Page 104 of Root

Why the fuck hasn’t Nikolai called from wherever he and Rose are? If they ran off…

No way would they leave Dante, the dark, evil little apple of their eye.

A movement at the door of the range catches my attention. Mia.

I nod to let her know I see her, and she waits until I finish showing the target just who’s in charge to step inside. I pull off the cancelers and look at her.

“Jessica’s movements?” she says. “You wanted to know?”

She moves well, I know that, lithe, feminine but with purpose, though…I don’t say that.

“Got something?” I ask. “She hasn’t tried to sneak out?”

I want to touch Jess, have her here. I miss the fire of our combat, the way she flirts with intent to do damage, and I miss how she shakes apart when I devastate her with a soft touch.

“No.”

Another reason to keep out of her way is to let her grow in confidence, maybe search or try and sneak off again. I’ve got people set up for that.

“She keeps trying to look at things, though. So do you want me to put more people on watch in the house? Mr. Wilder has some state-of-the-art surveillance—”

“Fuck no. She’s probably already assuming we have that. Leave the office open. Call Tony to deal with something with the guards.”

She nods and leaves.

I lock up the guns, the pleasure of shooting gone.

I just want Jess.

But I’m not getting a thing from her by flirting. I need to catch her, see what she’s up to.

In the end, I get out my motorcycle, thinking of taking off, and in fact, that might be smart. She might really search if she thinks no one is there.

And Mia’s remarkably good at staying in the background.

I leave the bike in the front of the mansion and catch Tony as he heads to the guardhouse.

“Am I fucking things up?”

“There’s no right or wrong way, Rush.”

I think that’s a…I don’t know what it is.

“Mia’s keeping an eye on her,” I say. “I’m gonna go for a ride, then stay in the guest house, maybe she’ll—”

“Play with fire?” He shifts his attention from me to the guards and gives out orders.

With a sigh, I head for the door.

For a big man, Tony gets there first. He puts his hand on my shoulder. “This is new with the girl, and between us, it isn’t his forte. Not a soft approach,” he says.

I almost laugh. “The only thing he’s soft about is that cat.” Who I think is also an outward way to show how he feels about Rose. But he’s soft with her, too. When no one’s looking. “And Rose.”

Tony just raises a brow. “He trusts you to get this done. Nikolai would be proud.”

I really don’t know about that, but Nikolai isn’t here. I head to the house and grab my jacket and dig out my helmet. Dante watches.

“Don’t you judge me. You’re just a cat.”

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