Page 39 of Assassin's Heart
I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. How did he do this? How did a man I was pretty sure wouldn’t hesitate to kill make me melt with his tenderness? Last night he’d overwhelmed me, but in the midst of the storm there had been moments like this. Moments where I knew he cared, that I wasn’t just a convenient screw. Moments that planted dreams of a happily ever after that simply wasn’t meant to be.
“What doeslev sheli”—the words didn’t roll near as smoothly off my tongue—“mean?”
He nipped my earlobe. “Something my father called my mother.” Sadness flashed in his gaze before he forced a smile. “I’ll explain it sometime.”
Something his dad had called his mom? More melting, damn it.
“Pancakes are burning,” Eli pointed out behind Remi’s back.
“Then do something about it, dickhead.” But Remi let me go, his fingers sliding reluctantly from my hips. I turned toward the coffeepot, only to be pinned by three pairs of wide, curious eyes.
So much for no one knowing what had happened last night. I tugged my collar tighter around my throat and hurried to get myself some caffeine.
When we were all seated at the table, plates stacked with light, fluffy pancakes and crispy bacon, Levi speared me with those inscrutable gray eyes. “You have the phone.”
I fished my cell from my pocket and laid it beside my plate on the table. Such a small bit of plastic and electricity to be the only lifeline to my baby.
“They’ll call soon,” Remi said. “Likely they won’t give us much warning, try and keep us off-kilter, unable to prepare.”
“How will we prepare?” I asked.
“Notwe,” Remi growled. “You’re staying here.”
“Like hell I am.”
“Leah—”
“She’s right,” Levi interrupted. “Think with your instincts and not your dick. As much as you want to protect her, she has to be there. Ross will insist on it.”
I winced at the dick comment but let it pass for now. “Brooke will need me there,” I pointed out. “She doesn’t know any of you. She won’t feel safe, and she might try to fight you. You need her calm and cooperative.” And I needed to be the one to do that for her. As soon as possible, not hours after Remi managed to extract her. “I can take care of Brooke. That leaves you all to take care of the rest without worrying about her.”
The skin around Remi’s eyes went tight, broadcasting his worry, but he gave me a nod anyway. “You do exactly what we tell you, Leah, got it?”
“Of course.” These men had been together all their lives, knew each other inside and out. I was an anomaly in their well-oiled machine. “I trust you.”
Remi’s eyes rounded. I hadn’t realized what I was going to say before the words escaped. Hadn’t even realized it was true, but…it was. “I trust you,” I said again.
The flare of heat and something soft, tender in his eyes shook me right down to my toes.
Love, Leah. That’s love.
It wasn’t. Couldn’t be. But it still made me melt.
Levi cleared his throat. “Remi will go in with you. Eli and I will take the outside.”
I forced my gaze away from Remi’s. “What will happen to Ross after…” I set my fork down, no longer hungry. “Afterward?”
Remi reached for me, tugged at my chin until I met his eyes again. “That’s up to you, Leah.”
A lump of fear caught in my throat. “Killing him isn’t going to get the Fiori family to leave us alone.”
“No, it’s not.” The warm amber of his eyes iced over. “If you were anyone else, we wouldn’t be having this discussion; Ross would be a dead man walking for what he’s done to you, to Brooke. But he’s your brother, so I’ll give you the choice. We can give them a chance to surrender to authorities if that’s what you want.”
“And you won’t hurt him?”
Remi’s mouth tightened into a grim line. “Not much.”
I knew from his face that was the best I was going to get. And maybe, deep down inside, brother or not, I thought Ross deserved whatever punishment Remi chose to dish out. “Just don’t kill him.”
