Page 18 of Brutal Loyalty

He scanned her financials. Her monthly allowance was ten times his monthly earnings, which didn’t surprise him. Whatdidsurprise him was that she pulled the money out each month within hours of receiving the deposit—and from there, he couldn’t figure out where that much money was going. Did she have a secret bank account that her father didn’t know about? It was possible—and he could see how it would be desirable, if she wanted to protect her assets.

But none of this answered the question of why Elena was here. His gut continued to nag at him, telling him that she was hiding something. Otherwise, why would she choose to come here? If she had as much money hidden away as he suspected, she could have easily disappeared most anywhere. Why come to the home of the family her father had tried to destroy? It wasn’t as if she’d brought anything useful with her, the way you’d expect if she was trying to ingratiate herself, to earn their protection long-term.

He scrolled through her Instagram posts, pausing on a photo of her wearing the same outfit she’d had on today. She was all smiles as she posted about scoring a bunch of outfits from some movies. Most of it was pink. He found a candid photo of her with Alexandra that had been taken two years ago. She was breathtaking, and she looked so happy.

Roman wondered how long it’d been since she’d felt that carefree. The Elena he knew was wrapped in a blanket of tension. Even when she smiled, it didn’t reach her eyes. Today was the first time he’d seen her truly let go, and that was only after he’d blistered his hand on her ass and then fucked her senseless.

She was an interesting woman, Roman thought. Gorgeous enough to be in Hollywood, with the sarcasm of a comedian and a mind for heavy books. He wanted to get to know the real her, which he’d found likable, helpful, and, despite her often catty approach, quite funny. There was also a playfulness and fire to her that captivated him.

Roman shook his head as though to shake away those thoughts. He needed to figure out if Elena was being truthful without further complicating things, if that was even possible at this point. It was one thing to fall for a beautiful woman, but it was another entirely to fall for the daughter of the enemy.

Roman went back to the files on the thumb drive and decided to review them again from the beginning. His eyes were blurry from staring at the screen for so long but then he paused over Popov’s recurring expenses. There was one regular payment made to some sort of agency for the past several years. Switching over to a Google search, he entered the company name.

They were the managing company for a chain of nursing homes in Boston. He was about to call Niko when he noticed the younger man’s comments on the file. Evidently, Raisa Popov, Elena’s mother, was alive and living in a nursing facility here in town. Niko’d even included a photo. Roman’s eyebrows raised. Hadn’t Elena said her mother was dead? Enlarging the photo, he stared at it. It was easy to see the resemblance. Why would she lie about such a thing? And if she lied about that, what else had she lied about?

He slammed his laptop shut and rolled out of bed. He needed answers. He pulled on gray sweatpants, stretched, and padded down the hall to Elena’s bedroom. A combination of trepidation, anticipation, and anger set his teeth on edge. It had been a long time since Roman had been in touch with his emotions, and the fact that Elena brought so many feelings to the surface made dealing with the situation even harder.

Outside her bedroom door, he took a deep breath in, and regained his aloof façade. Then he swung open the door, flicked on the light, and closed the door harshly behind him.

“Wake up!” he growled at her.

CHAPTER14

Elena

Elena mumbled in her sleep. She heard someone talking, but her mind hadn’t fully roused from slumber yet. Hair fanned across the pillow, a satin sleep mask over her eyes, she flopped over in bed, still only vaguely conscious.

“Elena Popov, getup.”

She heard the voice again. Sleep faded and reality slowly crept back in to take its place. She tugged the sleep mask up and blinked a few times. Why was it so bright? When she scanned the room, she saw that the light was on, and Roman was standing at the foot of her bed. It must have been him speaking, she realized.

“Hmm?” She stared at him with heavy eyelids. “Don’t tell me we have another errand to go on. Pretty sure my ass can’t handle that right now,” she mumbled. Even half-asleep, her sarcasm shone through as she blinked at Roman tiredly and then lay her head back on the pillow—she really was too tired to deal with him right now.

“You lied to me,” Roman said with a rigid tone. He crossed his arms, posture stiff, and glared at her.

Groaning, she pulled herself up to a seated position, blinked herself awake, and stared back at him. Once she got a good look at what he was wearing, her mouth fell open.Oh damn!He was in the male version of lingerie and nothing else. She took in the tattoos on his torso and the partial sleeve on his right arm. There was a falcon tattoo on his chest that she wanted to lick as she worked her way down to the happy trail, which disappeared under his low-slung gray sweats.

She eventually worked her way back up to see that he was still glaring at her. Shit, he’d said something to her, and she had no idea what it was. “Uh, what was the question?”

“You said your mother was dead, but I just found out she’s alive and well in a nursing home. Why did you lie to me?” Roman demanded.

What?Elena’s breath caught as he took another step closer to the bed. What game was he playing? And how could he think that was something to joke about? She sighed and opened her mouth to tell him off a little less politely, and then suddenly she realized that he hadn’t sounded like he’d been playing with her at all. He’d sounded dead serious.

But that couldn’t be right…Her mother was long dead, and she certainly knew that better than he could.

Elena tossed her sleep mask onto the pillow beside her. “Um, no, Roman, she’s not. And how dare you?” Her eyes narrowed. “My mom died when I was fourteen, and whatever sort of super-secret spy trick you’re trying to use on me, at freaking two am, it’s not cool. It’s not okay, either, to bring my mother into it.”

Roman stared at her without backing down, and she glared back.

“Why would you lie about something like that?” Roman asked slowly.

“Are you kidding me right now, Roman? I’m not lying, for fuck’s sake!” She halfheartedly tossed a pillow at him and sat on the edge of the bed, her feet touching the floor.

“Then why do I have a recent photo of her and an address for an assisted living facility here in Boston, where she is a registered patient?”

Elena felt like someone had tackled her and knocked the air out of her chest. “You…you have what?”

She stared at him, wide-eyed, and then she began to tremble. Roman had no reason to lie, and the baffled look on his face now told Elena everything she needed to know.

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