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I want to, but that doesn’t mean the guilt is going to magically disappear.

ChapterFifteen

Nico

Adrian is acting shifty, moving around in the passenger seat, wringing his hands as he looks at me. He keeps fiddling with his watch. He’s been like this ever since we visited the previous warehouse. In total, we’ve investigated four… and each was fine, no reason for suspicion. But this time, it’s different.

“Is something wrong?” I ask.

He looks across the street at the warehouse. This one is in a much quieter location. No cars pass us by, and the surrounding buildings look abandoned.

“I want to clear this last one out so we can hit the bottle,” he says, forcing a laugh, but it sounds fake. “Shall we get moving?”

“I’m not so sure,” I tell him.

“Huh?”

“I’ve been getting calls from a prominent client all afternoon. I’ve missed enough work as it is. I’m going to need to spend the next two days working from sunrise to sunset just to make up for today. Let’s leave this one until then.”

“Fortwo days?”

“Or we can have the men check it out.”

He swallows. Oh, Adrian. He couldn’t look more suspicious if he tried.

“No, we can’t do that,” he replies. “Think about it, cousin. We need to make sure that none of them are leaking crap. We can’t risk it.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm?” he says.

This is clearly a setup. It’s the whole reason I hired Adrian to begin with, to clarify if something like this was going on. There’s a real chance that when I walk in there, he will have men waiting for me, guns at the ready, either Russians or those loyal to him and my uncle. Perhaps these are men who want the old regime, Father and Luka’s filth, to return.

“I need to get to work,” I tell him. “Wait for my call.”

“It won’t take long,” Adrian says.

“I’ve made my decision. Is there a problem?”

“Nuh-no.”

“Good.”

* * *

I’m not lying about the work part. For two and a half days, I haven’t had time for anything else. I try to put Sienna out of my mind. That soon proves to be impossible, so instead, I settle for pushing her to the back of my thoughts… for as long as I can.

But she constantly pierces through. It’s hardest at night when I drag myself from the shower to bed to grab a few hours’ shuteye before doing it all again. The only way I can sleep is obsessively stroking my solid length, thinking of her, remembering the taste of her kisses, the sensation of her breath shimmering over me.

I lie awake, imagining her beside me, but also knowing that if she were here, I wouldn’t want to go to work tomorrow. I’d just want to be with her. The best I can do is order her some gifts, hoping she likes them.

Once I’ve caught up with my mammoth pile of work, I drive to one of my armories and put on a bulletproof vest. I wear a heavy jacket to hide the extra bulk, then stow two pistols in concealed-carry holsters. Adrian doesn’t notice anything suspicious when I pick him up.

I notice something, though. He’s even more on edge than last time.

“Get all your work done?” he asks, seeming jittery.

“Yes,” I say.