Page 37 of Fake Fae-Ancée
"Theactualkitchen?"
His eyes narrowed. "You're quite feisty, considering I saved your ass again."
I snorted. "Really now? None of this would’ve even happened without you pulling your usual ego act."
"My usual ego act?"
He flopped down on the opposite couch, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The black fabric stretched across his muscles and I had to wrench my eyes away, heat or rage or something else I didn’t quite trust coiling in my belly. And why did I have to think about that stupid kiss now? Why had I even kissed him back? Jerk!
"I could have taken precautions," I muttered.
Kalinin snorted. "What precautions? Your powers are gone. Nox would have handed you your ass back!"
"I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" I said, louder than intended.
"That’s the point. You can’t. Not right now, anyway."
"Protecting me was never your job!"
He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees, folding his large hands, his eyes narrow slits.
"Whether you like it or not, when you said I do, back in the day in Amsterdam, it became my job.Youbecame my job."
"What every woman is dying to hear," I snorted.
"If someone wants to kill you, I won't let them. And that's that."
Yuri rose and walked to the fancy tea kitchen, leaning against the counter with his back to me.
He was lucky the doorbell just rang through the penthouse, otherwise I would have given him a piece of my mind. But I bit my tongue this time. Better to keep my temper at bay now, before I ended up not getting any straight answers again. The most important one right now: who would send a killer after me? And why?
Granted, plenty of people would have liked to see me dead. Being a P.A.S.H. agent wasn't a popularity contest. I had arrested enough Breachers to fill an entire maximum security prison. Adding to that, friendly fire was an occupational hazard. Had it not been for Yuri thoroughly screwing up my kill score for years, more fellow agents would probably hate me for doing my job too well and making them all look bad.
But if I caught Yuri correctly, it was his people who had hired the assassin to kill me.
Why the hell ever?
Apparently I pissed people off just by existing.
Bates reappeared. "The Honorable Witch Yli-Pekkala Baba, Your Royal Highness."
I blinked.
Behind Bates, a dazzling woman in a silky black fur-coat entered, a pair of killer heels clicking menacingly on the floor as she strode across the room. She looked not a day older than fifty, but you could never be sure with Witches. A wave of snow-white hair dripped elegantly down her face. Taking off her luxury sunglasses, she curled scarlet painted lips into a small smile.
"Little prince, what have you done," she said, sounding rather amused. A barely noticeable accent was entwined around her words. She held out one gloved hand. Kalinin jumped up, taking it and breathing a kiss on it.
"Auntie," he muttered. I struggled not to snort with laughter. However, I froze in my seat when the Witch turned her gaze on me.
"And you must be the infamous Officer McKenn, I believe, yes?" She pulled off a glove and approached me.
I startled. Infamous?
"I have no idea who you are," I said, rising from my seat, dumbfounded, and took the hand she was offering me. A short handshake, firmer than you would expect from someone looking like her.
"Oh, that doesn't matter." The Witch measured me up and down with an amused glint in her eyes. "I know everything worth knowing about you."
Frowning, I accepted the business card she pulled out of nowhere.
