Page 234 of Hate to Love You

“Pasha…”

“I knew you were pissed about the dunes and the painting, but I never thought you’d want to get rid of me,” he says, shaking his head.

“That’s not what this is.”

“Of course, it is!” Pasha suddenly snaps at me angrily, his voice so loud it echoes in the hangar, making everyone turn to look. “You’ve got to be the big badass brother who orders everyone around and you just want me gone because I—”

Without thinking I grab him and wrap him in a tight hug.

“Pasha…Pasha,” I say as he fights against me.

“Fuck you, Roman!” He chokes, the twinge in his voice nearly breaking my heart as he tries to elbow me in the ribs. “I’m not going!”

“I need you to—”

“No! I’m not! I’ve always done what you asked, but I’m not doing this!”

“Pasha, stop,” I say, still holding him firmly. “Stop! Just listen to me!”

“No! I know I fuck up sometimes, but I always have your back, Roman and—”

“I know you do,” I interrupt him, taking a hard blow to the ribs but still refusing to let go. “So now I have to have yours.”

Suddenly he stops, and I finally release him.

“What?” he asks.

I sigh heavily.

I didn’t want to show him this, but after realizing there’s no other way to get him on Jaxon’s plane today, I pull the envelope from my pocket and hand it to him.

“The fuck?” He asks, quickly looking through the photos.

“These were sent to me,” I whisper to him, so that only he can hear me. “By someone in the McCleary family who clearly knows that…”

My voice trails off and I swallow hard.

“Well, they know that I can’t lose you, okay?”

Pasha stares down at the words scribbled on the back of the photo.

“I’m not sending you away forever,” I say firmly, discreetly rubbing my side where Pasha’s elbow had painfully connected. “Just until I can get shit under control here.”

“But…” Pasha scoffs before his face turns red. “Roman, fuck these guys! If they want to come for me, then I got the answer for them right here!”

He goes to draw his gun from his holster, but I grab his hand, preventing him from doing so.

“No,” I growl lethally. “Think about where you are right now. In a very flammable room, filled with heavily armed, trigger-happy individuals. And there are women present. One of whom is your sister.”

Pasha glances over at Ana who is staring at us, her concern written plainly on her face. I watch as the realization of what could happen flashes across his eyes before I feel him release his hand, even if it does little to cull the anger radiating off him.

“Listen to me, I’m not sending you away because I think you can’t handle yourself, or because I give a flying fuck about some stupid ugly painting some whores stole from me,” I say quietly. “It’s because Cillian knows that if I’m focused on you, I won’t be focused on him. He knows that you are my soft spot. Just like father did. And you remember how that went down, don’t you?”

Slowly, Pasha’s face changes.

The reminder of our past, and the truth behind my words being enough to finally break through to him.

“But there’s also another reason,” I say softly.

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