He was already reading too much into the situation.
It shouldn’t have mattered that they kissed, or even that she made him feel something he couldn’t explain. She was still a Gallucci, and he was a Markovic—the two families just didn’t mix. But as he waited for her to reappear, that distinction didn’t seem to matter to him.
Taking in her space, he eyed it carefully—the soft gray walls, the mixture of fabrics and textures, something Vera would have pointed out, if she were there. His sister always liked to point out things whenever they were together, like she couldn’t control the impulse. For the most part he tuned her out, but sometimes he picked up on smaller details.
Kaz had only been waiting a few minutes when Violet reappeared, dressed in a pair of jeans that hugged her hips and contoured to her legs, along with a simple white tank-top beneath a bomber jacket. Despite how understated she’d attempted to be, she still stood out. She had even gone so far as to pull the long length of her hair up into a ponytail, and washed the makeup from her face.
It almost felt like he was dealing with another person entirely—like seeing another side of her. He had never seen her this way, so ... vulnerable.
But he liked it all the same.
“Ready?”
Nodding without a word, she grabbed her purse and a set of keys, exiting her apartment first before he followed. The ride down to the lobby was quiet and uneventful, but when they stepped off the elevator, she hesitated, looking over at the desk attendants before making a decision about them and turning to go out another exit at the side of the building.
“They answer to my father,” she said softly when they were outside and the metal door was swinging shut. “Since he pays their salary, they’re more willing to tell him what I’m doing.”
Made sense that she wouldn’t want them to be seen leaving together. Earlier, they hadn’t come in together, so there was no reason for the clerks to report to Alberto about who they had seen coming in.
Reaching the mouth of the alley, Violet scanned the street. “Where’s your car?”
Withdrawing his own set of keys, he hit the button on the fob, the headlights to his Range Rover briefly flashing in the darkness of the night. “Probably best that I hadn’t brought it, no?”
She didn’t respond, not verbally, but he could tell she was thinking something.
Going around the front of his truck, he opened the passenger door, offering her a hand as he helped her up and inside. One she was situated, he hurried around to his own side and climbed in, starting it up, and turning on his lights.
“Are all of your windows tinted this way?” she asked, gesturing to the windshield with a wave of her hand.
“I like my privacy.”
And that was the truth. All three of his cars had the same window treatment, and though his apartment faced the beach, he was so far up from the ground that with the sun reflecting on the glass, no one could see in.
Pulling out onto the street, Kaz was mindful of where he was and who he was with. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t driving the car everyone associated with him, it only took a single person to fuck this up.
His eyes were on the road, his attention focused when Violet called his name. When he looked in her direction, she looked uneasy all of a sudden, but was turned in his direction.
“I’m sorry about your brother. I didn’t know anything about what Franco was going to do, honestly.” She was quiet for a moment before continuing. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I never said anything negative about him, or you for that matter.”
Kaz contemplated her answer, rolling her words around in his head. Before he had been too angry to see reason, and hadn’t really wanted to listen to a word she said, but now that he was slightly more rational, he believed her. It could still be that the kiss they shared was frying his brain, but for the time being, he accepted her word.
“Is he … is he okay?”
“He’ll be fine,” Kaz said softly. He didn’t bother to mention that Ruslan had suffered worse under the hands of someone that was meant to love him. And before he could talk himself out of it, he added, “Thank you though, for your concern.”
She nodded, and for the rest of the time, they rode in a comfortable silence. When they reached the outskirts of Brooklyn, and closer to his territory, she sat up a little straighter, becoming more aware of her surroundings.
“Don’t worry, krasivaya. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Reaching across the seat, he lifted her hand, stroking his thumb along the back of it to calm her. He could understand her fear, not knowing what to expect, and placing trust into a person that she’d probably always been told was the enemy.