Page 14 of Beyond Enemy Vows

I walk back out into the living room. The fire is dead, but I don't feel cold. I don't know what to feel.

The only thing I know for sure is that my brothers would kill him if they knew he was here. They'd kill me too, probably.

Looking at the clock, it's just after midnight. So evening in Boston.

Keira should answer. I need to talk to someone, someone who won't judge me or lecture me.

I grab my phone from my purse and dial her on FaceTime, curling up on the couch as I wait for her to answer.

She answers on the third ring, green eyes and red hair filling the screen as she adjusts her camera. "What are you doing up? You do realize it's late there, right?"

"Wow, you look amazing," I say automatically.

"Thank you," she says as she continues to get ready.

"Where are you going?"

"Dinner with a guy who thinks I care about his yacht." She winks. "Also, I'm keeping this," she says and lifts up my Hermès bag I forgot to bring.

"That's fine. I told you it's great with your skin tone anyway."

"So, is everything okay?"

"He came," I blurt out.

Keira pauses, mascara wand halfway to her eye. "Who came?"

I swallow. "Niko. Niko Petrou."

"Wait. That guy from your dad's thing?"

"Yes," I say. "That Niko."

She smiles. "Ohhh, so you did text him."

"No! I mean, I thought about it. A lot. But I hadn't yet. I went to that pub you told me about up the road, just to get out of my head, and he... he just showed up."

Keira's jaw drops as she leans closer to the camera. "No. Fucking. Way."

"Yeah."

She grabs some wine and takes a sip. "Okay, I don't know if I'd be extremely turned on or mildly terrified."

"I know!" I groan, pressing the heel of my palm into my forehead.

"Okay, so what happened when he showed up? I need details, Calli. All of them."

"He just appeared. Took my wine like he owned it, drove me home because it started pouring, said cryptic shit the whole time like, 'I don't wait long for what I want,' and?—"

"And?"

"And nothing. He dropped me off. But Keira, it was intense. The way he looked at me. Like he could see right through me."

Keira fans herself with her hand. "I mean, damn."

"Keira!"

She laughs. "Okay, so he tracked you down without being invited. That's either incredibly romantic or deeply concerning." She tilts her head. "Which way are you leaning?"