Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
SAVANNAH
“ H ow much longer is he going to be?” I was pretty sure Samantha, my boss’s secretary, was purposely trying to make my life difficult.
“I’m not sure,” she said, her tone far too perky for the FBI office. I could almost picture her chewing a wad of gum and doing her nails. I didn’t really know if she was, but it felt like that as she continued to put me off. I’d called four times today, and the answer was always said in the same annoyingly sweet tone.
“Samantha, unless the world is ending, there is no meeting that should take this long. It is imperative that I speak to the Executive Assistant Director right now,” I said, trying to sound like I still had some authority.
“Yeah…I’m sorry, Agent Freeborn, but he said that he didn’t want any calls from anyone unless it was the President.”
I smacked my forehead and took a deep breath. My boss was the second annoying man in my life today. Nathan hadn’t been much better. It had been three days since our kitchen escapade, and he refused to talk to me as well. We were back to silently loathing one another for vastly different reasons. The only male who wasn’t pissing me off was Cutter. He was still his same old self, other than the fact that he missed school, which was a whole ass conversation I needed to have with Nathan if he’d ever speak to me.
“Okay, look, Samantha, how about this? I’m going to leave you an important message, and I’m going to trust you to pass along the information.”
“Really?”
How did this girl get her job? Nope, I didn’t want to know.
“Yes, really. The job that I was working in Italy has been compromised, and my partner Marko is in danger. I was ambushed, and my son and I were almost killed.”
“Oh my god, but you weren’t right?”
I pulled the phone away from my ear and glared at it like that would bring some clarity. “No, I didn’t die,” I said sarcastically. “I wouldn’t be talking to you right now if I died unless you can talk to the dead. Can you talk to the dead?”
“Oh, no, I can’t, but that would be amazing. Not the dying part. That would be terrible.”
I really wanted to ask her what she smoked, but I kept my mouth shut. Maybe it was best that I would no longer be working there. If I had to deal with Samantha every day, I would need to start taking something for my nerves or kill her.
“Can I trust you to give him the message?”
“Yes, I will right now. The Executive Assistant Director just left his office. I’ll get him to call you back,” she said, and my mouth dropped open as the line went dead.
“Son of a….” I bit my tongue and smiled at Cutter, who was eyeing me from the corner where he was playing with his latest gift from Nathan. Of course, Nathan had gone out and bought Cutter an expensive tablet to play games and, according to him, do homework. Like I believed that was his intention. The joke was on him, though, if he thought Cutter would prefer to play games. Instead, he was already looking up how to speak Russian.
Helena had been by twice a day, and I loved that she was not only taking an interest in Cutter but seemed genuinely interested in me. My mom wasn’t exactly mother-of-the-year material, and having someone look at me the way Helena did made me feel like things just might work out. That was until I caught glimpses of Nathan glaring at me before walking away. What the hell was up with that?
I also needed clothes. I couldn’t continue to wear Kaylani’s. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t here for a month. What mattered was that it was strange as hell to be wearing someone else’s underwear. Unused or not, I felt like a creeper.
Helena promised to take me shopping as soon as she could get Nate, as she called him, to agree. That was going to be a hard sell. He seemed determined to remind me that I was his prisoner. Ring on my finger or not, I was as trapped as those I tossed in a cell.
I did like this living room, though. Apparently, it was one of four in the house. Who needed that many? This one looked out toward the backyard, and during the day, you could watch the birds that zoomed around the pretty garden. I’d watched a particularly hairy standoff between a squirrel and a crow yesterday. The crow won.
“Hi,” I startled at the sound of the voice behind me and turned to see Nathan’s brother Titus. I’d only met him that one night, but he left a lasting impression. He was not only nice, which was a miracle on its own, but he was an imposing man, standing at six feet-six inches. He had the same midnight black hair as his brother but the most exotic golden eyes. I’d never seen anything like them.
“Titus, right?”
He smiled and stepped into the living room as he held out his hand. That was when I spotted the two black dogs sitting in the hallway. I shook his hand, giving the dogs a once-over.
“They won’t hurt you or Cutter. They are better trained than Nathaniel,” he teased, the corner of his mouth turning up.
“To be honest, these days, that would be insulting your dogs,” I said, and he chuckled, the sound a deep baritone that matched the rest of him.
“So true.”
“Were you coming to meet Cutter?”
Titus turned his head to look at Cutter, who was in the process of sounding out words. “I was. Is this a bad time?”
“Not at all. Cutter? Come here for a moment, please,” I said, and he placed the tablet down and jogged over. “Cutter, this is your Uncle Titus. He’s your dad’s brother.”
“Hi,” Cutter said, looking up at Titus like he was a giant.
Titus knelt down to get on Cutter’s level. “Hi there, Cutter. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, which looked big enough to crush a melon. Cutter shook it before getting distracted.
“Oh, cool,” he squealed as he peeked around Titus.
“Remember what I said? You don’t run at dogs you don’t know,” I said before he could take off. He looked up at me, clutching his hands to his chest.
“Please, can I pat them?”
Titus chuckled. “Trust me, they love the attention. Hailey…Holly…come,” he said, and I had to look away as a flash of Nathan saying that to me danced in my mind. The two massive dogs crawled forward on their bellies until they were beside Titus.
“Which is Hailey and which is Holly,” Cutter asked, pointing at the identical-looking dogs.
“Hailey wears the pink collar, and Holly has the red one, but once you get to know them, you can tell them apart without the collars.”
Cutter held out his hand like I’d shown him to let the dog sniff, but Holly had other ideas. She licked his hand and arm, making him giggle.
“She likes you,” Titus said and then laughed as Hailey got into the mix. Soon, Cutter was hugging and petting the massive dogs.
“What breed are they? I thought they were Pitbulls at first glance.”
“They are Staffordshires, but larger than most. I have six dogs, all of them pairs. The two you saw at the club were Bella and Daisy. But they are getting older now and are mostly retired. My two new girls are Cane Corso.”
“You certainly like them big,” I said, and then my face flamed hot as he smirked up at me.
“I’ve never gotten a complaint,” he said just as Nathan walked in.
He looked at Titus and then my red face and back again. I could feel his mood changing like a rising tide. Nathan stomped to me and wrapped his hand around my waist, pulling me tight into his body, and Titus rolled his eyes.
“Relax, brother. I only came to meet my nephew,” Titus said, slowly standing as Cutter laughed, petting the dogs that were now trying to clean his ears. He wasn’t going to need a bath at this rate.
At the risk of pissing Nathan off, I stepped away from him and walked across the room to get my phone. I wanted a picture of Cutter with the dogs. They looked adorable, and besides, he was the one who had ignored me for the last three days. He was probably spending time with his other woman. I still hadn’t seen her, so she had to be staying at his condo or another house.
Nathan was glaring at me as I casually walked back to the men, whispering at one another. Ignoring them, I squatted down and snapped a bunch of photos. I’d officially turned into a mom-arazzi.
As I stood, Helena walked into the room with close to ten guards, and I froze. What was going on?
“I’ve come to take my beautiful daughter-in-law out shopping, Nathaniel, and I will not hear any arguments. You should be ashamed keeping her locked up in this house like some disgraced peasant wearing hand-me-down clothes.”
“But….” Nathan started, and Helena poked him in the chest.
“What did I say about arguments?” His mouth fell open. “Get to know your son. Maybe your brother here can help you look after him while we go shopping.”
“I’ve never left Cutter with anyone before,” I said, feeling uneasy about this.
“Well, it’s a good learning experience for both of you then.” Helena looked down at Cutter. “Do you mind staying here with your dad and uncle?”
“Can I still play with the doggies?”
“I don’t think they want to leave anytime soon anyway, so yes. I’d love to spend time getting to know Cutter,” Titus said as both dogs flopped on their backs while Cutter rubbed their bellies.
“Mom, it’s too dangerous. Until I get things sorted with this hit and know that Aldo is taken care of?—”
Helena glared at her son, and I suddenly knew where he got that look, and it wasn’t his father. “We have fancy armored vehicles and all this glorious muscle for a reason, do we not?”
“Well, yes, but?—”
“No buts.” She tapped on her phone, and Nathan’s dinged. “I just sent you the itinerary I’ve made for the day, as well as the route that I’ve already planned out in case there is trouble and you need to send help. I already dropped a pin so you can track us in live time. There, all your worries are taken care of.”
I bit my lip to keep from smiling. I was really starting to love Nathan’s mom.
“Fine, but I need a moment alone with Savannah first,” Nathan said, his eyes searching me out.
“I need to change if we are heading out. We can talk while I do,” I offered, not sure if that was a good idea.
Helena pointed at Nathan. “Do not even think about keeping her up there and doing…things. I have a schedule to keep, so your hands stay off the merchandise,” she said.
“Yes, Mom,” he said, shocking me as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
“Cutter, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay, Mom,” he said, but I could tell he was too busy playing to really notice.
We walked upstairs in silence, but as soon as we crossed the threshold of Cutter’s room, Nathan closed the door. He looked as pissed off as the first day he’d found me, and I had no idea why.
“What did you want to talk about,” I asked, wandering over to the massive closet and disappearing inside. I touched the dressier outfits that Nathan had grabbed from his sister’s wardrobe and picked one I thought would work best for shopping. Turning, I almost ran right into Nathan. “Jesus.”
“Does he make you wet?”
My eyebrows shot up. “Who?”
“Don’t play games with me, Savannah.”
I cocked my hip and crossed my arms. “I’m not, and don’t treat me like I’m a child.”
His jaw was starting to do that twitching thing it did when he was really pissed.
“My brother, Titus. Does he make you wet?”
“That’s a fucked-up question. No, he doesn’t,” I said, anger brewing in the pit of my stomach.
“He better not. I already told you that you’re mine,” he growled, stepping closer.
“This is what you wanted to talk about? Not anything else important that we need to discuss, or how about why you’ve been blatantly avoiding me for three days? You just want to make sure that Titus doesn’t make me wet? Wow, sometimes you’re such an asshole.”
I sidestepped to go around him, but he blocked my way.
“I also got you this.”
He pulled a ring box out of his pocket and lifted the lid.
“What the…Nathan, I can’t wear that. Are you kidding me?”
“No, you’re going to wear it and never take it off.”
“That thing is massive,” I said, staring at the glistening red stone.
“It’s a red diamond, four carats,” Nathan said.
“Exactly, I can’t wear that. I’ll get it caught on everything, and what if I lose it or…and why is it shaped like a heart?”
“Oh, that was just to annoy you,” Nathan said, smiling, and I narrowed my eyes. “I mean, if you really don’t like it, I could have a gem collar made so you can be led around like one of Titus’s dogs.” He smirked.
“Well, aren’t you just full of jokes today?”
“Keep up the snarky attitude, and I’ll get you one. To be honest, I’d love to see you crawl to me with a collar on while I held the end of the leash.” He smiled wide, and I sucked in a deep breath. He knew I didn’t do anything outlandish, and you didn’t get any more ostentatious than a four-carat, heart-shaped, diamond ring. What the hell?
“Where’s your ring?”
He held up his hand to show off a gold and silver band with a tiny red stone in the middle. Shit.
“Fine, I’ll wear it.” I held out my hand.
“Don’t sound so excited,” he said, and I bit back the anger that wasn’t going to help either of us.
“I’m just annoyed, Nathan. There are things we need to talk about, and ignoring me and trying to placate me with gifts isn’t going to make any of it easier to discuss.”
“I’ve been busy,” he said, walking out of the closet. “I’ll let you get changed, but we’ll talk before the week is out.” I followed him out and laid the clothes I was going to wear on the bed. “Oh, and Savannah, the paperwork is drawn up to have Cutter’s name restored to Mikhailov like it always should’ve been. Be prepared to sign them.”
“What….” He walked out of the room and closed the door on what I was going to say.
“Ever heard of asking first?” I yelled and fumed, stomping my foot.
It was official. I was going to rip his balls off. Forget having sex with him. That was a dick move. I would’ve said yes. That wasn’t even a question. However, the blatant disregard for my feelings or input was infuriating.
Thank God I was getting out of the house for a few hours because I was liable to go postal if I didn’t