Page 67 of Heritage of Blood

“Nice to meet you,” I lie.

Kate’s voice goes quiet. “Derek called me about an incident with my mom and helped me get her home.”

I hear the uncertainty wavering in her voice. She is unsure how to read my being here.

“Ready?” I prompt her, itching to get her out of here and back into the car with me.

“Uh, sure.” She looks back at Derek. “Thank you for today, and thank you for the coffee.”

Her hands reach over to grab her purse from the back of the chair, and I move to pull it out.

“Of course, Kate. Whatever you need, I’m here.” Derek takes another sip of his coffee, but I don’t miss the way his last words are directed at me.

I slide my hand behind her back and lead her to the door, grabbing my coffee from the counter. She is quiet as we approach the car. Ivan is standing, waiting to open the door, but she stops and turns to face me.

“What are you doing here, Luka?” Her words are loud and short.

Ivan dips his head and makes his way back to the driver’s side, giving us space.

“Ivan told me what happened today, Kate. I wanted to come make sure you were all right.” The honest words rip from my mouth before I can take them back.

Kate’s laugh grates at me as she chuckles—it’s full of sarcasm.

“Seriously Luka? After you up and left for Russia without even letting me know and barely talking to me for over a week, you came here to make sure I was, okay?”

Her words throw me, I don’t let people talk to me in this tone, and I temper the side of me that is demanding respect.

“Yes, Kate. I came to make sure you were okay.” I tuck my hands into my pockets; the warmth has me registering how cold it is. My eyes rove over her plaid pants, heels, and a white sweater that doesn’t exude warmth at all. Her arms are crossed, and when she huffs out a breath, a thin cloud of fog meets the air. “Let’s get in the car,” I suggest, unsure why she is still standing there.

“Why?”

“Because it’s cold, and you have no jacket on.” I move to open the back door, but she stops me.

“No, why did you come to make sure I was okay?”

I open my mouth to respond but close it when I realize I don’t know what to say. How do I put into words that when she isn’t near, I yearn for her. That it was torture knowing she was dealing with this today and I wasn’t here to help.

Pride keeps my mouth closed and my control slips.

“Get in the car Kate.” My voice is a command, and she stares at me, nodding to herself before opening the door and climbing in.

Chapter39

Kate

The ride back to the penthouse is silent and awkward—I’m mortified. When Luka’s voice sounded in my ear at the coffee shop, elation flooded through me, but it turned into anger. Seeing him there, knowing he had left a week ago after putting me into bed—he didn’t even say goodbye. I’m not sure why that bothers me, except for the fact that I wanted him here with me today.

I cast my eyes over him, but his gaze is focused on the city buildings as they go by. I pressed him tonight for answers, wanting him to tell me why he has me around and why he has let me stay.

Luka and I have been pulled toward each other by an outside force, ever since that night. However, I’m starting to think the pull toward each other has us passing by—we never collide.

After sending a message to my mom to check in, I bring up some apartment listings. I’ve been checking this past week off and on, trying to find a place in a decent price range. When I move back to my own place, Luka will probably let me go from the office.

Mostly my job is to help Natallia, my job and functionality isn’t a make-or-break thing. I scroll through a few places, noting how awful all the places I can afford are. I’m not even opposed to run-down, but safety has become a larger requirement for me these days. One place that I’m interested in viewing has a form to fill out to contact the realtor.

“What are you doing?” I look up to see Luka’s gaze on my phone and I click it off.

“Nothing,” I answer.

---