“What board game shall I bring this time? Decisions, decisions.” Zedd asked. “Since Monopoly bored you all so much last time, how about Risk?”
Finch and I let out a simultaneous groan. We both hated Risk. But Zedd’s love of long and tedious board games was unquenchable. I was happy enough with their response to take a back seat in the conversation, my thoughts turning once again to that kiss.
It had been a hectic day. As soon as we got back to the house, I locked myself away in my bedroom. I didn’t want Nikolai to get the wrong idea but I needed time to process. We freaking kissed. We also were followed but I’ll let Nikolai deal with that.
Ohhh, that kiss. It gave me shivers as I thought about it, and once I started thinking about it I couldn’t stop.
I needed relief from the heat that had begun to build within me.
I skipped into the bathroom to run the bath. There was nothing like a steaming bath to soothe the tension that now riddled my body. If this was what it felt like after one kiss, I wondered how I’d survive anything more. Nikolai King had me in knots.
That night, the good outweighed the bad. Even if it only lasted a few hours, I had gotten a glimpse of my future here with Nikolai and it wasn’t as bad as I’d previously thought. In fact, I liked the look of it, of us. I liked how he made me feel and that’s all that I thought of as I climbed into bed that night.
A knock sounded at my door pulling my attention away from my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My eyes flitted down to the white fluffy towel that I was wrapped in and up to the turban-style towel wrapped on top of my head.
It was too early for Nik’s brothers to be here. I still had plenty of time to get ready. I held back from answering the door as I wasn’t exactly dressed for company. Instead, I called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s me. Who the hell else would it be?” Nikolai’s sharp voice cut through the door, his words causing my eyes to roll. Great, grumpy Nik was back. He ran so hot and cold he was like a faulty shower in need of a good plumber.
Oh, that sounded dirty. I was glad no one else heard that.
Ugh. “Hang on.” I rushed to pull the towel from my head. I shook my hair out, slipped my feet into my slippers and moved across the room.
“I’m busy. What’s up?” I asked as I swung the bedroom door open. Nikolai was still in his suit from this morning. He mustn’t have been home long.
His mouth flailed open and closed for a good full minute before I shook my head and started to close the door on him.
“Wait.” Nikolai’s hand slammed on the door, stopping it from closing. “I have to pop out to pick up Drex, his car broke down.”
“Okay.” I still wasn’t getting why this warranted a visit to my bedroom.
A slight frown pinched Nikolai’s eyebrows together. “Zedd is on his way.”
“Again, okay.” I was starting to get impatient to be left alone again. I wasn’t sulking but I did prefer my own space most of the time anyway.
“If you don’t want me to leave you alone with him, I’ll call a tow.”
I rolled my eyes at him. This was ridiculous. “Honestly, it’s fine. Go. I’ll be down in a minute. You sound like you don’t wanna go rescue poor Drex!”
He still looked hesitant but I shoved at his shoulders until he left. He needed a chill pill. What was the worst that could have happened? Actually I pushed that line of inquiry from my mind as I continued getting ready.
As I was making dinner, at my request, I had the kitchen all to myself. I secretly loved Nikolai’s kitchen, it was massive and so gorgeous.
I began cooking the ground meat and prepping the sauce. I was making lasagna, not only because I made a really good lasagna but also I hadn’t had it in so long. I hated store-bought garlic bread, so I’d opted to make my own, I just hoped I had the time. I was already behind schedule as it was.
“Hey, Ana.” Zedd walked into the kitchen as I began mixing the sauce and meat together.
“Zedd. Perfect timing. Since you’re early, you can help me.” I handed him a spatula. “Mix that,” I said, pointing at the meat and sauce.
“You’re cooking? Look who’s suddenly gone all domestic on us.” I watched him mixing for a moment, to make sure he was doing it right. He was. Right, onwards with the bread.
“For your information, this is a very normal picture for me. Cooking, I mean.”
“So I take it you’re not still freaked out?” Zedd asked as I tried to keep his hands away from the bowl of raw dough.
“About what?” I moved around the kitchen with ease. Compared to my old apartment, Nikolai’s kitchen was a castle, and I was the queen. I loved it, I loved it even better when I was on my own.
Zedd barked a surprised laugh. “‘About what?’ She says. About all of this. You do remember that my brother basically kidnapped you, right? Or has he drugged you too?”
Despite myself I smiled as I joked with him. “Why are you here, again? I didn’t think y’all were coming around until later on...” Suddenly Zedd faltered.
“I… We…I just figured you might like some company, while Nik was out.”
“Yeah, that’s nice and all, but what’s the real reason?” I wasn’t fooled. I knew there was more to it than he was saying.
With a sigh, he relented. “Nikolai thought it best if you weren’t left alone.”
“That sounds more like the truth,” I said, nodding. I was more amused than offended. Zedd on the other hand looked a little hurt.
“Hey! I did volunteer to come around and hang with you, so I wasn’t exactly lying. Of course, we weren’t told that you were a whiz in the kitchen, otherwise, I’m sure I wouldn’t have been the only one.”
“So where is Nikolai at the minute?”
“You know I can’t tell you that. Nikolai gave us strict instructions. When it comes to you - no work talk.” He dumped the spatula in the pan and crossed his arms, doing his best to give me a stern look.
“Picking up Drex after his car breaks down is work talk?” I asked. So there was more going on than he was willing to let on…
Zedd laughed. “Hey, I know where you’re going with this, and it’s not going to work!”
“Fine, I’ll give up. For now.” In the meantime, we had a lasagna to finish making.
“It’s Marino. Excuse me,” Drex said as he pulled away from the table to answer his phone.
“It’s unlike Marino to still be working at this time of night.” My eyebrows furrowed in curiosity at his words. Who the fuck was Marino?
The game had suddenly come to a crashing halt, with all the brothers fully focused on Drex as he paced up and down the foyer, I sat silently.
When Drex finally hung up and re-entered the room it was with renewed urgency. “We need to go, Marino’s place on Fifth has been hit.”
“The damage?” Finch asked, starting his own game of back and forth.
“A busted window, some graffiti,” Drex spoke as he pocketed his phone and shrugged on his jacket.
“The money?”
“Some, not all. The alarm went off and the police must have arrived before they could grab it all.”