can see—anyone with eyes can see—you’re crazy about that little blonde thing, and Liza doesn’t like it.”
“I’m not crazy about anyone. It’s complicated.”
“No, it’s not.” He sighs and shakes his head. “You want her, she wants you, but for you, there’s emotion there, and you’re not used to that, and it’s freaking you out and stopping you from making a move. You could have found someone else to hack Popov. You could have trusted Damen.”
“We don’t know the Greeks well enough—”
“Boss, you know I totally respect the shit out of you. There’s no one I respect more.” Vasily has interrupted me, which normally would be a huge no-no, but right now, I’m fucking up left, right, and center, so maybe I ought to listen to him.
“But…”
“But you hiring her to hack Popov, that wasn’t purely business, K. It fucking wasn’t. You can tell yourself it was until you’re blue in the face, as the British say, but it was more than business. You went with your gut, and I think you went with your gut because you wanted to keep her close to you somehow.”
He’s right. I know he’s right, and I have no answer. I’ve screwed up. I don’t mix business with pleasure, and now I’ve gone and mixed business with something much deadlier. Feelings.
“Fuck,” I say and sit heavily in a chair.
“I don’t get why you don’t just make her your girlfriend or something?” He shrugs.
“Unless it has escaped your notice, she’s here against her will,” I say.
“If you don’t think you can take that girl home right now, and tell her you’ll pick her up tomorrow and take her for a drink, and she’ll be waiting for you eager as fuck, then you’re the one not noticing.”
He reaches into his pocket and takes out a cigarette. It’s the only room in the house I allow smoking. Mostly, it’s cigars, but Vasily still smokes one or two cigarettes a day; sometimes more if he’s stressed.
He lights it, sucks in the smoke as if it is life itself, and blows out on a relieved sigh.
“She’s so far gone for you it’s not even funny.” He shakes his head. “She’s in love with you, K.”
I bark out a shocked laugh. “No, she’s fucking not.”
“Yeah, she is. She might not even know it herself, but I’ve been watching her, and I’ve seen the way she looks at you. I didn’t want her here at first, still don’t, but then my reasons were that I didn’t trust her. Now? Now, I know that girl isn’t going to betray you, not unless she’s forced the way Denis did, because she’s fucking in love with you. Which is a whole other issue and reason I don’t want her here. She’s gonna complicate everything, but she’s into you.”
She’s in love with me?
It makes no sense. She doesn’t even like me.
“I did some digging,” he says. “Can I share without you killing me?”
“Yes,” I grit out.
Fuck, I need a drink. I head to the cabinet and pour a shot of vodka. I hold the bottle of Grey Goose up to Vasily who shakes his head.
“Bit early, K,” he says with a soft laugh.
“Yes, it is, but I fucking need it.” I pour a large shot and take a swig. “So … talk.”
“I looked into her, did some digging. Now, I’m no expert hacker like our friend, Damen, but I can dig around when I need to. That girl, she’s broken, man.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s had a shitty, shitty life. Her father walked out when she was really little, and her mother.” He shakes his head and blows out smoke. “The mother was sick, mental and emotional health issues, really bad. Apparently, she lost custody of Cassie when Cassie was young, so she had to go stay with her grandparents. She got a lot of love from them, but she loved her mum. She loved her mum to pieces, but her mum just couldn’t cope. Kid went back and forth a fair bit at first, before staying with her grandparents permanently.”
“How do you know all this?” I ask, suspicious suddenly. “This isn’t the sort of shit you can find online.”
“No.” He takes another puff of his cigarette. “It’s the sort of shit you can find by fucking her best friend, an old school friend she doesn’t see very often, but still keeps in touch with. That’s where I was a couple of nights ago when I came in late.”
I stare at him, and I don’t know whether