Kyrill walked ahead of us toward the dock like this was completely normal, just another day. “Boss has very loyal friends.”
She peered at me again, eyebrows raised. “You have loyal friends?”
“Yes.”
“Friends withyachts.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “Yes.”
“And they’re just … fine with you using it?”
“Oh, yes.” I nodded. “Absolutely.”
She stared at my face for a long moment as she tried to read into it. If she was looking for signs of panic or guilt, she was out of luck. I wasn’t even sure if I could feel those kinds of emotions.
“Okay,” she breathed. “I need to ask something and you’re not allowed to get weird about it.”
Oh, this was going to be good.
“I won’t.”
“You promise?”
“No.” I grinned at her.
Addy huffed in irritation and then inhaled deeply, like she was about to jump off a cliff. “You’re not, like … mafia, right?”
Kyrill stopped walking so abruptly, I almost slammed into him.
Addy continued, words tumbling out of her now she’d started. “I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with organized … whatever. I just feel like it would’ve come up? Like, at least casually? ‘Hey, by the way, I’m in a centuries-old crime syndicate’. Feels first date relevant.”
I turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow.
Kyrill coughed into his fist. “We prefer the term—”
I cut him off with a furious glance. He was not going to fuck this up for me before we made it onto this goddamn boat.
Addy’s eyes darted between us. “Oh my God.”
“You’re okay,” I assured her. “Stop spiraling, baby.”
“I’mnotspiraling,” she snapped. “I’m processing my, well, whatever the hell we are, apparently being not simply a murderer, but some kind of organized crime lord.”
“Not a lord. My position translates to captain, I guess?”
“Right, because that makes it better,” she deadpanned.
I stepped closer, not enough to corner her, but close enough for the dock light to catch the edge of her expression — flushed and overstimulated, but not necessarily scared.
“You knew I was a criminal,” I reminded her quietly.
I couldn’t let her slip through my fingers now, inches from the finish line. I simply wouldn’t allow it.
“Yes, but I thought it was like … impulsive crime. Not structured crime.”
Kyrill made a strangled noise that might have been laughter.
Addy pointed accusingly at him. “He keeps reacting like that.”