Chapter 20
Itake a deep breath. And then another while Kaz glares at me from across his desk.
“Where is Tommy now?” Kaz breaks the silence.
“School. Melody took him after breakfast.”
“So Melody is staying here, too?”
“Yes.” I nod. “I don’t think they’re safe at the house right now.”
“Why aren’t they safe? You haven’t gotten to that part yet.” He leans forward.
Last night he’d accepted my excuse that I’d asked Tommy to spend the night. But this morning when he’d found Tommy’s suitcase filled with clothes for more than just a sleep over, he dragged me into his office.
“I was going to tell you when I saw you, but I wasn’t expecting you last night, so I wasn’t ready. And then when you came home you…well, I was distracted.” I look away from him, hoping to stop a blush before it starts.
I fail.
“Well, we aren’t distracted now. So tell me. What the hell is going on?” His tone is even, but I can tell from the little tick in his jaw, he’s getting annoyed.
“My cousin came here yesterday.” I clutch at the carved wood of the armrest, steadying myself for the oncoming anger.
“I already know that. Sergei informed me.”
“Of course.” I sigh. Maybe I can avoid the tsunami that is Kaz’s emotions. “When he was here, he gave me some instructions.”
“What sort of instructions,” he demands before I can keep talking.
“If you’ll just be patient—”
“I didn’t come home and throw your piece of shit cousin out when Sergei texted me, that was me being patient. Now tell me. Everything.”
After another slow breath, I dive into the events of yesterday afternoon.
“I assume this is what your uncle wanted, too?” He cuts me off again. “When you said he didn’t want anything during your last conversation with him, you were lying.”
“He didn’t ask for anything. He said the same thing as Dante, to remember who my family is. I didn’t argue with him, but I didn’t agree with him, either, which is probably why he sent Dante.” If one threat doesn’t work, there’s always another he can trigger.
But in the end, they’re all the same. Hurt something I love.
“What exactly does Dante want from you?”
“He wants me to spy on you. He wants me to find out exactly what you know about what he’s doing, and if you’re planning any moves against him.”
His jaw clenches again.
“I told him I wouldn’t. That’s when he threatened Tommy.”
“And that threat was?”
“He just said if I didn’t give him what he wanted in a week, he’d be visiting Tommy. He doesn’t need to spell it out for me, Kaz.” I uncurl my fingers from the armrest. “So, I went over there and had Melody pack him a bag and brought them both here.”
“And when were you going to tell me that Tony’s son was going to be living with me?”
“When you bothered to come home or have a conversation that was longer than a three-word text message.” I shoot at him, all the frustration from the past week bubbles to the surface.
He’s quiet. The ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room gets louder as the seconds pass.
“I’m not the enemy you think I am,” I say softly.
“I made it a point to stay out of my family’s business.
I kept away from my brothers as much as I could.
I don’t have any information that could ever help you.
And I don’t want any information from you that could help them. I want nothing to do with any of this.”
I shove out of the chair, grabbing it before it falls back onto the carpet.
“I understand you not wanting Tony’s son here. I do. But he’s my nephew, and I won’t let anyone hurt him.” I curl my fingers into my palms.
“You realize you’ve kidnapped him,” Kaz says after another moment passes with thick silence.
“I did not.”
“That’s what your uncle will say to the police when he realizes Tommy’s here. He’ll say you kidnapped him because you don’t have custody.”
I blink.
I hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“I won’t let them hurt him because of me. I married you to keep him safe.”
His expression softens. “Then why not give them what they want now? You’ve already sacrificed your life, why not try to get the information that they want?”
“I’m not the enemy.” I say again.
“Why? You could ask me what I know. Maybe I’d tell you.”
“You already think I’m like them. You think I’ll betray you first chance I get. There’s no way out of this marriage for either of us. I know that. I get that. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with a man who thinks I’m out to get him.”
He gets out of his chair, stalks around the mammoth of a desk, and stands in front of me. Leaning his ass back against the edge of the desk, he folds his arms over his chest.
“So instead of trying to spy on me, you’ve kidnapped your nephew.”
“Stop saying that. I didn’t kidnap him.”
He shrugs. “Legally, you did.”
“And since when you do you give a fuck about legalities?” I shout.
His eyebrows raise, like he’s shocked I’ve raised my voice.
“I try to stay away from police involvement whenever possible.”
“I’m not letting him go home where Uncle Vicente and Dante can get to him.”
“You expect me to provide protection for him? For Tony’s son?” His voice dips dangerously low. I’m toeing the edge of his patience.
“Yes.” I nod. “Because I’m your wife, and it’s your job to make sure I’m safe. And if you don’t let Tommy stay here, then I have to stay there. And that wouldn’t be safe. Right? So yes, you have to let him stay here.”
“Who says it’s my job to protect you?” There’s a lightness to his voice now, like he’s playing around with me.
“You did. In your vows.”
“In your vows you promised to be obedient. If I say to take Tommy home, will you?”
“No.”
He grins. “No?”
“No. And if you make him leave, I’m leaving too. We don’t have to live in the same house to be married. I can be your wife living anywhere else the same way I can being here. It’s not like you’re ever fucking around anyway!”
“You want me around?”
“Not at the moment.” I huff and plop back down in the chair. I’m getting nowhere, and he’s having a fun old time.
He laughs. It’s soft and light. Like our first night together.
“Tommy’s not going anywhere. He’ll stay here. Hire any nannies or caregivers or whatever you need to help with him.”
“Seriously?” I ask cautiously, he’s giving in too easily.
“Yes.”
“And what about the whole kidnapping scenario?”
“We have good lawyers on payroll for this sort of thing. I’ll handle it.”
“That’s it? He can stay. Nothing else?”
“You mean what am I going to make you sacrifice in order to keep him safe?”
“Yeah.” I nod.
He frowns and shakes his head. “Doesn’t work that way in my family. He’s your nephew; that makes him my nephew.”
“Are you forgetting you hate me?”
“When did I say I hate you?” He quirks an eyebrow.
“Oh, I don’t know. Every time you looked at me at our wedding? That night on the plane? How you’ve stayed away from me since we’ve gotten here?”
“You mistake hate for indifference. Well, except for the wedding. I was pretty pissed you’d tricked me.”
“I didn’t trick you. I didn’t know it was you!” How many times do we have to go through this conversation?
“I know.” He wraps his hands around my arms and pulls me to my feet. The grip is too tight on my left arm, and I wince slightly.
“What was that?” He releases me quickly.
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing. Why did you make that face?”
“My arm’s a little sore, that’s all.”
“Why?”
“It just is.”
He grabs my wrist and shoves the sleeve of my shirt up to my shoulder. The air thickens between us. Heat rolls off of him.
“I’m okay.”
“Who did this?” He hasn’t let go. He’s inspecting the purplish bruise on my arm. “Your fucking cousin.”
“He grabbed me. I don’t think he meant—”
“His fucking handprint is clear as day on your arm. What did he grab you with—a fucking vice?” His voice is low, controlled, but there’s an unwavering rage in his eyes.
“Kaz, we need to focus on Tommy right now, not me.”
He cups my face, pulling my gaze up to his. For a long moment he stares at me like he’s seeing me for the first time. And maybe to him, he is.
But the look in his eyes, the sensations his touch wake in me. They’re not new. I wanted to hate him after our wedding. I should have for the way he treated me, but I couldn’t.
The moment passes, and he lets me go as though my skin has burned him. He sidesteps away from me, dragging his hand through his hair roughly.
“Tommy will stay here. I will deal with the custody issue. You are not to see or speak to Dante, and if your uncle reaches out to you, ignore him,” he orders with his back to me.
An ache burns in my chest. For a moment, I had him back. Dmitri.
But he’s gone now. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.
He storms to the door, yanks it open. Mrs. Popova stands there, hand raised as though she was just about to knock.
“Dammit!” Kaz steps back, pressing his hand to his chest. “Can I open one damn door in this house without someone creeping behind it?”
Mrs. Popova drops her hand. “Sorry, but your guests have arrived”
“What guests?” he demands.
“Your brothers and their wives.”