Page List

Font Size:

I nod against his chest. “I think so too.”

He presses a kiss to my temple. “Let’s go home and write your resignation letter. ”

Nikolai

Maksim’s in the study, standing over a spread of maps and blueprints like he’s planning a quiet war. Which, knowing him, he probably is.

He doesn’t look up when I walk in.

“You’re early,” he mutters, flicking a page aside.

I close the door behind me. “She was packed in under ten minutes. There wasn’t much to bring.”

That gets his attention. He glances up, his eyes sharp. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the place was bare. No photos, no color. Like she’d moved in last week and was already halfway out.”

“Empty?”

“More than that. It looked unlived. Like she was just going through the motions of being an adult, but not actually living.”

Maksim leans back against the polished edge of the desk, folds his arms across his chest. “And that surprised you?”

“She deserves more.”

His gaze narrows, assessing. Not judging. Just watching. Calculating.

“She’s smart,” I add. “Graduated top of her class in accounting. Working for a firm that chews people like her up and spits them out.” I raise an eyebrow, my meaning clear.

“And you want her to work for us.”

It isn’t a question. Maksim’s too good at reading people, especially his brothers.

I nod once. “Not in the business. Not yet. Just something low-level. Internal. Bookkeeping. Numbers that won’t set off alarms.”

He’s silent for a long moment, fingers tapping against his bicep.

“You’re serious about this.”

“Yes.” Hearing how she talked about the meat of her job on the way home made it clear she has a passion for that stuff. It also sounded as though she was being taken for granted at work, her boss taking several of her more successful projects and claiming the work as his own.

“You’re already treating her like she belongs.”

“She does. I’m not letting her go. Her packing her stuff and coming here shows she is on board.”

Maksim’s brow lifts slightly. “She hasn’t even seen what belonging means yet.”

“She’s stronger than she looks. She can handle it.”

“I hope so. For her sake. She isn’t like Clara, she doesn’t come from this world.”

“She granted me permission to almost two men. That was her wish. She knows what this world is even if she hasn’t said it out loud. She is intelligent and passionate.”

He straightens, turns back to the desk. “We have a shell company in logistics. Paper-only. Needs someone with attention to detail. It’s nothing glamorous, but it’s work. It will keep her busy. Give her a reason to feel useful.”

“Thanks.”

Maksim doesn’t smile, but there’s something like approval in the way he nods once.