18. Kade

18

Kade

I t worries me that Tessa is so desperate to leave this place. Doesn't she understand she's safer here? The last thing we need is her returning to her life and being kidnapped the very next day.

Mashkov does not mess around. If it's truly him who's after Tessa - and I have no reason to assume otherwise - she's in grave danger, and so are her children.

Alberto has been blowing up my phone all day. He's worried about Tessa. Marie, too. He dispatched a security detail to Marie's home after the attack on Tessa, just in case Mashkov had discovered Tessa has a sister.

There's no sign of anyone watching her or her daughter, but the Russians can be dangerously unpredictable.

"Once we deal with the threat, you can go back."

"And how long do you expect that to take?" She turns to face me, her arms folded across her chest. I try not to let my gaze drop, but it's damn hard when she's pushing her perfect tits up and I can see her nipples are hard.

"Who knows, but for now, you're safe, so suck it up, buttercup." The last mouthful of bourbon slides down my throat like fire and I swallow with satisfaction. Madden won't be happy when he finds out I took his bourbon, but I couldn't sleep. There are too many tangled threads caught up in my head.

The sooner we root out the traitor in our organization, the safer we'll all be. If Alberto is taken out, everything we've built will fall apart. He has no male heir to take on the mantle of power, and even though he treats me like a son, he's not officially declared me his heir.

Alberto's death would put Dante in charge, and nobody wants that. That fucker wants locking up. He's too fucking dangerous to be allowed to run free. The only reason he's not heavily medicated in some psychiatric hospital is that Alberto loves his brother and believes locking him up is inhumane.

And therein lies the problem.

Family is Alberto's weakness. It always has been.

I look up to see Tessa glaring at me. "Harry starts kindergarten in September, which is less than a month away!"

Irritation flares inside me. She's pissed. I get it. But does she not understand how much danger she's in?

"I'm doing my best to sort this out, Tessa. If I take you back too soon, you'll likely end up locked in a basement in one of Mashkov's properties, where he'll use you to taunt Alberto. Trust me when I say you won't have a good time in his custody." Mashkov is not quite as sadistic as Dante, but he has similar tastes. They both enjoy hurting women.

I feel bad for scaring her, but she needs to understand the level of threat she's facing. She slumps in her chair, apparently accepting my warning. "OK."

"Look, I get you don't want to be here, but it's the safest place right now. Madden and Cin are good at their jobs. If they're willing to throw themselves in front of a bullet to save a bitch like Angelina Black, they'll make sure you and the kids are safe."

Tessa's mouth drops in surprise. "Angelina Black is a bitch? I always thought she was a sweetheart!"

I chuckle at her naivety. "Her PR team is the best in the biz. And they need to be. The woman is a raging lunatic and nasty with it. She tried to seduce Cin, but he turned her down, so then she tried getting him fired. Only she didn't realize Madden and he were friends. She's lucky they didn't pull the plug on her before the stalker took a pot shot at her. But Madden's a professional and he wasn't going to leave her unprotected at such a high-profile event."

"Do they still work for her?"

"No. She has another security company taking care of her now."

"Good."

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Good?"

"Yeah. Cin's a sweet guy. He doesn't deserve to have some thirsty cougar bitch all over his ass."

I choke out a laugh. "We are talking about my brother, right? The guy who's seduced virtually every attractive client they've ever worked with?"

"Are you saying your brother is a manwhore? That's not very loyal."

"Is the sky blue?" She glares at me. "Look, I love my brother, but he has a weakness for attractive women - and men. He means no harm. With Cin, what you see is what you get. No-strings fun. Madden doesn't like it when he fucks around with the clients, but they're adults, and as long as nobody gets hurt, he turns a blind eye."

I don't miss the brief flash of disappointment that flutters across her face before her expression shutters. Have I missed something?

"Look, Tessa—"

The small listening device on the table next to us flashes red and we both jump at the sound of Chloe whimpering. Tessa pauses to see if she settles, but whimpers turn into full-on cries, followed by Harry telling her to be quiet because he's trying to sleep.

"Thanks for the chat. It's been enlightening," Tessa says, jumping up. From her tight expression, she's still upset about being stuck here, but it won't be forever.

A curtain of red hair swings across her face as she reaches over me to grab her empty mug. I inhale her sweet scent and try not to look at her breasts. Two wet patches bloom over her nipples as Chloe's cries echo through the baby monitor.

She looks down, cursing when she realizes her breasts are leaking milk.

"Sorry," she mumbles, embarrassed by her body's natural reaction to her baby's distress.

Before I can reply, she pushes the door open and disappears into the house, leaving me with a motherfucking hard-on.

Again.