Page 97 of Release Me

She looks past me to the men who are shuffling with discomfort at my back. “Get out.”

“Nadia.”

“I don’t want to have this conversation in front of them, Sebastian.”

With a sigh, I turn to the men we’re currently talking around, speaking to them directly for the first time since we met in my office an hour ago. Russ, the only man on the team I didn’t meet for the first time today, presses his lips together to bite back a laugh. He told me that Nadia would get in my ass about hiring security without discussing it with her first. I barely contain the urge to flip him off, clearing my throat to give him an order instead.

“Show your men around the building and make sure they all have up to date photos of Beau Montgomery.”

“Copy that,” Russ says, opening the door and gesturing for the men to file out. Once they’re gone, I turn my attention back to Nadia. She doesn’t look any less hostile now that we’re alone, and even though she’s mad at me, the scowl on her lips just makes me want to kiss her. I cross the room, intending to do exactly that, but she holds out a hand to stop me.

I pause just a few feet away from her. “Are you going to tell me why you’re so angry with me, precious, or am I going to have to guess?”

The use of her nickname makes her visibly deflate, and I feel a bubble of hope rise in my chest. She sighs and sits down on the edge of her desk, but she still doesn’t speak.

“Do you really hate the idea of having a security team that much?” I ask, inching closer. “I mean, if I could, I would keep you with me all day, every day, but since you have a life and want some semblance of independence, I figured this was our best option.”

This time, she doesn’t stop my advance, and by the time the last word leaves my lips, I’m right on her, my hands on either side of her face, thumbs rubbing small circles on the soft skin of her cheeks. I watch her eyes melt right in front of me, going from raw fire agate to liquid pools of caramel that bubble with emotion.

“I don’t mind the security,” she admits quietly. “I just hate that I’m their only focus.”

“Your safety is my top priority, precious, of course you’re their only focus.”

When Russ walked the men into my office, I told them they should be prepared to eat, sleep and breathe Nadia Hendrix until Beau Montgomery is no longer a threat.

Her hands go to my sides, fingers digging into the fabric of my suit jacket. “And what about your safety, Sebastian? You just keep making all these decisions focused on protecting me, but you’re not doing anything to protect yourself. You could get hurt in all this.”

There’s a world of meaning layered in her words, and I get the feeling that she’s not just talking about physical harm. My eyes rove over her features, trying to parse out what’s happening underneath the mask of genuine concern. Nadia can be hard to know, hard to read, slow to reveal what’s happening in that head of hers. I’ve had to learn how to be patient, how to give reassurance and space to work things out on her own instead of asking questions that would give me the information necessary to fix it all on my own. It’s hard. Especially when I know she’s spent so much of her life fending for herself.

“No one is going to get hurt, baby.” Leaning down, I place a kiss on her lips. “Not me, and certainly not you.”

“Certainly not me because I have a security team?” she asks, skepticism pulling her lips to the side.

I smile, kissing her again. “Precisely.”

She shakes her head. “I want at least two of those men on you, Sebastian. I know that Beau is coming for me, but I don’t want you out there with no one watching your back.”

“You know he’s coming for you?” I repeat, wondering if the certainty in her tone is stemming from her being in possession of information I’m not yet privy to. “Why do you say it like it’s a forgone conclusion?”

“Because it is, Sebastian.” Nadia pushes me back and the pacing starts again, making me feel like we’re right back where we started. She’s wringing her hands together. “You know it, and I know it. Hell, even Bianca knows it.”

“Bianca?” Sparks of recognition light up my brain. I know that name, but it takes me a second to place it, to realize that it’s the name of Nadia’s friend from California. She told me about her on the night she told me her real name. As far as I know, Nadia left everything and everyone from her old life behind. Her mentioning a former friend who had a romantic relationship with Beau is raising all kinds of red flags for me. “When did you talk to Bianca, Nadia?”

Panic causes her eyes to flare, and now I realize that she didn’t intend to let that name slip past her lips. She was going to keep whatever conversation or covert meeting they had a secret from me. The thought fills me with an overwhelming sense of anger, not at her, per say, just at the situation.

“A few days ago. I ran into her at a boutique in town.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me she was in New Haven?”

She bites her lip, and even though I’m mad, I still can’t help but acknowledge how fucking beautiful she is. “I was going to tell you, but when I saw her at the gala, I thought I was going crazy.”

“Wait, wait. What?” I’m forcing a calm I don’t feel into my voice because I refuse to yell at her because I know it would be triggering. “You saw her at the gala?”

“I wasn’t sure. I thought it was her, but she left before I could confirm. And then when I was out with Des for lunch, I saw her again.”

“So she’s following you.” I already have my phone out, sending Russ a text about Bianca’s presence in New Haven.

“No, she’s not. She’s here working, but she’s not with Beau. Apparently, he jumped ship when I disappeared.”

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