Page 22 of The Enemy's Defector
I slowly shook my head, almost amused that he’d treat his captivity as an opportunity to spy.
“Fine. Then I’ll take you to a safehouse where you can recover until you go home.”
“Anton won’t forgive you for this,” he warned.
I couldn’t resist meeting his gaze. “And I won’t forgive him for what he’s done.”
Nik was no stranger to my obsession with finding out who’d killed my father. He was aware of my suspicion that Anton had taken my father’s life. With this sober look we exchanged, he caught on to what I wasn’t saying.
Instead of talking any further, I turned toward one of the safehouses that the Kozlov men wouldn’t be likely to check out. Even though we still had a way to go, silence filled the van.
There was so much more to tell Nik. So many things to ask him. But with his heavy breaths and stillness as he seemed to relax and lower his guard, I didn’t badger him for more. The fact that I’d shown up to free him spoke louder than any words I’d think to tell him now.
He could trust me to have his back. And I could count on him to do the same.
Considering ourselves enemies had never been more confusing.
After I reached the safehouse, I got out to run through the rain and manually open the garage door. He’d shifted over to the driver’s seat to pull the van in, and I promptly closed the door.
No one would see us now. No one could track us inside here. I paused with my back against the van wall as I closed my eyes and sighed in relief.
We’d done it.
We’d gotten away.
Ihad pulled it off.
I’d gotten Nik out like I’d promised myself I would.
And now I’d need to figure out my next step.
Nik turned off the engine. The vibration of the van stopping jarred me from this stolen moment of relief. Pushing off the van’s side, I approached the driver’s side to help him out.
“Are there cameras here?” he asked, fully aware that I often hacked into the security systems for the Kozlov properties.
I shook my head, reaching up to guide him out and to lean against me. “No. The last time I checked it, I disabled the cameras.” Cringing at his dead weight against me, I strained to stay upright. “As soon as I heard rumors that you were missing, I started checking the surveillance footage of all the properties to see where you were.”
“Allthe properties?” He arched one brow as he shuffled out of the garage with me. But even that facial expression was too much to bear. Blood dripped from a gash near his hairline, and the swollen skin around his eye proved painful.
I nodded. “I kept looking. Then I finally found you tonight.”
Leading him inside, I took my time with the two steps up into the house. Each movement he made challenged my balance. Even when he was hurt and weak, he was so big. Larger than life.
By the time we fully got into the house, entering an empty kitchen, I was slick with the blood from his side, arm, and face. The metallic smell seemed so strong, overpowering my nose, and I winced at how much it bothered me.
Blood was just blood.
I didn’t have a weak stomach.
I wasn’t a dainty woman.
But something about smelling so much blood right now turned my stomach.
Get a grip, Kat.
It wasn’t like I wasn’t used to a little blood and gore. Hell, every month I had to deal with?—
I stiffened. The very thought of another occasion of bloodiness nearly stopped me from moving at all.
