Page 32 of Dmitri

“Just me and Tash.” Addie grabs the soda Ace holds out for her. I don’t like that he’s so attentive. Or that he brought burgers from her favorite restaurant. “She got overwhelmed with having more than me there last night. Said she’s not doing that ever again. But I’m super proud of her for trying to step out of her comfort zone, you know?”

I almost suggest Tasha spend the night at our house tonight, but we don’t have a pool. And my house isn’t safe if strange men are sneaking into it in the middle of the night to fuck me.

Dread lands like a brick in my belly.

Maybe the more Addie stays away, the safer she’ll be.

I’ve royally fucked up. Even though this last job for Kaleb will set both me and Addie free, she doesn’t know about any of it, and the further I can keep her out of the hole I’ve dug myself into, the better off she’ll be.

Addie is myonlypriority.

“Okay. Well… let’s finish eating first.” I shake off the tension that has my shoulders cramping and head over to the kitchen table with them. “What are you even doing here, Ace?”

“Gee, Dae.” He folds another slice of pizza in half and takesa big bite. “You’re shit at being appreciative.”

Addie chuckles from across the table. “She’s just hangry. This is awesome of you.”

No. It’s sneaky of him. I glance at the new bracelet on Addie’s wrist and suddenly want to throw up my one bite of pizza. “Where did you get that bracelet?”

She glances at it and shrugs. “Me and Tash got matching ones. Her mom ordered them online for us.”

Addie doesn’t lie to me. She’s never had to. It’s just a friendship bracelet. Nothing more. It’s not like the one Kaleb gave me for my birthday all those years ago. It’s not the same.

I need to get a grip.

“Let me see it.” Ace reaches forward and the way he takes her hand makes my skin crawl. “Sweet.”

He’s not Kaleb. Addie’s not you. Chill, Daelyn.

Addie pulls away from him and takes several big gulps of her drink before polishing off her burger. Her cell goes off and she checks it under the table. Wiping her mouth with a paper napkin, she kicks into action. “Well, bye, guys. Behave yourselves. Thanks for dinner, Ace.” Addie puts her flip-flops on and grabs the bag she’d packed while I was engrossed in my work and not paying attention to her earlier.

Ace leans back to watch her. “Need a ride there?”

“Nope.” She heads out, and the front door slams shut.

Unfazed, Ace grabs another slice of pizza.

Am I supposed to just eat with him like we’re friends? I chew slowly, watching him like a hawk. “What are you really doing here?”

His jaw clicks as he chews. He looks tired and annoyed. “Can we just eat in peace, Daelyn?”

Fine.

We silently polish off one whole pizza and he eats the other two burgers in the bag while I pick at the fries. Then he leaveswithout saying a word.

My gut sinks with more worry.

Something else is going on here.

I don’t know what it is, and I don’t fucking like it.

Chapter 8

Dmitri

Despite giving Daelyn plenty of time to heed my warning, every night I’ve come to her house, the sliding glass door hasnotbeen reinforced. This is the fifth night in a row that I’ve checked. However, this is the first time I’ve entered her home since my original break in. Every other time, I only tested the door, disappointed to find it unsecured, and left to take my aggression out on my punching bag in the Monarch's dungeon instead.

I thought I could work her out of my system that way.

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