Page 32 of Reign

I quickly realize she never made an appearance the morning Nikita broke into our living room. “A part of my past I couldn’t leave behind.” He nods like he understands and doesn’t ask anything else about her. “When do we start?”

I look out the window at the streets of multi-million-dollar homes passing us by as we come up to the gate at the front of our neighborhood and Nikita punches in a code on a remote in the car.

“We have to be patient and stay smart, Dominic. If Mateo or the mafia get wind that we’re working together, it’ll be over fast, and it’ll be you and me on the receiving end of the bullet. Or the machete, or the rope and cinderblock. Whatever tickles their fancy that day,” he says without a trace of humor in his voice.

He drives past my house and I realize he’s headed for Joelle’s.

“Do you live with your sister?”

“No. But I spend a good amount of time here because of its proximity to Max.”

I nod, unsure of what else to say. Nikita opens the garage door and pulls the SUV right in.

We find Joelle and Libby out back sipping champagne in the pool and my heart ceases to beat for a full minute. The pool has a bright, light blue tile lining and it’s reflecting off the water into Libby’s eyes making me stop in my tracks. Her teal bikini top seems smaller than I remember and suddenly my mouth is watering. Her inky black hair is piled high on top of her head, exposing her smooth neck and collarbone.

Shit, I’m getting hard.

As I’m drooling on the spot over Libby, I hear light, feminine footsteps behind me and start to turn around just as I hear a surprised, “Oh, hey Cas.”

Where Libby is built like a cheerleader – slightly short, toned, muscular legs, and perfect proportions of legs to torso, and a chest to die for – Camila is built like a runway model – ninety percent legs, small waist, small chest. She carries herself like one too.

I see Nikita’s eyes widen a fraction as Camila walks past me without stopping. He’s obviously trying to hold his cards close to his chest but I can’t help the low chuckle at his response. I get it. Camila has always been self-confident and it shows. I grab her wrist quickly and spin her around, freezing only to throw a glance at Libby who just saw me touch Camila – Jesus, this is getting out of control – but she just smiles and nods her head.

“Nikita,thisis Camila.” I briefly explain to Camila the stipulation of the deal Nikita and I made about her getting a new identity as well. No looking back. I’m not sure she hears a single word of it though because she looks busy trying to remember how to act normal.

Seems to be mutual.

“It’s nice to meet you, Camila.”

Did his voice just get deeper?

“I’m sorry you find yourself in this situation,” Nikita says smoothly, laying it on thick with his Russian accent. I’m pretty sure I just heard Camila’s ovaries start up like a factory that’s been out of commission since the Cold War. I can’t say the heir to the Russian mafia is who I would choose for her, but anyone who pulls her eyes away from me and treats her right has my vote. Not to mention the fact that Nikita needs to let go of any notion that Libby is his to claim. I get the sense that Nikita would burn the world down for the woman he loves but he won’t get the chance if that woman happens to belong to me.

I slowly back away, letting Nikita and Camila get acquainted while I approach Libby and Joelle in the pool.

Squatting down on the side of the pool, Libby swims over. “I’m glad you’re okay. Oddly, I felt like he wasn’t leading you to danger, but I don’t like not knowing where you are.” Her admission warms my heart. Her ice toward me is thawing and I try to remain patient.

She lets me cup the back of her head and run a thumb back and forth across her smooth skin.

“We have a long way to go, but we’re worlds closer than we were.” I catch her up on what I learned at the dock, including the revelation about Adriana and Dimitri. She handles this news as well as she’s handled everything else and I fall in love with her a little more.

She’s running out of time to process whatever she needs to process because I’m about twenty minutes away from taking Nikita’s suggestion and locking her in a room, tied to my bed, until she forgives me and falls in love with me all over again.

Behind me, I hear Nikita approach. He bends down and rolls the bottoms of his pant legs up to his knees and sticks his feet in the pool. He’s awfully casual for a killer. I don’t notice the bottle of champagne he has in his hand until I hear the cork pop. Joelle swims over to the side like she knows what’s coming. It looks like he’s about to chum the water for sharks.

Nikita places his thumb over the opening of the bottle and starts to aggressively shake it before removing his thumb and letting the champagne shoot out the top. All three women – who were already tipsy when we arrived – are now in a semi-circle around him, their mouths hanging open, giggling as they drink from the fountain.

“Anytime you’re ready, I’d love to get back to work,” I deadpan, letting him know I’m not happy about this display. Champagne is dripping down Libby’s chin and chest. Her laughter makes me weak. It’s been a long time since I heard her laugh. And even longer since she made that noise because of me.

He sets the bottle down and crooks a finger at Libby to come closer. When she obeys him with heavily lidded eyes, my fists clench at my sides. I’m close to ruining everything the second his fingers touch her skin as he trails his knuckle up her sternum to catch a drop of champagne before sticking it in his mouth.

“If you touch her one more time, I will light you on fire,” I whisper. He only laughs like I told him a joke before calling Camila over. She moves to stand right between his legs as he reaches next to him and picks the bottle back up, taking a healthy swig. We all watch as he leans forward, offering Camila the champagne from his own mouth which she takes hungrily.

When the bastard finally pulls away, Camila is clearly on board with having all of his Russian babies. He winks at her and says, “Come on, Dominic, the faster we get this plan in place, the sooner this will be over,” likeIwas the asshole who just wasted the last five minutes tasting everyone in the fucking pool.

If I don’t end up murdering him by accident, it’ll be a fucking miracle.

Fifteen

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