathing.”
“It’s not that simple,” I repeated.
“It never is, but it’s still impressive.” She pressed her lips together, then asked the question I knew would inevitably come. “What’s going to happen to me?”
“Nothing,” I answered without a second’s hesitation. “I won’t let it.”
“But Alek…”
“I’ll handle Alek.”
“But how? He has the family behind him, and…”
“I said I’ll handle him.”
My tone was harsher than I’d intended, but I’d meant what I’d said. I knew I couldn’t keep her hidden forever. In time, Alek and the others would find out that Alina was with me. And when that happens, it won’t just be her life in question. It would be mine, too.
We finished eating, and I had just put the dishes in the sink when there was a knock at the door. My gut tightened. Nobody came around at this hour unless there was something wrong. I motioned my hand towards Alina, telling her to stay put as I made my way to the door.
I took a quick look in the peephole, and I was hit with a mix of relief and annoyance when I saw that it was Nikolai. He was wearing slacks and a white dress shirt rolled at the sleeves, revealing the tattoos covering his arms. His thick, dark hair was disheveled, and I smelled a hint of cigar smoke and whiskey, which meant he was just coming in from a late night.
Annoyed, I opened the door and snapped, “What do you want?”
“Good morning to you, too,” he replied with a snarky grin. He lifted his chin and inhaled a quick breath before brushing past me. “Smells like coffee and eggs. Tell me there’s more.”
I muttered a curse under my breath and turned to follow him, just in time to see him stop dead in his tracks. His eyes widened with surprise as he said, “Alina?”
Her head snapped up as she gasped, “Nikolai?”
For the first time since she’d arrived, her whole face lit up. She shot to her feet and rushed across the room, and when she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.
“My goodness!” She pulled back to look him over. “You’ve grown so much! I can’t believe you’re the same little boy who used to throw his animal crackers at me.”
“Yeah, I might’ve done that a time or two.” Nikolai laughed, the sound warm, unguarded. “But in my defense, you were an easy target.”
The two of them stood there talking and teasing like no time had passed, and for reasons that made no sense to me, I felt something coil deep in my chest. Jealousy.
It was stupid and irrational, but I felt it all the same. She hadn’t looked at me like that. She certainly hadn’t hugged me or even looked remotely happy to see me. Not once. Not with that kind of warmth and not with that smile. And my God. That smile was something to behold.
I would burn the world to the ground for that fucking smile.
They continued on for a moment, then Nikolai said something that made Alina reach over and playfully swat him. Then came the grimace and gasp. Alina’s forgotten injuries had caught up with her. She tried to play it off with a smile, but Nikolai wasn’t going to let her get away with it. “What happened to you?”
