Page 34 of Luka

Finally, Mila gets out and heads my way.

Oh… They were arguing aboutme.

I look away for a moment to hide my smirk.

“Hey,” Mila says as she approaches.

I turn back to her and dip my head in greeting.

She holds her elbows like she’s cold on this Nevada summer day. It’s a hundred and four degrees out here.

“Listen, I get that you and Arseni like to have a good time, but you’re going to have to work separate shifts if you can’t effectively do your jobs together. We really need you to be split up so you can cover more ground and be paying close attention at all times. There are too many enemies just waiting for us to let our guard down, and if they saw you guys not paying any attention, what would they think of the rest of our security, you know?”

I can feel my face remaining perfectly neutral, but inside, I laugh. I’m sure that’s not quite what Vitaly told her to say.

I raise my hand to my forehead in a salute and snap it away. “Yes, Mrs. Petrov.”

Mila’s cautious gaze morphs into a glare. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t be such anasshole. Just… Goddamn it, Luka, just do your job. Okay?”

I nod once. “Okay.”

She continues to glare, rightfully unconvinced. “Seriously, what the fuck is your problem?”

I lift a shoulder. “I liked my old job.”

“You dealt people drugs from behind a grocery store deli counter. Three fourths of your job was slicing meat and mopping the floor. You wore a hair net for fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah, well, beats sweating my ass off all day so I can protect your boyfriend from invisible predators.”

Mila frowns. “You know he’s my husband, and you know he isn’t the only one you’re protecting. Our entire family is vulnerable right now.”

I snort. “I seem to have missed all the guards stationed atmydoor.”

Her eyes close as she takes a deep breath, her arms laying at her sides as she lets it out. “If you feel unsafe, you are always welcome here. You know that.”

“Thanks, sis. I feel much better now.”

She looks away, her red painted lips pursing. She’s changed so many things about her appearance since coming into power, but she kept the red lipstick. The raised chin. The hardness that comes over her when she’s angry, like now.

With another deep breath, she seems to force some of her anger away and come back to me, handing me yet another olive branch I don’t want. It’s times like these that make me realize I prefer my mother’s content with distance.

Mila clears her throat. “Leo has another theory about Piper.”

Nice subject change.

“Oh?”

She nods. “The last thing Piper texted him was that she picked up a girl broken down on the side of the road with her boyfriend. Leo’s convinced the boyfriend did something to Piper.”

She texted him that?

Where did he think she was going?

Unease settles, but it’s only enough to shift my stomach. If I had an appetite, it’d be spoiled, but I’m not nauseous. I’m fine. He obviously doesn’t suspect me.

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