Page 187 of Born in Depravity

I tightened my grip on her hand when she tried to pull away and crowded into her space, pushing her back so she was standing between the wall and me.

Nikolay caught my eye.

He smiled a little, looking at our hands. I knew what the look in his eyes meant.

He wanted her to trust him enough to take his hand first.

We were silent on the way down, and then we all piled in the car, Kirill taking the driver’s seat and Leo next to him.

My eyes took in Leo, an emotionless, efficient man. I was thinking about making him her personal bodyguard, though I wasn’t sure how Nikolay would react to that.

But as much as we would like it to be the case in which she would always be with either one of us, that wasn’t possible. There would be times when we had to leave her alone.

She would need someone to protect … Someone, whose sole job would be to protect her, no matter what.

Kirill pulled out of the garage. Dusk was just approaching. There was still enough light out to see inside the car.

Damien and I took the window seats, with Catalina between us and Nikolay in the back.

Damien turned to her. “What do you feel like eating, pet?”

She shrugged and leaned closer to him, whispering something in his ear.

He smiled. “You want steak?”

I shook my head and looked back at Nikolay. He laughed when he caught my eye. Knowing him, he would have made some perverted joke that made her blush.

I rolled my eyes.

“Then we’ll eat steak,” I said, earning me a small smile from her before she turned back to the front. I knew she didn’t feel comfortable speaking in front of people, but especially not in front of Kirill and Leo.

She hadn’t spoken to Nikolay yet, but I had a feeling it would be soon enough, and Nikolay, for his part, was being surprisingly patient about the whole thing.

“Go to Blue’s,” Damien directed Kirill. The man nodded, making an illegal U-turn to go back around to where we were.

We didn’t say anything on the ride. Damien was mostly on his phone, probably catching up on some work, and I looked out the window.

We passed a building made mostly of glass. I could see our car’s reflection passing through, and another black car on our ass.

I tensed a little.

I looked up and met Kirill’s eyes in the rearview mirror. I knew enough to know what that glint in his eyes meant.

We were being followed.

A glance to the side told me Damien had noticed, and Nikolay already had his gun pulled out.

Fuck.

The knife I had tucked in my boot felt hot and I moved my hand underneath my jacket for my own gun.

“Pet.”

Catalina turned to Damien, and perhaps she heard the tension in his voice from that one word, because I felt her grow taut beside me.

“Don’t freak out. But we’re being followed. Kirill is going to lead them around while we get backup. You are to do as you’re told, understand?”

Her wide eyes took him in before she turned to me. Damien grabbed her shoulders, shaking her a little. “No, don’t look at him. Look at me. I asked if you understand. I need you to do exactly as we tell you and nothing more and nothing less. Got me? You disobey and that spanking you got from Nikolay back at the motel will feel like child’s play.”

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