Page 32 of Stolen Seconds

“He’s not burdening me.” Frankly, Roman didn’t scare me, but I understood his protectiveness.

“Nico, go tell Ric to pull the car around.”

He stood there, staring between Roman and me before shaking his head and leaving through the main door.

“Do you boss him around like that all the time?”

“I didn’t know how I treated my crew was any of your business.”

“He’s not just your crew, Roman, and you know it.” I stared at him as intensely as he was. “You have a soft spot for Nicolai.”

His jaw clenched. “Everyonehas a soft spot for Nico.”

“Maybe, but it’s different with you.” I was pushing it, but maybe he’d give me a further glimpse of who my brother was. “What did he need saving from?”

Roman contemplated his answer, the furrow between his brows deepening. “He lost his mother at a young age and that might’ve been the worst thing that happened to him.”

“Why?”

“Because everything that came afterward destroyed him.”

“And his father?” I whispered.

“Dead.”

My chest caved, that black hole widening and swallowing down the emotions I wanted to express openly.

It suddenly became hard to breathe, the thick strain in my throat ceasing me from speaking.

Should I tell Roman about his episode? Nicolai said he hadn’t had one in a while, but it almost seemed intrusive to share that information.

“Is this you warning me away from him?”

“No,” he said without hesitation. “You were right about it being different for me. He’s my youngest and I’m wary of others when it comes to him.”

“I. . . I don’t understand.”

“Irina, he has never shared anything personal with a stranger as fast as he has with you.”

Stranger. How could I forget? I was a stranger to Nicolai in every sense of that word. It didn’t matter if we were blood related. I didn’t know him, and he didn’t know me.

“You’ll be gone in a few months, and I don’t need him getting attached to you.” He regarded me sternly, his eyes darkening into an opaque obsidian. “Nico isn’t like the others.”

I’d figured that out already. My brother was different from the people in his life. A fierce layer of protectiveness settled over me to take him away from it all.

And Roman was wrong. I would be in Nicolai’s life, sooner rather than later. They just didn’t know it yet.

When I was told we’d be going out for dinner, I hadn’t expected it to be at Luca’s house.

I gritted my teeth as Roman entered something in the keypad before he opened the door.

And yes, I did file the pin in my mind.

Luca lived on a huge piece of land, far away from the city and its civilians. It was a large cabin, luxurious but rugged.

It didn’t surprise me. He probably murdered and hid his victims here. Psychotic brute.

Had he really killed that man like he said he did for touching me at the fight?

---