Hunter was sitting at my feet and I was taking the tags off my new clothes when a knock sounded at the door. With the dog on my heels, I walked through the modern apartment André had put me in and looked out the peephole.
I opened the door. “Mr. Luna.”
André smiled. “I’m mister now?” He scratched Hunter’s head.
All men were mister now, except one. “Yes, but I might be persuaded to make an exception because you took me shopping.”
He chuckled. “Gotta hand it to you, chica. Twenty minutes, one and done. Impressive.”
I was motivated. “Thank you again.”
He waved me off. “Marek sent me to take you home.”
My heart leapt and my pulse raced. It’d only been twelve hours. “So soon?”
“He doesn’t mess around.” André eyed me as if to tell me something I didn’t already know.
“No he doesn’t. Let me get my things.” I was so excited to see Dane, I threw my clothes back in the shopping bag without folding them, and grabbed my purse. “I’m ready.”
André led me and Hunter to the elevator and we took it to the garage where another man in a Luna and Associates shirt was waiting next to one of Andre’s black SUVs. The left side of his face was swollen and black and blue.
André made the introductions. “Tyler, this is Miss Tsarko. Irina, this is Tyler. He’s going to be outside your penthouse until Marek gets home.” He didn’t mention Tyler’s face.
Looking less than happy, Tyler eyed the dog then nodded at me. “Ma’am.”
My heart sunk. “Dane isn’t at his penthouse?”
André opened the back door and Hunter jumped in. “Not yet. Soon, chica.” He helped me inside then got in the front passenger seat as Tyler got behind the wheel. “You know where you’re going?”
“Affirmative,” was all Tyler said.
Luna’s phone rang as Tyler pulled out of the underground parking. “I’m running your errand…. Copy. Address?” Luna nodded. “Hold on.” He handed the phone to me. “It’s for you, chica.”
Butterflies swirled in my stomach and heat hit my cheeks as I took the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, beautiful.”
Deep and rough and so very sexy, his voice filled my head and my heart. “Hi.” I wished I wasn’t in a car with two other men.
“You waiting for me?”
The question made my skin tingle with awareness as an ache built between my legs. “Yes.”
“Did you do as I asked?”
My voice went even quieter. “Yes.” The ice and the bath.
“You feel any better?”
“I’m fine.” A little soreness wasn’t going to stop me. I wanted his hands on me the second he came back.
“How’s Hunter?”
“Persistent.” He’d followed me everywhere today except when André took me into the store.
Dane chuckled then turned serious. “I miss you.”
I closed my eyes for a brief moment. “Same.” God, I missed him.
He dropped his voice to pure seduction. “I want my mouth on yours.”
I sucked in a breath. “Same.”
“Your responses are getting shorter,” he teased.
“You know why.”
“Mixed company. I get it.” His tone went all business. “Did you eat today?”
“Yes.” André had religiously fed me three square meals and Hunter once, as if he would get in trouble from Dane if he didn’t.
“Good. I’m going to be a few more hours. Go to bed and I’ll let you know when I get home.”
The whole conversation from an outsider’s perspective would’ve seemed so normal. And it was, but it was also surreal and it made my stomach flutter and my skin tingle and it planted a seed of hope in my heart that I’d never had.
I glanced at André and Tyler, but they were quietly talking. “I like that,” I admitted.
“Like what, sweetheart?”
Every time he called me sweetheart or love, I felt myself falling harder. “The last word.”
His voice softened. “Ditto. See you soon.” He hung up.
I handed the phone back to André.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “You good?”
“Fine, thank you.”
He nodded and a few minutes later we were in the underground garage of Dane’s penthouse and André was helping me get out of the car. Hunter hopped out next and kept to my side as we all walked to the elevator.
“Hold up. Keep an eye on her a sec, Tyler.” André patted his leg twice. “Hunter, come.”
Hunter followed André out of the garage. I was a terrible dog watcher. That was three times today André had remembered to take Hunter out.
They returned a minute later and I pet the top of Hunter’s head as he came to my side. “He’s well trained.” He didn’t even need a leash.
André chuckled. “Would you disobey Marek?”
Heat flamed my cheeks. “No.”
“Smart move,” Tyler grumbled.
“Watch it,” André snapped.
I looked between them and instinct kicked in. “Did Dane do that to your face?”
Neither of them said a word as we got into the elevator.
The doors slid shut and I demanded an answer. “What happened?”
Resigned, André exhaled. “He was shooting at you. Marek got pissed.” He glanced at Tyler. “Rightfully so.”
Tyler shook his head at André. “I knew what I was doing, boss. I saw her. I wasn’t shooting at her. I was returning fire at the driver and the guard behind him.”
“You hit her mother,” André countered.
“She was waving her arms around like an idiot!” Tyler yelled.
André smirked. “You don’t want collateral damage, don’t shoot at another man’s woman. You’re lucky that’s all he did to you.” He tipped his chin toward me. “Might want to apologize.”
Tyler looked at me with absolute sincerity. “I apologize and I’m very sorry about your mother. It won’t happen again.”
“Apology accepted.” He didn’t need to know how I felt about her, and the irony wasn’t lost on me that we both had bruises from disobeying Dane.
The elevator doors slid open and Andre let me and Hunter into Dane’s penthouse. “Tyler will be out in the hall until Marek returns. If you need anything, let him know.”
I hugged André. I didn’t know why I did it. I wasn’t a hugger, but it was instinctual and he’d been kind to me and I wanted to thank him. “Thank you.”
His arms, big and strong like Dane’s, wrapped around me and he hugged me back, but there was nothing similar about the way he and Dane felt. “Anytime, chica, anytime.” He released me and squeezed my shoulder. “Glad you got your tomorrow. Take care of yourself.” He winked and walked out.
Tyler handed him the keys, and I watched André get in the elevator.
“Do you need anything, ma’am?”
I glanced at Tyler. His back to the wall by the door, he stood with his legs slightly apart and his hands clasped in front of him. A gun sat in a holster attached to his belt.
“Do you want a chair?” Standing for hours wouldn’t be comfortable. Viktor’s bodyguards had never stood for hours.
Tyler smiled and I could see he would be handsome if his face wasn’t a mess. “I’m fine, ma’am.”
I nodded. “How are you going to get back to the office when Dane comes home?”
“I’ll call base for a pickup, ma’am.”
I knew why Tyler didn’t have his own vehicle. The one I’d driven away from the shootout had so many holes in the hood, it was smoking by the time I’d gotten back to Viktor’s. Surprisingly, the windshield had been intact, but the car itself was totaled. “I’m sorry you’re short a couple vehicles.”
“No worries, ma’am. All part of the job.”
I nodded, but I still felt bad. “Okay. Good night, Tyler.”
“Good night, ma’am.”
I locked the door and ten minutes later, I was in bed with a canine lying across my legs.