1
Karolena should have considered how much she hated getting her hands dirty before she’d accepted a job as a glorified maid for an entire building full of dangerous men and women. Especially since her new co-workers reminded her so much of the bad people she was running from.
Except even in the twenty-four hours she’d been employed by Shields Security Services, she could see its staff members weren’t precisely the same as her evil ex. Or maybe she simply wanted to believe she hadn’t landed herself in worse trouble than the sort she’d so recently,hopefullyescaped.
She prayed again that she’d spent enough time around liars and thieves to have faked her background check well enough to pass the scrutiny of her new bosses.
Karolena wrenched the cap off a fresh bottle of cleaner, breaking yet another nail in the process. Of course. As she dumped the hyper-blue liquid into the bucket at her feet, each glug of chemicals did nothing to cheer her mood. Her mop plopped into the mixture with enough force to slosh a fountain of now-sudsy water onto the slate tiles of the kitchen floor she was attempting to make shine. If only she’d ever done routine housework before, she might have better technique.
Was getting it so wet going to mess up the grout or wreck the finish? She had no clue.
Karolena groaned. She couldn’t afford to lose this job. As shitty as the work was, the opportunity had met every requirement of her desperate plan. It paid better than anything else she’d seen given she had exactly zero skills or qualifications. It also came with room and board. Even benefits. Plus a bonus she hadn’t even hoped for…built-in security. Because although the Shields didn’t realize she was on the run, they sure as hell weren’t about to let random strangers wander into their headquarters.
Especially not when they and their loved ones, including the founder Jordan’s pregnant wife, lived there too. Karolena had lucked into the perfect haven and she couldn’t fuck it up now.
“Wow, that’s really foaming up.”
Karolena jolted.
How was Tavish so quiet in those black leather boots that paired so nicely with his kilt? She’d assumed the security guard—or whatever his actual title was—had been dressed up for the Shields’ party the night before. If instead he planned on flashing those sexy legs covered in amber fur all the time, she was going to have to build an immunity to him, his cut muscles, and his easygoing appeal. His Scottish accent agitated her because it piqued her interest. It also reassured her given that her Russian heritage colored her own speech more than she’d like, even when she concentrated on stifling all hints of her foreign roots. No one here seemed to judge her for how she spoke or where she came from. For a company outside of a major metropolis, they seemed pretty accepting of people from way, way out of town.
Of course, they wouldn’t be so nice if they knew who she really was and what she’d been a part of, unwitting or not.
Karolena forced herself to concentrate on the giant mess she was making before she gave herself more to clean. She swallowed hard. Even the astringent chemicals she’d probably used way too much of in the wash water couldn’t completely obscure the scent of Tavish’s soap or cologne or whatever that spicy vanilla smell was that she was quickly beginning to associate with him.
He leaned in for a closer look, his slightly longer than shoulder-length hair tumbling forward over his collarbones. Tavish scooped the locks into one hand and pulled them into some messy half-up, half-down topknot, man-bun thing that she never would have expected to find attractive. Yet on him, it was.
“Is it supposed to do that?” Tavish pointed at the foam expanding across his floor. The mat of bubbles thickened until it looked as if winter had come early. The apartment he shared with his partner, Legend, gave off upscale rustic vibes, grounded in comfort. Weathered wood, stone, and wrought iron details came together beautifully. It made her feel like she’d been safely ensconced in a bear den. Or maybe it was the size and dark scruff of Tavish’s roommate that gave her that impression. Karolena shivered even as she hoped she didn’t ruin anything in their home.
To distract herself, she took the mop and flailed around in the lather with it. That only made it expand faster, gobbling up her ankles and the mat in front of the sink. Tavish hopped back to spare his boots. Maybe this wasn’t how it was supposed to go?
How the hell would she know if the floor cleanser was working properly? Oh, right. She was supposed to be a professional.
She hated to admit it, but seeing her nails already ragged and uneven instead of perfectly manicured didn’t improve her mood. When had she become used to being pampered? Was that why it had taken her so long to break away from Vladimir despite the way he’d treated her for years?
Karolena attempted to disperse the ridiculous pile of suds along with her dark thoughts by smooshing them around with enough force that the mop handle creaked. Her frantic swipes only seemed to agitate the soap, increasing its volume instead of reducing it. Sort of like the feelings that kept bubbling up inside her now that she was, for the moment, safe.
“Everything okay in here?” Legend asked as he passed through the kitchen, hopping from the edge of her multiplying disaster then over it entirely like an elegant and considerate socked gazelle instead of the grizzly he resembled.
“It’s fine.” She intended to talk to Tavish, Legend, and the rest of the Shields as little as possible. If they would go away she could get the situation under control without their watchful stares on her every movement.
These men and the rest of their friends were capable and insightful. She would be foolish to forget it.
Not only because of the predatory movements they made or the way their eyes stalked her as she worked near them. Not only because of the gun safes she’d spotted tucked neatly into each of their closets when she was wrestling with the vacuum earlier. Not only because she’d explicitly and repeatedly been warned that the basement was strictly off limits. Not only because they might figure out where she’d come from and either kick her out or send her back.
But also because they could so easily make her care. Something she’d sworn never to do again. James with his quirky fashion, tact, and conversational interview style had thawed the first corner of her heart. Kennedy, who’d reviewed their medical benefits including mental health services and asked if there was anything Karolena needed right away had cracked her resolve to be cold and aloof. The endless parade of laughing, ridiculously happy lovers Tavish had introduced her to the night before made her wish for a fairytale ending of her own.
It was a temptation she had to resist.
While avoiding Tavish and Legend’s curious stares, Karolena glanced at the photograph magneted to the side of the refrigerator she was swiping around in an attempt to spread out the mountain of bubbles. Of Tavish, in a more formal kilt. Craggy mountains pierced a bright blue sky in front of a still, deep lake. Boulders tumbled around the edges were blanketed in green and yellow moss. It made a dramatic backdrop for the bridal party he had been part of. Off to the side of the groom, who looked too much like him to be anything other than a brother—or a maybe a cousin—Tavish cheered as the happy couple kissed.
Did moments like that happen in real life? At least for some people?
Something so ordinary and beautiful and traditional seemed far more improbable to her than the life she’d lived, which would probably seem out of reach to most. Sure, it had been filled with luxury and glitz, endless wealth and a ruthless pursuit of more, but it hadn’t meant anything to her.
None of it had been real.
And all of it had come at the expense of so many innocents.