Page 42 of Root

“So he thinks it’s the perfect breeding ground for more trouble. He thinks I’m the slick outside the world sees. He thinks he needs to protect me because, what? I’m an idiot?”

Rose puts her hand on my arm and she then rests her head against me, too. She’s the softness of Nikolai. “He doesn’t think that.”

I swallow. She doesn’t know what a fuck up I was as a kid, and to Nikolai, not wanting the mantle’s the same as fucking up. “He gave me a task and I’m doing it.”

“With your tongue down her throat.”

I wrap my arms around her and hug her, breathing that sweet rose of her in. “Where’s Genius when I need her?”

Her best friend’s pretty damn cool.

“She’s in Italy causing havoc.” Rose is quiet. “You do know the reason he wants to protect us is…it’s Nikolai. He protects to show his feelings, his love.”

To her? Yeah. To me? Nikolai wants me to be badder, harder, more like him, because in Nikolai’s world, more like him is safer.

I’m not.

“Nikolai thinks emotion is weakness.” She pulls free, finishes a cookie and frowns. “Or showing them is weak.”

“He shows it with you.”

“And you, Rush. We’re his life and his family. He wants you to take care of this—”

“Because I fucked up.”

“You’re more like him than you think. Both stubborn assholes.” She darts off to straighten a vase with flowers from her garden Nikolai had put in for her. Roses, peonies, poppies, dahlias, all the frilly, girly flowers. And they bloom most of the year.

She touches a petal.

“You know that he asked you to do whatever he asked you to do for a reason, right?” She’s being vague and then I realize it’s because if Jess escaped Mia’s clutches, somehow, she wants to keep it generic.

And okay, I love Rose the mafia boss lady. A lot.

“Yeah,” I say, “And—”

“Trust, Rush. He’s trusting you.”

“Maybe.”

“I’m his wife, I know.”

“I just think you like saying wife.” I give her a long, hard look as I tuck her hand into the crook of my arm and I lead her down the hall. “Speaking of, you’re getting long in the tooth. Ever think about a brother or sister for Dante? He’s an only cat. It might be going to his head.”

“I’m not sure Nikolai’s going to allow another cat.”

Like that ever bothered Rose.

Suddenly she leans in to me. “Rush?” Eyes wide. “Do you know he’s got a bird enemy, it’s been hanging out in the garden for weeks. Frenemy?”

Not the bird Jess mentioned, then.

“Benemy?” Then I stop, take a bite of a cookie. “Nikolai or the cat?”

Nikolai’s talking to me, but I’m not listening. It’s crowded in here. Half my mind’s on how good Jess fucking tastes. The other half is running wild. Does Rose want me to see how Nikolai feels about another cat? Then again, they made eyes at each other when we came in, so maybe I should just get a cat. Would Jess like cats? What the fuck am I even thinking? Shit—

“Did you mention aliens?” I ask casually.

Nikolai looks at the last two cookies I’m holding. “Mia’s?”

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