Page 75 of His Forbidden Obsession

Niko’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my God. I forgot about Alina. We just… I was… She’ll know what happened.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his distress. “I think she knew what was going to happen when I came in here, but she also told me she has noise-canceling headphones with her, so we could be as loud as we wanted.”

His cheeks were bright pink. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“Don’t be. I think if she has her way, she’ll be doing the same thing with Landry. Well, not exactly the same thing, but⁠—”

“Landry? You think she…”

“Didn’t you notice her flirting with him yesterday?”

“Not really. She said he was hot, but after that, I was too busy trying not to be assaulted by a lizard, snake, spider, God forbid an alligator.”

Once he had the T-shirt on, I helped him walk to the bathroom. Lucky for him, Alina wasn’t in the common area. He took a piss, and I insisted he lean against the sink as I got the shower going.

I found some trash bags under the sink, so we wrapped his cast in one of those. I insisted on helping him in the shower, even though we barely fit in the tiny stall. We were both too exhausted for more than actually getting clean, but that didn’t stop me from appreciating the feel of his slick skin against mine. This wouldn’t be our last shower.

When we were both dry, I wrapped a towel around his waist.

“I’ll help you to the bed, then I’ll get you some water and a snack.”

“I’m okay now. I can walk by myself.”

He shrieked when I scooped him up in my arms. “Maybe I’d rather carry you. You said you’d do whatever I wanted.”

“Lorenzo!”

“It’s no problem. Carrying you is easy,” I said as I headed for our room.

Niko smiled at me as he nestled against my shoulder. “You’re so strong.”

“I need to be to defend myself and my family. It’s a bonus that also means I can carry you.”

I set him down on the bed gently. “Get under the covers and relax. I’ll be right back.”

He was asleep before I returned. I set a bottle of water and a protein bar on the nightstand, kissed his forehead, and stepped back into the living room. I needed to check in with my brothers.

29

NIKOLAI

Islept for several hours and woke up starving. I ate the protein bar Lorenzo had left me and quickly downed the whole bottle of water. Once I felt like I was awake enough, I put on some joggers and a T-shirt I found in my backpack and stepped down into the living room.

Lorenzo was in the kitchen. He looked hot as hell in a simple T-shirt and faded jeans. I hadn’t known he could cook, but he was by the stove, tossing something in a sizzling pan.

“You cook too?”

He smiled. “I sure do. I’m making us stir-fry for dinner. Do you want to see if Alina wants some?”

I felt my cheeks heat. “I don’t know.”

“You’re going to have to see her sometime. She doesn’t care, and maybe she didn’t hear anything on her side.”

He was right. I knocked on Alina’s door. No answer. I knocked again. Still no answer. “You’re sure she’s in there?”

“She better be. Open it.” The concern in his voice sent a shiver through me. I turned the knob and swung the door open.

Alina was sitting cross-legged on her bed, typing away on a laptop, but she jumped up, and suddenly, there was a knife in her hand.