"How? I was with the Russians at their home when I bailed for the airport."
"Maybe the Russians told them?" Declan shrugs and glances at Zion as he rests his head on my shoulder and curls up in my arms. "It's getting late for the little guy."
"I should put him down for bed," I say. It's well past his bedtime.
"I'll show you to his bedroom," Katie says and leads me down through the hallway and up the stairs.
I tuck Zion into bed and quietly close the door. Katie stands in the hallway, waiting for me. "I'm glad you're okay." She pulls me into a tight embrace.
"Me? I was worried about you. I got your messages, but I couldn't get ahold of you, and when I tried to call you back and ping your address, you weren't on the map."
"I know," Katie says. "That was the point. No one should find us out here, except maybe your friends with the bratva. I wish Declan would have done a better job searching you at the airport."
"I thought he was with the mafia!" I head down the stairs, not wanting to wake Zion, and Katie is right beside me.
"That wasn't part of the plan. Declan can be a bit unconventional, but you can trust him. I promise I wouldn't have reached out to him if I didn't think he could help us."
"Even if he can help us, Nikita isn't going to let me walk away."
"What makes you say that?" Declan asks, catching the tail end of our conversation down the stairs.
Does he know Nikita? "I'm indebted to the mafia and the bratva. Nikita has been protecting me. At least I think that's why he was outside my motel room the other night. It might also have been because he doesn't trust me."
"He was outside your motel room?" Katie asks, her eyes wide as she glances at Declan. It's as though they're silently communicating, but I'm oblivious to whatever their look is conveying.
"What?" I ask, not getting it. "Nothing is going on between Nikita and me." If they're insinuating that I'm sleeping with a member of the bratva, Katie is so far off, she might as well be in the Arctic.
"You keep bringing him up," Katie says.
I hadn't realized that I'd spoken that much about Nikita. "He's just insufferable to be around. And he's expecting me to work under him at his club. I owe him for stealing his stupid house key."
"Working at his club?" Declan repeats, "that seems absurd for a stolen key."
"I may have also gotten caught breaking and entering." Although, I technically didn't get to break and enter unless jumping the fence counts. In that case, I'm guilty. "The boss expects him to pay for the new locks and added security measures. He's making me foot the bill."
"And how much is that, exactly?" Declan asks. His hands tighten into fists at his side. The man looks like he wants to pummel the shit out of something or someone.
"Nikita didn't say."
"You're not going back with those monsters," Declan says. He clears his throat and glances at Katie. Is he looking for her to back him up?
She stalks around the living room and rests a hand on his arm, and it seems to help settle him down. His fists relax along with his shoulders, and the tension seems to dissipate from him. "We'll figure this out together," Katie says.
There's a sharp rap at the door, and I hold my breath.
Is it the mafia? Have they come to kill my family?
"Open up!" a thick Italian accent permeates through the door.
"Go upstairs, lock yourselves in the bedroom with Zion," Declan says. He retrieves his gun, holstered from his hip, and a second weapon secured under an end table. He hands Katie the second gun. "Go!"