Page 60 of No Longer Safe

He flinched back into his chair and more blood dribbled down his chin. “I work alone.”

Red-tinged water flowed down the drain as I scrubbed my hands at the sink along the back wall of the warehouse. I was getting exceptionally tired of this. I didn’t have the patience for the long game that torture required. I rolled my head on my shoulders and cracked my neck. I motioned for Dimitri.

My brother stepped out of the shadows and grinned. “I would love to finish the job, brother.” He spoke in Russian and I swore the man pissed himself. I didn’t care to speak in my ancestor’s tongue like our father insisted and wanted from us but Dimitri thought it was the best way to scare people. I didn’t disagree with him so instead of rolling my eyes like I wanted to, I waved my hand forward and walked out of the warehouse to where the driver was waiting in my blacked-out SUV. Screams from the man followed me all the way out.

Ace satin front of me with his fingers steepled. “There’s still blood under your nails.” His blond brows lifted on his forehead.

I glanced down at my hands on the white, linen tablecloth. I shrugged. “It happens.”

“I don’t know why you don’t resort to less gruesome techniques.”

I shrugged again. I didn’t know why we were talking about this. Ace had invited me to dinner to discuss business—probably Father’s business.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” I got straight to the point. There was no reason for us to be here any longer than we needed to be.

“Have you looked in the folder I gave you for future marriage prospects?”

Oh, it was this shit.

“Not really.”

“Are you going to have a date for the wedding?” Ace leaned back in his chair like he had all the time in the world.

“Did Father put you up to this?”

“I’m merely curious.”

Right.

“I don’t want to have a date for your wedding.”

Because the only one I wanted to dance with was Audrey. The only one I wanted to touch was Audrey.If I had to fuck around with those other women, it would make me look unavailable to Audrey and that was the last thing I wanted.

He nodded. “All I ask is that you don’t fuck around with Audrey.”

There it was again. I was getting sick and tired of people trying to tell me how to live my life. Didn’t we already have a conversation about this?

“What now?” I took a sip of my water, watching him over the rim of the glass.

“I know you have it bad…” He clenched his jaw before he ran a hand through his hair. “But Carina’s afraid you’ll hurt her, and she’s already been through so much.”

My eyes followed the water in my glass as I swirled it around. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to show Audrey the realme but I was struggling with this. I knew Ace and Carina were coming from a good place.

“How about this?” I set my water down on the table and leveled my brother with a serious stare. “I won’t mess with her unless I want something from her that’s more than sex. If she wants me, she will have to come after me.”

“You’ll promise to be on your best behavior?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Absolutely not.”

Chapter Forty

Audrey

The insideof my vehicle was really starting to annoy me and at one point I wondered if I should have sold the stupid thing and rented something to drive. How often was I actually going to drive in New York City anyway? Probably not often, especially while I was living with Ace and Carina. It had been fifteen hours since I left Mrs. Phipps’s house at the ass crack of dawn and it didn’t look like I would be getting there anytime soon. It was almost an eighteen-hour drive but it felt like it was never-ending. Would I ever get out of this Godforsaken vehicle? I was beyond over this entire experience and I hoped and prayed I would never have to do this again.

For a brief moment, I wondered if I would have to help Mrs. Phipps do it with all of her belongings that she wouldn’t let go of, but then thought better of it. Why wouldn’t she take full advantage of Ace’s illegal money? I would be encouraging her heavily to take whatever he offered because this shit was for the birds. I’d already peed a few miles back and I felt like I needed to pee again. These damn energy drinks were going to be the death of me. I should have known better than to buy as many as I did, but I definitely needed them.

I glanced down at the navigation on the big screen in the middle of my dash.Three more hours to go.That last stop really did me in, but I needed to eat, pee, and stretch my legs. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my fist and sighed. I could do this. I could do the hard things. I’d been through much worse than this shitty road trip.

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