Page 178 of Brutal Knight

"No." Her face had gone pale.

"Poppy, you need to be honest with us," I said. "There's been an attack. You might not be safe right now."

"Really?" her voice was a squeak, and she grabbed a pillow, holding it in front of her like a shield. "What happened?"

"There'll be time for that later," I said, impatiently. "When we're done here, Dante will escort you to one of the safe houses. He can explain on the way. For now, I need to talk to you about Tatiana."

"Oh?" she exclaimed, her expression blank. "What about her?"

"I need to know where she is."

"I don't know where she is. She hasn't spoken to me in several days. Why?" Poppy teased, with a mischievous smile and a wink, "Trouble in paradise?"

"Even if that's true," I ignored her flirting, trying to keep her focused, "you would know how to find her."

"Why would you think that?"

"Stop pretending you don't know!" I snapped, trying to contain my frustration. "She could be in danger."

"She's always in some kind of danger," Poppy rolled her eyes and began to study her nails. "She lives on the line between danger and more danger. She can take care of herself."

"It's different this time," I growled in exasperation. None of her girlfriends appeared to have any information about Tatiana. They were evidently wanting to protect her, but they didn't seem to realize that she could be inrealdanger.

"How so?" She stopped picking at her nails to peer at me.

"Some old enemies of mine have come back, people who know our story together. They might be after her."

I hated revealing all this information--I hadn't spoken about these things with anyone outside my family and Tatiana--but I had to trust someone or I'd never find her.

"Poppy," I looked into her eyes pleadingly, swallowing my ego, "I need to make sure she’s okay."

At this, Poppy fidgeted, moving the pillow around, wiping the powder from the coffee table, readjusting her position on the sofa. "And you really think she might be in trouble?"

"Yes."

Poppy closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. When she opened them, intelligent eyes stared back at me. "Fine," she said. "But first, I would like you to sit, please." She gestured grandly, sarcastically, towards the sofa across from her. "I'm tired of breaking my neck staring up at the two of you."

I had the feeling that she wasn't just talking about today.

Dante scowled but I sat quickly, gesturing for him to follow suit. If we had to fucking sit in order to find Tatiana, we should fucking sit.

Once we were settled, she straightened her back, her arms crossed across her lap, and narrowed her focus in on me. "I'll tell you how to find her, but you have to promise me something first."

"And what's that?" I asked, growing agitated again. I'd swallowed my ego more times in the past twenty minutes than in the last ten years.

"You have to promise to give her a choice."

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head, giving me a sad look. "You have no idea, do you?"

"Just spit it out, Poppy."

"She loves you, ya know?" She leaned forward, clutching that pillow to her chest again. "But she doesn't trust you."

"She told you that?"

She chuckled humorlessly. "She doesn't need to; any woman with eyes in their head can see it." At this, her expression grew serious. "Tatiana is a wild creature. The girl's got wings. But the men in her life keep clipping them. All she wants is freedom and to be loved." She paused, her gaze moving downward to her hands. "People like me, we prefer security. I'd rather be owned by someone I don't love, than to live on the streets, worried about having food or being jacked in the middle of the night for my blanket or shoes. But Tatiana, she never cared about money. And she could handle herself. She's brave and strong and independent, but she has never had control over her own life." Her gaze met mine. "An exotic creature like Tatiana shouldn't be kept in a cage. Shedeservesto be loved, to be given the freedom to fly, without expectation in return. She wants control of her own life. To not beownedby anyone, yet still have a life full of love." She shook her head sadly. "But that's impossible in our world."

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