13. Evgeny #4
She clicks on the image of a bloody woman running for her life and side-eyes me. “This one’s about a woman who’s kidnapped and then she kills the guy and makes her escape to freedom. Thought it might give me some pointers.”
“Me too,” I say without missing a beat. “Maybe I’ll get some tips on how to force compliance.”
“I’m guessing he doesn’t bandage her cuts and buy her pizza. That’s where you went wrong. You’re too nice. I think you’re supposed to instill fear.”
I hmph at her and slowly finish chewing the last of my pizza. “If you want to be scared, you only need to ask. Maybe I wasn’t completely off the mark earlier.”
“Don’t you dare start chasing me around the house with a gun. I’m assuming you own a gun. If you do, don’t chase me with it.”
“Don’t give me a reason to then,” I tell her.
I can feel her staring at me, so I turn to face her. “What?”
“I just have a million questions is all, but the vodka is really starting to hit me, and I need to eat more pizza. I still can’t believe any of this is happening.
I’m telling myself it’s a small vacation so I don’t go crazy or start freaking out, just a small vacation and then things will be back to normal. ”
“For you, yeah. I need to start preparing my own case while I also work on my cousin’s.”
“I still can’t believe you’re a Melnikov.”
“Don’t feel too bad about not figuring it out. No one has. I’ve worked very hard to keep it hidden.”
While she thinks, she reaches over and pets Watson’s rump. He seems perfectly content with how the night has turned out and knowing he’s okay with the new living arrangement seems to put Harper at ease.
After a few minutes, she says, “It must be very lonely for you, keeping all this hidden.”
“I’m fine.”
Sighing, she gets up and fills her plate again before sitting down and dropping another slice onto my own plate. Dabbing her crust in the marinara, she asks, “How do you handle women?”
“What?”
“Well, you can’t show any skin, so how does that work?”
“That’s a bit personal, don’t you think?”
She shrugs. “We’re living together now, Ev. I think we’re past the early acquaintance stage of things.”
“I think we passed that when we kissed and you grabbed my cock and tried to climb me.”
She laughs, and it’s so happy-sounding, even if that is just the vodka, that I can’t help but smile when I hear it.
“You grabbed me too,” she says.
“I did.”
“You’re avoiding my question.”
“I am.”
She lets out a softer laugh. “You’re infuriating. You really need to learn to let people in. I already know your secret. You don’t need to be so guarded anymore.”
“Yes, I do. You already know too much. There’s no reason to make it worse.”
“Fine. Keep your secrets.”
I know she hates not having answers, but I’m not about to spill everything, including the fact that I’m a fucking 28-year-old virgin. I’d rather save that humiliation for another day.
We watch the movie, both of us finishing our meal and having another drink before she starts to yawn. I look over to see her fighting to keep her eyes open.
“I packed everything I thought you might need, but I can order you anything I missed.”
“I just need to sleep,” she says, curling up on the couch near her dog.
She tucks her arms up by her chest like she’s cold, so I grab a throw blanket my sister gave me and start to put it over her.
She looks amazing in that tank top, and I can’t resist letting my fingers drag along her arm as I pull the blanket up.
She cracks an eye open at the touch, watching me pull the blanket higher before I graze her cheek and push her hair back behind her ear.
“You can sleep in a bed if you want,” I tell her.
“With the alcohol I’ve had I can’t be trusted to make wise decisions tonight. I’ll stay on the couch, cuddled up next to Watson’s butt.”
“How presumptuous of you,” I say, running my finger along her ear and then down her cheek. “I do have a say in this too, you know.”
She turns her head to see me better, even though I can tell she’s still having to fight to stay awake. “Would you turn me away?”
Instead of answering her and telling her the truth, that I feel powerless for the first time in my life when I’m around her, I pull the blanket up higher and say, “Get some sleep, Harper.”
The alcohol makes her more compliant. It’s useful information that I commit to memory. Losing her will to fight me by demanding an answer, she curls closer to Watson and shuts her eyes.
She looks beautiful and I briefly think about carrying her to my bed just so I can sleep next to her, but then I push it aside before I can act on it and instead grab the bottle of vodka and sit back down on the couch next to her.
There are a lot of things I should be doing, but for once in my life, I allow myself a moment of rest. There’s no getting Sasha out of jail tonight, and nothing I could force myself to do right now is going to change that.
I slowly finish my drink, watching Harper sleep, and when I eventually give in and join her, it’s with her legs stretched out over my lap and my hand on her thigh.