Chapter 27

“You need to get up.”

“I don’t want to. Just let me be, Varina, and go hang out with Ryan.”

It had only been a day since Dimitri told Kyle that he didn’t want to be with her, and she wasn’t handling it well.

“Will you at least join Max for dinner? He’s worried about you.”

“If I say yes, will you leave me alone?”

“No. For me to leave you alone, you need to get up and get dressed.”

“Fine!”

“I want to see you downstairs in thirty minutes.” Varina was trying hard to get Kyle over this slump. She didn’t want her to dwell on it. She still had Max and didn’t need to ignore Max because of Dimitri.

***

Kyle did as she promised Varina and cleaned herself up and went downstairs. She was hungry and was hoping she could grab something to eat without running into Dimitri, but she wasn’t lucky.

He was sitting at the island eating when she entered the kitchen.

She took a deep breath and walked toward the fridge.

“There is leftover meatloaf in the green container.”

“Thanks,” Kyle whispered to Dimitri. She was getting ready to cry again. Her vision was getting blurry, and she was trying to hold everything back. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t be in the same house as him.

Kyle left the room and went looking for Max. She needed Max; she needed to be held by him.

She went to Max’s room and didn’t bother knocking and went in crying. “I can’t do this, Max. I can’t be here with him. It hurts.”

“I know, little bee. Come sit with me,” Max told her. Right before she shut the door, Elliot ran in and took her spot next to Max.

Kyle chuckled at Elliot and scooped her up and sat the dog on her lap. “See, little bee, we love you.” Max kissed Kyle’s head and pulled her into him.

“Let’s get through this Viktor thing and then we’ll go on vacation and take a break from everything.”

Kyle sniffled. “I’d like that. Have you guys created a plan yet?”

“We have. I was planning on talking to you about it tomorrow, but long story short, we have five people we are going to feed information to and see where Viktor’s people end up.

“You will only be at one spot, and we can find out who the mole is by seeing if anyone shows up.”

“What if they show up at the wrong meeting place? How am I going to meet with him?” she asked Max, hoping they thought of this.

“We will have people at every place, and if it’s a place you’re not at, we deliver a message with a meeting point as we still know who the mole is, so we get the person regardless.”

“Thanks for taking care of me.”

“You don’t have to thank me, little bee.”

***

Dimitri didn’t think about the aftermath. He didn’t know how it would feel to see Kyle the next day or to live in the same house as her.

He wanted to hold her and kiss her when she walked into the kitchen. He was already regretting his decision.

“What’s wrong with you?” Anatoli asked while smacking him on the back.

“Kyle . . . I’m not sure I made the right choice.”

“I think you fucked up, my friend.”

“Tell me why you think that.”

“It’s obvious that you love her and you’re just scared. You don’t treat her like you do the other women you’re with. She’s good for you. Get over your fear and tell her that you love her.”

Dimitri sighed. “It’s not that easy. I don’t know what to do or how to go about this. Say that I do love her—what’s going to happen when she wants to get married or have kids?

“Does she even have a chance if she is with both me and Max?”

“You should let her decide that. If she wants both of you, and you’re both willing to share her and love her, then it shouldn’t be an issue.”

“You don’t say much, Anatoli, but you make sense.”

Anatoli laughed. “I know my droog.”

Dimitri felt as if Anatoli was right, but he didn’t know what to do.

He still wasn’t sure how he felt and wasn’t sure how he was going to give Kyle the life she wanted or deserved, but he did know that he had to put this aside until they could make her safe.