Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
AVELINA
There’s a knock at the door.
It opens, and Viktor steps inside. He’s just arrived back at the compound and looks exhausted. There’s a vein ticking at his jaw, and his hair is an absolute mess which says he’s either been running his hand through it or doing something physical.
He looks at me and the packed bags, then back to me.
“You’re leaving.” It’s not a question.
His jaw clenches, and my gut twists. He looks attractive and intimidating all rolled into one. I watch Viktor carefully, unsure what’s going through his head.
He sighs heavily. “Avelina?”
“Yes?” My voice sounds small, uncertain.
He scrubs a hand over the back of his neck, looking…troubled. “Would Geliy help someone target the compound even knowing you and the kids were here?”
I blink at him, completely thrown. “What?”
“The intruders—we found a connection,” he says, his tone grim. “It links back to Geliy.”
My eyes go wide, and a chill sweeps through me. “Oh my God,” I whisper.
“Do you think he’d help them even knowing you were here?”
My lip trembles as I bite down on it, my mind spinning.
“I think he might be mixed up in some bad stuff. In over his head,” Viktor says, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
A long breath escapes me, my shoulders sagging under the weight of old memories. “Getting tangled up with dangerous people is Geliy’s thing. It’s why we’re not together anymore.”
It’s been nice having Geliy check in on me and the kids as often as he has over the last week, but this morning he’s been radio silent.
“We don’t know what Geliy is up to,” Viktor says.
“Or how he’s connected to the men that attacked the compound last night.
Until we figure it out, you and the kids are safer here than alone.
My men are working right now on upping the compound’s security.
We’ll be able to protect you. Stay, Avelina. ”
“We have the apartment though.”
“And what if they show up there?”
I chew my lip. Would Geliy knowingly put us in harm’s way? But then again, is it really outside the realm of possibility? I just don’t know anymore.
“Stay,” he says. It comes out low, like the sound of rough gravel. And it makes my whole body shudder. I shouldn’t be having this reaction to his voice. There’s no threat behind it. But it’s something that sounds dangerously close to pleading—and it makes my body go weak.
“Viktor, I can’t. I have bills and rent to pay. I have to get a new job, and that takes time. I can’t just stay here.”
His mouth opens. Then closes. Then opens again. “Then work.”
My brow puckers. “I don’t understand.”
“Work here.” His voice is a terse command. “Earn your way here,” he says. “We need someone in the office to help us with paperwork. It’s a lot lately, and we’re all so busy. Just a few spreadsheets. Data entry. That kind of thing.”
I blink.
“It’d help us out, and you could stay here just in case something else happens.” His voice is slightly softer now. And almost imploring me. “It’ll be win-win.”
Is he being serious? “You want me to work for you? But I don’t… I mean, I don’t really have that kind of skillset.”
He nods. “It’s pretty simple stuff really, so no experience needed. It’s not hard. And honestly, you’d be doing us a favor. You’d be doing me a favor. And we’d pay you for your work, of course.”
And why does that last sentence make me hope that maybe he might just mean something else?
I bite the inside of my cheek as he stares me down. His blue gaze is intense. I can’t really tell if he’s just saying it to make me feel less awkward…or if he really means it.
I swallow hard and ask the thing I really need to know. “Are we safe now, Viktor?”
“Yes,” he says firmly, without hesitation. “You’re safe.”
Something in my chest loosens at those words, and a wave of relief crashes through me so hard it almost makes me dizzy. If something had happened to the kids…if something had happened to me… I can’t even think about it.
Viktor’s hand twitches like he wants to reach for me, but he doesn’t. He just looks at me with an intensity that steals my breath. “You’ll always be safe when I’m around,” he murmurs.
The words sink deep into me, warm and steady, a promise I somehow believe with every piece of my heart.
I let myself breathe.
We’re safe.
And I know, without a doubt, Viktor will make sure it stays that way.
I clear my throat. “If you’re paying me, you’d have to take food and rent out of my pay. That’s only fair. You’d do that, right?”
He nods again. “Yes.”
“But…” I take a deep breath. “Don’t you have to ask the other guys or something?”
“No.” His response is terse and final. And that’s it as far as he is concerned.
My lips part. I didn’t expect this. Any of this. The risk from Geliy, the offer of a job, the pleading in Viktor’s voice... I clear my throat. “You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t be offering you this if I wasn’t, Avelina.”
The way he says my name, almost in exasperation but also in a way that sounds like liquid heat, makes confusion wash over me like a cloud of mist. It’s disorientating me, making me almost dizzy.
And I need to focus. “Okay. But…I’ll need pay stubs and everything.
” I can’t risk running into problems with the IRS.
His mouth twitches in that almost-smile way of his, and I swear I might melt into a puddle on the floor right about now. “You’ll get them.”
Sofia comes into the room and tugs my arm gently. “We’re staying, Mama?”
I smile. “Yes. Just for a little longer.”
She nods and looks to Viktor. “Thank you for letting us stay. Can we still do that puzzle?”
Viktor’s lips twitch a little more, but he nods.
I look down at Leon, and his squeal tells me apparently all of us are on board now. The last two weeks have been the calmest he’s had in months. A steadiness he needs. That we all need. And maybe that’s the real reason I was so reluctant to leave…
“I guess we can unpack a little. If we can still use this room and the one next door? Or we can move to another room—”
“No. You’ll stay in my bedroom and the one next door. Where I can keep an eye on you all.”
I nod again, knowing from his resolute tone that he won’t change his mind on this. “And when do I start the job?”
“Monday.”
I smile again. “Okay, boss. Monday.”
Again, his lips twitch, and I’m willing him so hard in my head. Smile—just give me that darn smile that slips out very occasionally. The same smile that makes my insides turn into a flutter of frantic butterflies.
I meet Viktor’s gaze again, and it feels like we’re standing on the edge of something. Something big. Something dangerous. Something real.
And despite myself, I think, just maybe, I’m already falling over that edge.