Page 23 of Bratva Daddies for the Single Mom

“That one, the little white one.” She pointed out a nondescript white sedan with a scratch on the fender.

Well, one thing made it distinct. The space next to her car sat empty, so I wheeled into it, discreetly checking my pocket for a tracker. Viktor hadn’t asked me to place one, but how else were we supposed to guarantee her safety? Pockets empty and all my ideas squashed, I resorted to one final tactic. I held out my phone. “Will you give me your number?”

“Why?” The question came out quick and sharp, almost shocked.

I watched her carefully as I answered. “How else will we reach you for our date?” I wagged the phone from side to side.

Annie hesitated, her gaze skipping from me to the phone to her car and back to me. “Where’s my bag?”

“In the seat. I tossed it there on my way around the car.”

She turned and reached around me, bringing her shoulder to mine and her body across the console. A breathless moment later, she popped back upright and held out a business card between her thumb and forefinger. “I owe you for a day of work.”

I took the card and slipped it into my jacket pocket after reading the name and number, committing it to memory in a single pass.

“You will be paid for the work you missed today regardless of our future schedule. Including the work you missed here thanks to my… interruption.” I held my temper in check, reminding myself that none of this was Annie’s fault. If I hadn’t been there, Robert might have taken things even further, possibly hurting Annie. Some primal instinct to protect and conquer squeezed my heart until I feared it might burst.

Relief eased the crease that had formed between her eyebrows. She reached for the doorhandle, and part of me snapped to attention.

“Wait.” I held out a hand and looked past her, scanning the garage for danger. I’d checked it from the moment we rolled into the shadows, but I needed to make certain. “I’ll get your table.” I hopped out and opened the hatch, my senses on full alert. Nothing stirred, not even a scrap of wind. The silence created an eerie sensation on the back of my neck.

Annie climbed out and rounded the front of the SUV, unlocking her car on the way. Her hurried steps and the way she checked over her shoulder set off warning bells. In the car with me, she’d been relaxed. The instant she left, the line reappeared between her eyes and her knuckles turned white on the bag’s strap.

“Annie?” I waited until I stood close enough to speak casually, and she still jumped and whirled toward me.

“What, Ilya?”

I searched her face for answers to my questions and came up with more questions. Why did she rock on her heels, putting distance between us? Why did her gaze slide from mine when she’d held it many times before? Why did I feel like she washiding something from me? “Are you okay to drive? I can follow you home.”

“No.” The answer came too fast and violently to get anything less than fear. Fear of what?

Me. I was the obvious answer, the thing that disturbed her now that we were alone. I placed the table in the trunk and closed it with more force than I intended. At least I’d not left hand prints on the trunk as I had once before on another car, many years ago. “As you wish.”

Did I let her go alone or follow where she could not see? It was the kind of question Viktor should answer.

“Ilya.” She said my name again, this time in a low, soft murmur. Perhaps I was not the root cause of her anxiousness, after all. How could she speak my name in such a soulful way if she feared me? “Thank you for worrying. I promise I’m fine.”

“If you need me, need any of us, call.” I handed her a card with Viktor’s name on the front, mine and Fyodor’s on the back. I’d scribbled the information down while waiting on Viktor to conclude his meeting with Councilman Jones. Letting her leave felt similar to ripping my heart from my chest and flinging it into a storm-tossed sea. But I took a step back and let her pass me, waiting until she slipped behind the wheel and backed out of the parking space before I returned to my SUV. Viktor and Fyodor would know what step to take next.

13

ANNIE

My hasty retreat to home ended with my back against the door and a thrum of adrenaline pumping through my veins. I’d checked my rearview mirror the entire drive, certain that Ilya would follow me. I waited at the door, my hand on the knob, for what felt like eternity before forcing my fingers to release and my feet to move.

“You’re home early.” Tina stepped from the kitchen into the living room. She gave me a sweeping glance that pinched her eyes together. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I flexed the ache from my fingers, my tight grip on the steering wheel and then the doorknob causing a series of cramps. Hot tears welled up and threatened to erupt. “Everything.”

“Come on.” Tina sank onto the couch and patted the cushion beside her. “Tell me about it.”

I did. I spilled every little thing that had happened from the moment I walked out this morning. Tina listened with her full attention, without interruption.

When I finished, she held her hands out with a look of surrender. “Three hot daddies for your secret baby? I don’t see adownside. I mean, this Ilya guy protected you from a total creep. Sure, it’s a little overkill, but I’m okay with it, considering the alternative.”

She had a point.

Still.

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