Chapter 38 – Kolya
T he scent of sweat filled my nostrils. Without opening my eyes, I knew I was in the attic. I must have had another episode. I clenched my jaw, fists tightening at the knowledge that yet again my family had had to wrestle me in here. That was why it was easier to stay away. They shouldn’t have to see me like this. They shouldn’t have to deal with this crap.
This was where I belonged. Alone, in the gloom of solitude. The forced air kicked on, sending a stale draft through the space. That kept it from freezing up here, but it didn’t explain the ball of warmth I felt. That was different.
A soft, sleepy sigh of contentment that didn’t come from me had my eyes snapping wide open.
I knew who it was even before my senses calculated the situation. My body recognized her.
Harley snoozed, face soft and lines of worry eased. Saints, she looked so different than when I saw her…days ago? Hours? It was impossible to tell. The last thing I remembered was leaving the meeting with the Cyber Ops woman and going to scout out the university. I scouted the streets where the traffickers kept the University students they took, the location sent to me by Beth. But I didn’t have to go on campus before driving back here.
The one and only reason I did that was to catch a glimpse of Harley.
And I had.
She’d been cooped up in the library, tucked away at a wooden computer desk across from Camilla. They’d been there for hours, only moving to stretch or use the bathroom.
Once, I could have sworn Harley caught me watching through the stacks. She’d looked up abruptly, gaze trained in my direction. I didn’t breathe until I was out of that mausoleum of books.
I quit my surveillance after that encounter, coming back to the mansion to—
Fall apart.
I ground my molars. I hadn’t slept a single hour since getting off the plane from Arizona. It had been days of driving myself to find Camilla’s missing friend. If the little barista hadn’t given me the pages—and pages!—of tips, I would have continued aimlessly searching.
But Beth came through.
I’m going to have to talk to her again. The data was just that good. It would be stupid not to form some kind of partnership with the woman.
Rolling my neck to the side, I noticed the dark in the hall beyond. The window was still deep navy. There was no sense of time or knowledge in this place. It was a prison of solitude, a cell for the banishment of the wicked.
An electronic vibration buzzed.
Harley moaned and flopped over. Her palm slapped against the mattress until she found her cell. She opened it, read the message, and typed a four-word response.
If it was any other man texting her, I would have been angry. But this woman was perfectly capable of handling my baby brother as evidenced by her short reply to fuck off, she was sleeping.
Harley must have sensed me watching, because she stilled. She clicked the phone screen off and plunged us back into darkness. But she didn’t relax into my arm where she’d been comfortable moments ago.
Maybe I would kill Luka for disturbing her peace.
“You slept,” she whispered.
“So did you,” I responded.
Harley wriggled away, rolling onto her stomach and propping herself on her elbows. It took everything in my power to hold myself back from grabbing her.
“We have about two more hours before I have to leave, if you wanted to sleep some more?” she offered.
It wasn’t a question of want. I desperately wanted to, so long as she was next to me. But my mind was already firing on full cylinders, and there would be no calming it.
But I could lie with her, here in the dark, steal a few more precious moments, since there was no knowing when I would have more.
“Okay,” I agreed.
Harley flopped back down, but didn’t curl into my side.
I didn’t tug her back.
This woman wasn’t supposed to see the underworld of Chicago! She wasn’t supposed to know the real me. That was why I left.
That and my duty.
I had to choose, and the noble thing was to fight for the survival of the many. I hated that it meant letting her go.
But fate was cruel. Everyone swore to me that her becoming Camilla’s friend was a freak accident. They would have stopped it if they realized, but it was too late. It was hard to say if they’d done all they could. A woman who’d blown into my life, made me long for something I couldn’t have…it wasn’t their job to think about her night and day.
But it was all I could do.
No, if I’d stayed in Chicago, I would have kept better tabs on Harley. I would have realized right away that she was near Camilla and intervened before they could form an attachment. The few times I saw her this fall, it had been small glimpses, stolen out of my packed schedule of hunting and bratva business. My cousins were too busy with their lives and our organization to keep such close tabs on one woman.
My woman.
The one I couldn’t have.
Even now as she lay close enough for our skin to brush should one of us move, I couldn’t have her. the temptation would be too great. I knew myself. I couldn’t push her away again.
“You’re not sleeping,” she murmured.
“Neither are you.”
Harley sighed. “It’s not cozy up here.”
Guilt slapped me across the face. “What do you need?”
Her rough laugh was full of disdain. “They didn’t even give you a blanket.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Questions filled my mind. What did she know? Why would my idiot relatives let her in here? What if—
I squeezed my eyes closed.
I had to know.
“Did I hurt you, Harley?”
She was silent for a moment too long. “Not tonight.”
Damn her two-word answer. That must be what it was like talking to me.
“If you message my brother back, he’ll let you out,” I growled. “It’d be best if you left.”
Harley pushed to sit up. Anger licked her words. “That’s it?”
I shrugged. “You shouldn’t have to be confined here. You’re not the one that turns into a psychotic monster.”
Harley sucked in a harsh gasp. I could feel the struggle she was having to keep back words. I wished she would unleash them. I deserved her ire. But…I wished for a lot of things, and the shooting stars over the Arizona desert didn’t seem to hear or give a rat’s ass about granting them.
The phone screen lit up as Harley’s angry fingers stabbed at the device. She flung herself off the mattress and stormed to the door. Less than five minutes later, the bar compressed, and my baby brother’s cheerful voice filled the room.
“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!” Luka boomed.
I was going to kill him. He put Harley in danger, and not just by letting her in here with me. Launching off the bed, I stalked forward.
“And he’s back, ladies and gents!” Luka mimicked a loudspeaker at a fight. “Our fearless Master Chief has awakened from his cryo sleep and is ready to fight the Covenant—”
I swung at him.
Luka dodged, grinning at the contest I proposed.
The way he moved, the door slipped from his grip and nearly closed. Harley darted to catch it with a yelp.
But I was already on my brother, ready to pound him into submission. He’d been asking for another ass whooping, the cheeky brat. And not just from tonight.
No, this one had been building up ever since he went and fell in love a year ago.
The problem with fighting Luka was that he played dirty. A sprightly fucker, he used his smaller size to dance around us larger opponents. In and out he wove, dodging and baiting me.
“Come on, chica!” he howled. “Let it all out, there’s a good girl.”
I charged.
The door clapped closed and a heartbeat later, Harley skidded to a stop in front of me. “Kolya!”
I barreled into her, the momentum sweeping her into my arms. I cradled the back of her head, rolling at the last second to take the brunt of the fall. The crash echoed through the hall.
“Shit!” Luka wheezed. “You okay, bro?”
“Shut up,” I growled.
Harley let out a shaky laugh. “Nice catch, gargoyle.”
“Are you mad at me?” I couldn’t stand it any longer. The words tumbled out of me before I could stop them.
Her soft, but firm palms slid over my chest. Heat shot straight to my groin. The urge to crush her to me was so strong that had my brother not been here, nothing else could have stopped it.
“You owe me a huge explanation, but first, I need my damn coffee, and you know it.” Harley pushed off my chest.
“Let me call Dimi to get us out of here,” Luka quipped.