And towardher.
Addy. My little devil who knew the names of each and every one of her guards. Who baked muffins for my men. Who smiled at criminals who had buried bodies and would do so again.
She didn’t understand how quickly friendliness could be weaponized.
Or perhaps she did and simply refused to adjust.
“She went to the warehouse again,” Kyrill said casually, a smile pulling at his lips.
I sighed. “I know.”
“She brought muffins.”
“I know.”
This time she had baked blueberry muffins and I was slightly pissed I didn’t get any. They were my favorites.
“You know, the cooks begged me to ask you to ban her from the kitchens.” Kyrill chortled.
My gaze snapped in his direction. “Really? Why?”
“Apparently…” He chuckled. “The kitchen looks like a fucking tornado blew through every time she bakes. They spend hours cleaning shit up.”
I winced. Yeah, that tracked. I loved this girl, but she was chaos personified.
“Remind me to give them a raise. I don’t think I’ve got the heart to ban her from the kitchens.”
“Weak.” Kyrill snorted.
I shook my head. “You wait until you find your girl. Then we’ll fucking see.”
He rolled his eyes and then studied me for a moment longer than necessary. “You’re distracted.”
“I’m not.” I glared at him.
“Your girl … she’s not built for sidelines.”
I stepped around the desk slowly. “Shewillremain on the sidelines.”
Kyrill’s mouth curved slightly. “You sound confident.”
“That’s because I fucking am.”
He tilted his head. “She walked into a secured warehouse full of armed men for fun.”
“That was different.”
“Was it?”
Yes.
No.
It was a warehouse on my compound, under my control and at least I had been fucking there.
This marina dispute was anything but controlled. It was about pride and perception, and men who measured respect in terms of retaliation.
On paper, the situation was straightforward. My uncle had taken this territory cleanly, decisively and efficiently months ago. The docks, the marina routes and the inbound shipments coming through this port were now under Bratva control. It was my responsibility. My problem.