Page 20 of Crave

Two bottles of wine.

Leading her to the car, she pauses at the passenger door, letting me open it for her.

“I have a sister,” she whispers before she focuses on me. “Can we stop at a drive through?” she asks as she clips her seat belt on.

“Yep, I know the perfect one.” I wink at her then start the engine.

I fucking knew it.

As soon as I pulled in her driveway, she jumped out to begin packing.

“I feel sick.” She runs out of her bedroom to her ensuite while I lean against her door frame.

I’m glad the sound of vomiting doesn’t bother me. She always has a weak stomach when she gets stressed out.

Or eats a lot, like the great big greasy burger she had on the way home.

All I can do is wait.

She dabs her mouth as she leaves the bathroom and gives me a weak smile. “I should be ready soon. Maybe just a short trip?”

“Do you want me to drive you out there?” I’ll know if she makes it safely either way.

But maybe I can talk her out of it if I’m driving?

“No, you have to go talk to Nikolai, remember?” Her hand burns as she puts in on my arm.

I wish I knew how to make her better. So she could not care about stuff out of her control like I do.

“Find out where he went? I can’t believe he decided to go on a vacation so soon after barely surviving Russia. And being stabbed by Mila so many times.” Her eyes roll before she turns to her suitcase on the bed.

“Okay.” I saw Nikolai hug Mila fiercely in Russia to make her feel better.

I grab Lara by the wrist and pull her close. Wrapping my arms around her, I squeeze her against me. The heat of her body presses tightly to mine, and her hands lock briefly behind my waist.

It feels good to hold her.

“Have a safe trip to the cabin,” I say as I step away.

Why did she look at me funny afterwards?

That was her confused expression, with her eyebrows peaked in the middle of her forehead and her eyes all squinty.

I don’t understand what she could have mistaken it for.

Pulling my bike out onto the street, I’m confident that she was so shocked at the comfort she got it made her question herself.

That has to be it.

Nikolai is at Mikhail’s casino. It’s strange that I had to drop Lara off before talking to him.

It’s her brother, after all.

His hulking frame is folded into one of the tables near the coffee stand, flipping through his phone.

“Mikhail said you wanted to talk with me?” The metal legs of the chair screeches as I pull it out and sit.

His blue eyes glance up and past me. “Lara with you?”

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