Page 15 of Final Installment
When she straightened, he realized she was tall.She was all curves and softness, and when she turned toward him with that steaming hot pan in front of her breasts, he was startled by the gray-green shade of her eyes.They spurred a memory, one long since buried, and suddenly, he was a teenager giving an order of exile and splitting up a family.
A family with a furious little girl with those same haunting eyes.
But she wasn’t a little girl anymore.
“Mr.Beciraj!”She frantically looked for a place to set the tray.As soon as it was safely out of the way, she tugged off the oven mitts and smoothed a nervous hand down the front of her stained apron.Switching to Albanian, she asked, “Are you...?Did you get lost?”
“No.”He couldn’t remember her name.Artan’s ugly voice came to mind, calling her the fat one.He brushed that nasty remark aside.What was her name?Ana, Aleksander, Dafina and...?
“Did you need something?”She wrung her hands together, and he wondered why he made her so nervous.
Probably because you ordered Kristo to kill her father, tore her family apart and sent her to live thousands of miles away from the only home she had ever known.
“Actually, yes.”He offered a friendly smile to set her at ease.“Something for stomach cramps?”
“Oh.”Her shoulders dropped, and she seemed relieved by his request.“Yes.Um.Let me see what I have in my purse.”She glanced back at him as she walked across the kitchen to the small breakfast table where a leather handbag sat.“My stomach doesn’t like traveling either, especially long overseas flights.”
“Yes.It seems mine is the same.”A lie, of course, but she didn’t need to know that.He ignored the stares of the other people in the kitchen as he walked toward her.This close, he caught the scent of her perfume, something bright with a hint of coconuts and sunshine.
“I have some antacids and some Bonine.”She was speaking English now.She turned and bumped into his arm with her elbow.She blanched and stepped back, almost as if she feared he would strike her.The movement chilled him to the core, and he hated that he inspired such terror.“I’m sorry, sir.I didn’t mean—.”
“It’s fine.”From the way she reacted, he could tell he wouldn’t be winning her over anytime soon.Not that he needed to have her approval.She would be his sister-in-law, and that was that.
So stop looking at her tits, you fucking asshole!
But it was hard not to notice them.Not that they were in his face exactly.She wore a very modest dress, black fabric covered with black lace, and the neckline was a demure V shape that barely hinted at the real curves hidden beneath the fabric.That was the problem.He wanted to see more of that silky skin.
“Like I said,” she recovered with a too-wide smile, “I have antacids and anti-nausea meds.”
He took the Bonine from her hand and hated how badly he wanted to touch her fingers.She clearly wanted him to hurry up and move away from her as quickly as possible.He shook the sleeve of sealed tablets from the Bonine box and tore one dose free.
She walked to a cabinet, grabbed a glass and filled it with water.“Here.”
He followed the anti-nausea medication with two of the chewable antacids.“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”Her gaze flitted to the door on the opposite side of the kitchen where a young man appeared with an empty tray in one hand and another with dirty champagne flutes balancing on the other.
“We’re running low on champagne and mixers.We need more canapes—and a fucking prayer that Dafina slows down on the booze before she ends up—.”The young man stopped as soon as he saw Luka.His eyes widened.“Oh, shit.Sorry.I didn’t mean—.”
“Yes, thank you, Nestor.”She cut him off before he could dig his hole any deeper.“I’ll go back with you to get a handle on the situation.”
“Does she do this often?Your sister?Run off and show up late to important events?”Luka didn’t like sounding accusatory, but he needed to know.“Drink too much?”
“No!Of course not!”A lie?A pink flush crept across her face.“I’m sure she got stuck in traffic.”
“There wasn’t much traffic on the way here.”
“Well, you were probably coming from different directions.”She snatched the medications and placed them back in her purse.“I’m sure your family is missing you, and I know Dafina is excited to see you.”
“Yes,” he agreed, certain Marley was getting tired of playing referee between Besian and Artan by now.“I didn’t get your name.”
“Elona.”
“Elona,” he repeated.“It’s nice to meet you.”
“We’ve met.”This time she dared to meet his gaze.Defiance sparked in her eyes, and God help him.Helikedthe flare of ire reflected in her strange irises.She switched back to Albanian and said, “You probably don’t remember because you were busy washing the blood from your hands.”
There it was.The knife he had been expecting since setting foot inside this house.
