Page 35 of Innocent Bratva Virgin

Emory had clearly seen enough of the house—and my brothers—to last her a lifetime. There had been a lot of conversation about what exactly we intended to do with the Italians tracking us and why we couldn’t settle for turning them into the police.

This was mainly because we couldn't have the police sniffing around our business since my brothers and I weren’t exactly on the “right” side of the law either.

Still, it was the middle of the night, and aside from Adley and Ivan, who had a baby to take care of, there was zero reason that we should be awake right now. Getting back to bed sounded like a damn plan to me, and I thoroughly over the conversation anyway. I was exhausted and knew Emory was right there with me, considering what we’d just been doing before her apartment was broken into.

Shit. I need to tell Ivan about my phone.

I paused before pulling Emory along to my room, bumping Ivan’s arm with my elbow to get his attention. When he looked at me, I mimed the symbol for the phone and went with the old slit throat option to signal it was done for.

“No more burner, huh? Can you remote wipe it?”

I nodded.

“Good. Well, we’ll get you a new one in the morning. Get some rest.”

My brother pulled me closer, whispering in my ear as I looked over at Emory to see her hide a yawn behind her hand.

“You need to think about what you want to do with her now that she’s seen the house. I’m not pushing you in anydirection. Still, you need to consider how much you trust her with the information and what that means in terms of your relationship with her.”

I yanked my arm away, nodding at Ivan as I rolled my eyes.Yes, Dad. I’m very aware of what I’ve gotten myself into.

Ivan eyed me for another moment but then went back to dealing with his kid, which was good. He needed to be focusing on bottles and burping, not my damned love life—or lack thereof.

Walking back toward Emory, I gestured with my head toward the stairs and then held out a hand for her to get moving.

“You’re lucky I’m too tired to keep arguing with you. Ugh.” She yawned again, which was way more adorable than I wanted to admit, and shuffled toward the stairwell. “Which floor?”

As I followed behind her, I tapped her twice on the shoulder.

“Two. Great.”

When we reached the second-floor landing, I took Emory’s shoulders and angled her toward the hall to my room. She picked up on the instructions well enough and stared down the hallway to my room. It was at the end of the corridor, which was the only place for it, really, considering the hallway only offered a few feet of solid walls not made from glass.

I opened things up for her and held the door wide so that Emory could step inside. She let out a little puff of air as soon as she did.

“Oh.”

Slipping inside, I locked the door behind me and walked to the low bed to toss the duffle bag down. When I turned to faceEmory, her eyebrows were raised as she surveyed my room. I cocked a brow at her as her gaze returned to me, silently asking, “What?”

“I, umm, I just didn’t expect it to be so…”

Empty?

“Minimalist.”

Chuckling, I was amused by Emory’s tact when it came to describing the nearly non-descript space. I knew it didn’t have much aside from the bed, bookshelf, and nightstand, but that’s how I liked it. I wasn’t here for frivolous decorations and an overuse of color.

I shrugged when Emory considered me again, then reached up to take off the scrubs shirt that I was still rocking. It was comfortable enough, but changing into one of my old tees was a must—mostly because green was not my color.

If it ain’t black, you can take it back.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Emory pulled off the sneakers she’d thrown on and then pulled her legs under herself to sit cross-legged on the side I usually used. I wasn’t about to make a big deal out of it, so I just padded over to the closet to pull on a black tank and some boxers.

When I returned, Emory was still sitting in the exact same spot, looking off into the distance.

She’s upset. You should…ugh, fuck it.

I circled the bed to sit down next to her on the other side, pointing at the nightstand and miming “phone” again.

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