NIKOLAI (Her Russian Protector #4) Read Free

stomach churned nastily. "Why would he do
that? All these years, he's put his motorcycle gang first. Why jump
now?"
    "I've heard there's an internal power struggle
in the club. One side wants to get in deeper with the Guzman
Cartel. The other side wants to make new alliances."
    "What does my dad want?"
    Eric shrugged. "Hell if I know. He's only ever
looked out for himself. Whatever he's playing at here, the endgame
is all about him."
    Another horrifying thought suddenly struck me.
"But, if he flipped on his club, they're going to want to find a
way to hurt him."
    His somber expression confirmed my worst fears.
"He didn't ask for your protection. I tried to talk to someone in
the Marshal's office about having you taken into protective
custody, but they won't confirm or deny your father is even out of
the pen. Houston PD doesn't have the budget to put a car on you
either. Not until—"
    "Someone tries to kill me," I finished for
him.
    He flinched. With a sigh, he confirmed,
"Basically. They have to be able to justify the man hours." As if
trying to calm my frazzled nerves, he added quickly, "Look, we
could be wrong. Maybe the club doesn't care about you. It's clear
you dad doesn't care about you, right? So why hurt you to send him
a message if he doesn't give a shit?"
    Though Eric's words were harsh, he didn't speak
them with malice. They were said matter-of-factly. "Because they're
crazy? Because they have a stupid honor code? Because they're going
to be pissed off? Because they'll want to send a message to every
member of their outfit that no one is safe if they betray the
club?"
    The cold fist of panic squeezed my heart.
"Eric, what the hell am I supposed to do?"
    Before he could answer me, a loud knock echoed
in my apartment. Our gazes jumped to the front door. Without a
word, Eric pushed off the counter and yanked his pistol from the
holster concealed under his jacket. He gave me a gentle shove
toward the fridge so I would be obscured from the open
door.
    Flattened against the stainless steel, I held
my breath and waited. Finally, I heard a loud exhale, the sound a
mix of irritation and relief.
    "You can come out. It's him ."
    Him? Nikolai.
    I stepped away from the refrigerator just in
time to see Eric open the door. Still holding his weapon at the
ready, he greeted Nikolai with the muzzle of his pistol. Not a word
was spoken between the men as they glared at each other.
    Cool and calm, Nikolai entered my apartment.
His gaze flicked around the space until he found me. His green eyes
raked down my form. I watched his jaw tighten before he turned to
shut and lock the door. "We have to talk."
    I had a sinking feeling this was a conversation
I wasn't going to like.
     

Chapter
Two
     
    Though it took all the restraint he could
muster, Nikolai managed to muscle down the urge to grip Detective
Santos by the wrist and take him to his knees. Only Vivian's
presence kept him from showing her cousin how very much he disliked
having a gun pointed in his face. He could appreciate Santos'
desire to keep Vivian safe but keeping the gun on him? That was the
detective's way of reminding Nikolai who stood on the right side of
the law in this equation.
    "Eric? Really ? Lower the gun already."
Vivian came around the bar and into the living room. She unzipped
her jacket as she walked and shrugged out of it. When she reached
up to tug the fleece band from her head, the front of her shirt
lifted up just high enough to give him a tantalizing glimpse of
skin.
    His gaze lingered longer than it should have
but he couldn't help himself. He tried not to be aware of her
enticing shape in those slim-fitting tights or the way the
criminally small shorts she wore barely covered the rounded curve
of her ass—but it was impossible. She'd long ago ensnared him,
rendering him completely helpless when it came to ignoring her
nubile body.
    Despite his best intentions to see Vivian as a
little sister and nothing more, he'd failed spectacularly.
Somewhere along