“That’s not what you said when I was a boy,” I reminded her.
She laughed. “You used to follow me around, begging for sweets.”
“You have any sweets you can share with this little one?” I asked. “I want to have a private word with her mother.”
Sarah tensed up as she looked at me, but I placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed my thumb along her neck, relaxing her.
“It’s okay,” I said in a soothing tone. “Alina will watch out for her. She’s perfectly safe here.”
“I thought she was safe at the gym.” Sarah’s voice was hardly more than a whisper. “I can’t believe what almost happened. If Nikolay hadn’t been there—”
“He’s here too, right through that swinging door. AndI’mhere. You guys are safe. But I don’t want to talk about what happened in front of her.”
Sarah reluctantly nodded and put Alexis down. She crouched in front of the little girl and took her hands.
“Do you want a sweet treat?” she asked.
Alexis looked at Alina, who gave her a warm, motherly smile. “These cinnamon buns were always my son’s favorite when he was your age. Would you like to try one?”
Alexis didn’t say anything, which I already knew was unlike her. The girl loved to chatter. But she pulled away from Sarah and went to Alina, looking up at her curiously. Her show of trust with my aunt made my chest feel tight. It was a sign that what she just went through at the gym hadn’t completely traumatized her.
In fact, Sarah and I were probably far more freaked out than she was. When I thought about what could have happened to Alexis if Nikolay wasn’t there, bile climbed up my throat.
I gritted my teeth and swallowed it down as I took Sarah by the arm and led her through the kitchen and into the manager’s office. It was Alina’s space to complete paperwork, a windowless room that was hardly bigger than a closet with a little desk shoved against the wall and a single chair. I closed and locked the door behind us and gestured for Sarah to take a seat.
The space was tight, and as I leaned against the desk in front of her, our legs were nearly touching. I took a moment to study her.
She was wearing a pink tank top with the straps of a sports bra peeking out at her shoulders and a pair of black leggings. It was all so tight that I could see every luscious dip and curve of her body.
But I couldn’t focus on that when Sarah’s face crumpled. A wretched sob tore from her chest, and she covered her face with her hands as she started to cry.
Holy shit.
I’d never been the one to comfort a crying woman before. People didn’t tend to think of me as the comforting type. So, I felt awkward as hell, as I moved closer to her, intent on doingsomething.
Her shoulders were shaking, and she was gasping with each breath, her face still hidden behind her hands. Since she was still sitting in the chair, I crouched in front of her, putting my hands on her knees.
“It’s okay. You’re safe,” I said, even though I knew she wasn’t crying because she was worried about being attacked here. This was the release of pent-up horror from the attempted kidnapping. Maybe some lingering fear from the night in the grocery store parking lot too.
“What the hell am I involved in, Dmitri?” she asked after a moment when she got her crying under control. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked at me with tormented, puffy eyes. “I don’t understand how this happened. I’m just a normal woman. I… I don’t run around with criminals.”
I flinched at that, and regret flickered across her face, but she didn’t take the statement back. She couldn’t. It was true, after all. I hadn’t directly confirmed that I was involved with the Bratva, but she knew it.
“I don’t know how I got here,” she said, her hands shaking violently as she sniffled.
I took her hands in mine, running my thumbs over the back of them. I didn’t know if I was doing enough to soothe her, but I also didn’t want to overwhelm her even more. My instinct was to pull her into my arms, enveloping her in my strength and warmth until she knew I was going to protect her.
But I was one of those criminals she spoke of. What if she didn’t feel secure in my arms?
So, I clung to her soft hands. Her green eyes were brighter after crying, and I stared into them for a moment. I wasn’t used to sharing the details of my business with anyone outside of the organization, and I thought it would be best to keep her in the dark before now, but I couldn’t do that anymore. She deserved answers.
“I think a rival mafia is behind all of this,” I said. “The Italians oversee much of Manhattan, but they’re some greedy fucks. They want to expand their territory, and their sights are set on Brooklyn. “
She swallowed hard. “And Brooklyn is your territory?”
One corner of my mouth ticked up in a half grin. “Smart girl.”
“I still don’t understand how I got involved in all of this. I’m not a part ofanyof it. I’ve never done anything wrong, and I don’t deserve to be harassed and stalked and threatened like this.”