Chapter Ten #2
Katia’s eyes harden, and she grows even more still. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
Katia scowls. “I haven’t told him anything. I wouldn’t betray you like that.”
“Not even to save someone you care about?”
There’s a small twitch in her eye, but it’s gone in the next blink, and I’m left wondering if I’ve imagined it.
The thought of her looking at someone else, much less my little brother, is too ridiculous to consider.
Almost as ridiculous as you falling for someone who isn’t even from the same world.
“Oliver is a Payne, an extension of you,” Katia replies. “I only care about his safety and making sure he doesn’t get in over his head.”
“Is he in over his head?”
Does my brother know he’s being watched?
Is that why Carlisle can’t find anything else on him?
Is it possible that Katia has uncovered something and is trying to do damage control in a twisted attempt to make things better?
“I think that’s a question for your little pit bull, not me.”
I curl my fingers around my glass and frown. “If I find out you’re hiding something from me, our history won’t matter.”
“I’m aware.”
“Are you? Because my father is right. I’ve let my… affection for you blind me to some things, but make no mistake, Katia, if I discover something, nothing will spare you from my wrath.”
Katia nods brusquely. “I’d expect nothing less.”
“I expect more from you. Carlisle, I could almost understand if you like that sort of thing, but Oliver… he’s not your type, is he?”
Katia meets my gaze with a blank look. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to make me feel like I can confide in you, like I can tell you things, but I can’t tell you something that isn’t true.”
She leans forward. “I know you don’t think much of me lately, and I will earn your trust back, but I am not stupid enough to get involved with anyone, least of all a Payne.”
“You mean a Payne who isn’t me?”
Katia presses her lips together and says nothing. I frown. “Why are you here and not watching London?”
“She’s been in the manor all day,” Katia replies. “She’s in the west wing now, and yes, I’m sure, because I had a camera installed in the hallway.”
“I’ve also made sure there are eyes and ears on her whenever I’m not there,” Katia adds. “I won’t underestimate her again.”
“Good. And the other matter?”
“Her parents haven’t done anything.”
“Keep an eye out and report to me the second anything changes.”
By now, they’ve probably already formed their opinions of me and pieced things together, and although I feel guilty for the rift it’s caused between them, I also know enough to know it won’t keep them safe.
Regardless of how they feel about London’s choices, she’s still their daughter, and I know she won’t forgive herself if anything happens to them.
It’s why Katia tasked Nadia with keeping them safe, and why I haven’t told London.
The fewer people who know, the better.
For now, it’s better for London to think that I’m overextended and can’t be bothered with their security. The last thing I want is for anyone else to get wind of this.
I’m already taking a huge risk with Nadia, an unnecessary one as far as Katia is concerned, but my mind is made up.
Even Noah is safer in your custody than he is out there. The little weasel.
I don’t know how I ended up doing what I swore I would never do, but London brings that out of me.
Every impulse and instinct that told me to let her go is gone, replaced with an overwhelming urge to protect her, even from herself.
Katia swipes a drink from the passing waitress. “You know you can’t keep this up. We don’t have enough people.”
“The Harrisons have been more than generous.”
“They’re still the Harrisons’ people, not ours,” Katia says. “I can call in a few favors.”
I shake my head and stand up. “No.”
“Mason—”
“If I want your input, I’ll ask for it,” I interrupt. “I’ve indulged you for long enough.”
With a wave of my hand, Katia stands and leaves.
Her words are reverberating in my head as, a short while later, I weave in and out of people and make my way outside. The brusque night air on my face is a welcome change to the stifling feeling in the club, and I slow down as I walk toward the manor. Silence greets me when I step inside.
I take the stairs two at a time.
When I round the corner and see Oliver lingering outside my bedroom door, I pause. He glances down both sides of the hallway and then lifts his hand to the door. Then I step forward. A flicker of something moves across Oliver’s face when he notices me
He stands up straighter and clears his throat. “Mason, I didn’t see you there.”
I step between him and the door and fold my arms over my chest. “Evidently.”
A muscle works in Oliver’s jaw as he takes me in. “I was looking for you.”
I stare at him and say nothing.
“I thought you would have left the club by now,” Oliver continues, the words pouring out of him in a rush. “Or I would’ve found you there.”
I make a noncommittal sound.
“But since I’m here, I thought I’d check on London,” Oliver finishes. “She seems nice.”
As I let my eyes sweep over him, I realize two things at once.
The first is that I barely know my younger brother, having taken every step and precaution to keep him at arm’s length for his own good.
And the second is that not knowing the kind of man standing before me leaves me at a disadvantage.
I’m out of my depth where Oliver is concerned because I don’t know the first thing about him.
All those years you spent making sure he’s safe when you should’ve been keeping an eye out.
Out of all of us, he was supposed to be safe, protected in a way I’d failed to do for my mother.
You have no one to blame but yourself for how things wound up. If it weren’t for you, Oliver wouldn’t have gotten a taste of the darkness.
And I wouldn’t be staring at him, trying to determine whether he’d hurt London.
The brother I thought I knew wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less harm a hair on London’s head, but it’s hard to reconcile the two.
He isn’t the same little boy who chased butterflies in the garden and jumped into the pool to splash everyone.
It isn’t even the gangly teenager who was angry at the world and everyone in it.
How had I let this happen?
“I didn’t expect London to mean so much to me,” I confess to Oliver. “But now that I’ve found her, I won’t let anything happen to her.”
I wait for him to look at me. “If anyone so much as looks in her direction, I’ll end them.”
Oliver glances up and holds my gaze. “I heard Dad talking about what you’re willing to risk for her. I thought he was exaggerating.”
“Why would he be?”
The sooner everyone else accepts that, the better it’ll be for everyone.
Including my family. Especially my family.
Oliver cocks his head, his eyes wide and unflinching. “What about the family?”
“What about the family?”
Oliver leans away from me and clears his throat. “Nothing. It’s just going to be hard to be everywhere at once.”
I offer Oliver a cold look. “It’s why I take precautions to make sure I can trust the people around me, no matter what they are to me.”
“I see.”
“A piece of friendly advice, little brother,” I add. “This isn’t your world. I’d stick to what I know, if I were you.”
Oliver looks at me and presses his mouth into a thin, white line. “I’m not a child, Mason.”
“In this world, you might as well be,” I tell him. “You shouldn’t mess with things you don’t know anything about.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Katia isn’t the same person you once knew,” I reply. “I know she had a soft spot for you when we were younger, but things are different now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oliver replies, his voice growing stronger. “There’s nothing between Katia and me.”
I snort. “While you’re here, you should work on your poker face.”
Oliver shakes his head. “I—”
“Don’t waste my time, brother. Being a Payne won’t save you from certain consequences.”
Oliver frowns. “I can’t tell if you’re warning me or threatening me.”
“I don’t care how you interpret it, as long as you listen.”
Silence settles between us.
A pair of footsteps sounds in the distance, and Oliver shakes his head before he turns his back on me.
I turn to face Katia, who is in the shadows, her face giving nothing away.
I give her a look before I wrench the door open and step inside.
London is curled up on the bed, her chest rising and falling evenly.
I leave my clothes in a heap on the floor, kick off my shoes, and crawl into bed next to her. When I squeeze my eyes shut and press my face against her neck, the smell of her eases some of my anxiety. But not even London stirring in her sleep is enough to keep the fears at bay.
I don’t need one more problem, but I can tell that I need to keep an eye on Katia and Oliver.
It’s my job to protect my brother from things he doesn’t understand, including himself.