Page 102 of Tarnished Queen

Elise nods and then her lips part in a huge yawn.

“That’s it.” I stand up and push her towards the door. “You need to go to sleep.”

“No. I’m fine. I just—”

“You were on a plane and in a wedding and then you were threatened by the leader of a mafia. It’s been a big day. You need sleep.”

Elise snorts. “My life sounds so dramatic when you say it like that.”

“It’s dramatic no matter how you say it. And that’s probably my doing. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Elise pulls me into a hug. “I mean, this is happening because of you and Nikolai, but you can’t help who you love.”

Even if I could help it, would I? In the recordings Xena played, I said I wished I’d never met Nikolai. But is that true?

I don’t even have to think about it. Definitely not.

I’d never undo him.

That feeling is only cemented when Nikolai walks through the door and looks at me. He’s still in his tuxedo pants, but he ditched the jacket in the car. Now, his shirt is unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up, revealing a slice of his tan chest and a swath of rippling forearms. He looks at Elise. “What are you still doing awake?”

“What is with you two?” she groans. “I’m not a baby, you know? I can stay up late.”

Nikolai tousles Elise’s hair as he passes. She wrinkles her nose and ducks away from him. “Yeah, you can. But you shouldn’t. You need to get to sleep.”

Elise throws a middle finger up as she backs towards the door. But just before she ducks into the hallway, she blows a kiss.

“Was that for me or you?” Nikolai asks, slowly wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to his body.

“Do you mean the bird or the kiss?” I ask. Then I wave the question away. “Doesn’t matter. Either way, I think it was for both of us.”

He chuckles and massages his hands down my arms. I sag against his chest and let him rub warmth into my limbs. “Crazy day, huh?”

“Not in the way I anticipated.” He sighs. “I should have killed her when I had the chance.”

“Everyone at the wedding may have been in the Bratva or sympathetic to it, but with that many witnesses, you’d probably be in jail right now. So I’m glad you didn’t.”

His jaw ticks. “She threatened Elise.”

“I know.” I take a deep breath. “I want to believe Elise is safest here with us—”

“She is safe in this house. I can watch over her.”

I nod. “In this house, yes. But… I want more for her than that. I want her to feel free wherever she goes. Can she have that here?”

“Once I kill Xena, she can.”

“And until then?” I ask.

He grimaces. “You’re thinking we should send her away for a while.”

Immediately, emotion clogs my throat and tears flood my eyes. “Since the moment Xena walked through the door, it’s all I’ve been thinking. I didn’t want Elise with our mom because she wasn’t safe there. But she isn’t safe here, either. She can’t have the life I want for her until Xena is dead, and I don’t want her here if there’s a war going on.”

Nikolai swipes his thumb over my cheek, pushing a tear away. “You’re right. She’s leaving. And you’re going to go with her.”

Of course he knows exactly what I’m thinking. He probably realized it before I even did.

But God, this hurts. The words lodge inside of me like shrapnel, tearing and ripping through my chest as I force them out. “That was your original idea, right? To send me away until the heat dies down? I’m just doing what you wanted.”

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