Page 81 of No Longer Safe

This time there was amusement in his smile. “Nothing,Malaya. I just wanted you near and I realized you’d never been to my home. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to change it.”

“Change it?”

His smile grew, even though it looked painful. “Yes, I want you to make my space as bright as you make me feel.”

I was stunned speechless. I couldn’t even bother to move. Everything felt so heavy. Me in this space with him injured, his words, his home, everything. He took a step closer to me and brushed my hair behind my ear. “Don’t overthink it, just be here with me. You can dissect it in your mind later.”

He ran his hand down my arm until he linked our fingers together and gently yanked me toward a big rounded archway. He flicked on the light as we walked through and once again, I was stunned. How many more surprises could this man keep up his sleeves? An impressively sized walnut dining table took up most of the space. Under it was a dark rug with swirling patterns. The chairs seated around it were high-backed with what looked to be, soft cream velvet cushions. In the center of the table was a row of various-sized candles and two plates full of food.

“You cooked me that omelet,” I began as my eyes skipped across artwork on every wall in the room. “Did you cook tonight too?” With a bandaged shoulder and who knew what else?

He chuckled and pulled out a chair for me. “No, I borrowed Georgie for the night and she told me all about your favorite foods.”

Sure enough, on the plates in front of us were my favorites Georgie cooked. Baked ziti and her homemade French bread. I was going to die. I was going to thank Georgie for being borrowed.

“Don’t worry, I made sure her children will have money to take care of them for a long time.”

“All for one dinner?” Moisture pricked behind my eyes and I tried to look at anything but him. It was difficult not to. He commanded the room.

“That and all the inside scoop on your favorite things.”

“I’m sure the list was very short,” I stared down at my plate in wonder. He was getting more and more under my skin. But that wasn’t what scared me… What scared me was that he had gotten under my skin and I didn’t mind him there at all.

He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. “Rather long actually.” He smoothed it out on the table between us. I couldn’t even look down at the swirling script on the paper. He had my full attention. When he finally dug into his food, I was right behind him, and once again, Georgie’s cooking didn’t disappoint.

After finishing almost half of my plate and watching Alexei eat all of his food, I sat back in my chair and eyed him. “Tell me about what you do, this territory business, this mugging that happened. Why would someone do this to you?”

He took his napkin from beside his plate and wiped his hands before he stood. He pulled my chair out for me and then held his hand out for me to take. Carefully, I let him lead me out of the room. He brought me straight to the map with the light-up pins on it. He waved his hands around the map. “Each one of these lights is one of my establishments. I own several clubs, restaurants, venues, and of course,” he smirked. “Some underground gambling rings as well as legal casinos.”

“Your father?”

He scowled. “There aren’t many things that will make me angry but that’s one of them. No, my father doesn’t have a single hand in any of this.”

“You built all of this? On your own?”

This time his eyes shone with pride. “Yes, I am self-made, even if I would have everyone believe it wasdaddy’smoney.”

“Why wouldn’t you take open pride for this? You’re obviously building an empire.”

I reached forward and ran my finger over one of the blinking lights. I didn’t know why I was surprised. He was obviously smart and there was nothing lazy about the ripped man beside me. Of course, he wouldn’t sit around and pocket money. “Does your father know?”

He shook his head as he leaned against the wall. His eyes never left my face. “No, and I would rather it stay that way. Ace has an idea but he doesn’t know the magnitude. He pockets Daddy’s money like it’s nothing. I would rather not have a single dime from him, but appearances must be made.”

“Why don’t you just tell him you want to make your own way in this world?”

“Because in this world, that isn’t how things go. He wouldn’t stand for it. He wants everything under his thumb. He lives for control. If I were to take hiscontrolaway, he would retaliate.”

Something wasn’t right. “And the men that jumped you?”

His grin turned lethal. “They belong to men that belong to my father. I’ve been picking his men off one by one…” He trailed off as if he said too much and my eyes wet the polished floors beneath my feet.

“Wait,” I stopped and put my hands over my mouth.

He pulled my hands to him and tilted his head down to look at my face. “Malaya, I would never hurt you. I would never lay a hand on you unless you asked me to. I would fight for you, I would kill for you, but I would never raise my hand to you. There is nothing to fear when you’re with me.”

I swallowed thickly. “I don’t understand.”

He tilted his head back and I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed. “This world is much different than the one you know. I wish I could tell you that I don’t have blood on my hands and I wish I could tell you that it won’t happen again, but this is the lifeI’ve lived since I was a child. I would tell you that violence was bred into us at a very young age but I don’t even know how to begin with that shit.”

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