Page 134 of Unorthodox
Thinking about last night is enough to make my dick hard, and I set the champagne glass on another passing tray and resist the urge to down one more.
Addison London has to go, and the fact that sometime soon we’ll likely be boarding a plane to Russia should make me feel good.
She’ll be out of my fucking hair.
Like Dante, once she’s out of sight, she’ll be out of my mind.
I’ll have my brother back.
But I don’t want to let her go, and I hate that I can’t have both of them.
My mother used to say I had an addictive personality, which is funny, because I rarely drink and don’t do drugs. Sleeping pills are something I battle with, because they silence the nightmares.
But she meant people. My mother said I had been addicted to her and Ollie, always wanting to know where they were going, when they would be home if Oliver had an appointment.
I had no shame about running to the door to hug my mother, even as a teenager.
She deserved it.
She died for me. Risked and forfeited her life to keep me and Ollie safe.
Is that an addiction? Craving loyalty that transcends the grave? Loyalty you’d die for? Break bones for? I don’t know.
I do know, though, that while I don’t regret meeting Addison, I’m sure as hell the feeling isn’t mutual.
She tried to run twice.
I can’t blame her.
I see Luca approaching me and I push the thought aside. He has an unopened beer in hand and a smile on his face. But despite the smile, something is…off.It’s not just the message he sent, either. His dark eyes are narrowed, and while he glanced once at Evora, he’s holding my gaze as if he’s trying to convey something without words.
Handing me the beer, he leans in close and I do my best not to back away from him.
“Let’s step outside.”
My fingers clench around the ice-cold bottle as he leans back, a brow cocked, as if waiting for me to tell Evora I’m going away for a word.
I grit my teeth, but the look in Luca’s eyes is pissing me off. I need to know what he knows, and I need to know what the fuck it has to do with me. There are already too many uncontrollable factors at play here with the warning from Addison’s buyer about Danik becoming an informant and the change in flight plans to St. Petersburg.
Not to mention Elliot’swarning.
If Luca has more bad news, I’ll snap.
I turn to Evora and nod once. “I won’t be long.”
Without another word, I follow Luca through the room, a few people clapping him on the back as we head toward the door I walked in from. No one dares to touch me, and even though I’ve got the beer in my hand, my other hand is at my hip, on the gun I wouldn’t let Luca’s guards take from me.
He knows better.
He pushes open the heavy wooden door to the room, and we step out into a cream-colored hall, pale gold floors beneath our feet. The door swings shut, and I take a deep breath in the quiet of the corridor.
Luca slips his hands into his pockets and nods toward my beer. “You might want to drink that.”
I don’t say a word. I just wait for him to get to the fucking point.
He blows out a breath, runs his tongue over his teeth, then he says, “Your man was right. Danik’s been compromised.”
I twist the cap off of the beer and slip it into my pocket as I take a drink and hold Luca’s gaze.
