“I’m Lucy,” she introduced herself, taking the hand offered to her to shake. “Kit’s best friend.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lucy,” Vali responded, the picture of gentlemanly manners, had I not been able to see the outline of at least two weapons concealed on his body. “This is my sister, Elena.”
Sister? I choked on the sip of water I had just taken in an effort to combat the sudden bout of dry mouth I was experiencing in Vali’s physical presence.
“Are you okay?” he asked, frowning in concern and patting me on the back while I coughed the stray water droplets out of my lungs.
“Um, yeah,” I spluttered. “Totally fine.”
“Why don’t you guys pull up some chairs and join us?” Lucy offered, and I gave her a grateful smile.
“Thank you, Lucy.” Vali nodded. “We would enjoy that.”
Sister? I mouthed to Lucy while Vali and Elena sorted themselves out chairs, and Lucy grinned.
Dibs, she mouthed back at me, and I snorted a laugh. I guessed her relationship with Finn really wasn’t monogamous.
“Vali, what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be flying under the radar?” I frowned. “Dragon pun not intended. But has something happened?”
“Yes and no. I’d like to speak with you in more detail later, if you and Lucy might join Elena and me for dinner?” He arched an eyebrow at me in question, and I froze.
“We’d love to, wouldn’t we, Kit?” Lucy kicked me under the table, but I hesitated.
“Luce, River—” I started, and she shook her head.
“River will be fine if you are with Vali. He is one of your dianoch too, is he not?” She glared at me, and while I knew she just had the major hots for Elena, she also had a point. It wasn’t like Vali could really come back to our apartment at Omega Headquarters, either.
“You’re right. I’ll send him a message so I don’t get chewed out over the phone.” I shot Vali a shy smile and pulled out my phone, tapping a quick message to River. I wasn’t stupid. I knew he was going to be pissed, but Lucy did have a point. Vali was just as qualified to keep me safe as any of the guys. More so, even, if his Romani danger alert system was still working.
“So what’s the plan for the afternoon?” Elena asked, beaming with excitement. Something gave me the feeling she didn’t get to hang out with other girls very often.
“Just a bit more shopping and then we were going to head home, but we can do dinner instead. Anywhere in particular?” Lucy was like a damn puppy that had just been shown a squeaky toy; it was actually really entertaining to watch. Reluctant as I was to admit it, my relief at hearing Elena was Vali’s sister, not girlfriend, was making me a bit jittery. It also seriously changed things.
For a while longer, Lucy and Elena carried the conversation while Vali and I played some sort of silent game exchanging heated eye contact and then breaking away before being dragged back like a damn magnet.
As the four of us left the café in search of shoe shops, Vali took my hand and held me back from the girls, letting them get a few paces ahead of us.
“Drag?, I need to ask a favor of you,” he said quietly, still holding my hand in one of his warm palms. “Elena is no longer safe within my home base in Nevada. I’ve been doing a little bit of company restructuring, bringing all our business ventures in line with the law and cleaning house of any unsavory employees.”
“Vali,” I groaned. “Why do I get the feeling that when you say cleaning house you really mean you’ve been killing people and leaving them in shallow graves somewhere in the Nevada desert?”
“Beautiful, you watch too many movies. I would never bury my own victims.” He looked down at me with a dead serious set to his face but a mischievous glint in his familiar, granite eyes.
“I don’t even know if you’re joking or not, and it worries me that I’m not more worried. Anyway, what’s the favor?”Almost without even meaning to, my hand flexed in his, and our fingers twined together.
“Could Elena come and stay with you for a little while? Just until I take care of the troublemakers and show them that I am still in charge, despite my desires to legalize our business.” There was a cold fury to his voice, and I definitely would not want to be on the receiving end of his anger.
“Of course she can. Omega HQ has got to be just about the safest place for her, right?” I smiled and squeezed his hand reassuringly. We’d reached the shop Lucy and I had been intending to hit before heading home, and the two girls were inside trying on shoes already while Vali and I stood outside.
“I mean, knowing she’s your sister makes it considerably easier to accept.” I grinned. I couldn’t help myself.
“What did you think she was?”
“Um, your girlfriend?” I felt my face flush with heat and looked away, suddenly really interested in the window display.
“Ah, that makes sense now, the weird mix of emotions you were putting out at the café just before. You had previously been feeling guilty for being attracted to me, hadn’t you?” His lips pulled up in a cocky grin, and I wanted to shoot him down. But he wasn’t wrong.
“Whatever. Yes, she can stay with us. Wait, does that make her Cole’s sister too?” The thought had just suddenly occurred to me.
“Technically yes, half sister. He doesn’t really know her though; she lived with her mother growing up and only came to move in with me after her mother died several years ago.” He stared through the window at the stunning brunette, and I could see the affection for her on his face. “I’d do anything to keep her safe. Just as I would for you.” He turned his hard eyes down to look at me with such a serious, charged look that it sent a shudder through me.
“Sorry, this is all...” I dislodged my hand from his, even though it required an immense effort to do so. “I’m not used to having so many people care so much, and it’s all just getting a bit overwhelming. Maybe dinner isn’t such a good idea after all.” I folded my arms, tucking my hands under my armpits like I was hugging myself.
Vali’s intensity when he spoke of my safety, on top of River’s use of the L-word this morning in the shower... it was sending me fast into a bit of a panic attack.
“Shit, drag?, don’t do that,” Vali cursed, sliding one of his huge hands around my waist and pulling me back close to him. “I can feel you freaking out. I’m sorry if this feels really fast. I know the last time we saw each other things were different. But I feel like I know you now. We’ve talked so often that it feels...” He trailed off with a manly sort of shrug.