Spying Under the Mistletoe (Love Undercover #2) - Stina Lindenblatt Page 0,32

however long it takes until the individuals who ordered the contract on you are in jail, and the ones who were hired to kill you meet the same fate.”

I shudder at his words and sip my whiskey.

Oh, screw that.

I take a long draw of the body-numbing beverage. “So, we’re talking a few days to a few weeks?”

“Something like that.”

And what happens afterward? He leaves, and a new substitute teacher is brought in to replace him.

And everyone knows that I was dumped.

Oh, joy.

“What if we kept our fictitious relationship a secret?” I suggest.

“Then there’s no point being in a fictitious relationship. We could just carry on as is. But we want whoever has a contract on you to know you’re not a sitting duck. We want them to know you have a boyfriend who will make their life more challenging if they try anything.”

“Wouldn’t me having a bodyguard do the same thing?”

“If people think you have a bodyguard, it will result in too many questions. Questions we’d rather weren’t asked. Plus, we want to draw out the person who is trying to kill you and put them away. That will be more difficult if they know my team is armed and dangerous. Then they’re less likely to make mistakes and get caught.”

I mull this over for a few seconds. Everything he said makes sense. But what do I know? I’m just a kindergarten teacher. “How’s he doing? Nikolai?”

A shadow of some unlabeled emotion flickers briefly on Landon’s face. “When was the last time you talked to him?”

I shrug. “Not for a few years. Not since I walked away from my family because I didn’t like what they stood for.”

“He’s doing fine. That’s all I can tell you.”

I want to ask him if Nikolai misses me as much as I miss him, but I don’t bother.

I’m not really sure if I want to know the answer.

12

Landon

I hate this.

I hate lying to Chloe, but I don’t have a choice. I’m doing this to protect her—or so I keep telling myself.

I hadn’t planned on telling her that Nikolai hired us to protect her. She was the one who thought he had, and all I could do was go along with it. It seemed like the best way to discover if he’s been in touch with her. But based on her answers and reactions, that would be a big no.

So basically, the one person we were hoping could lead us to him is as clueless about where he’s located as we are.

Our only hope now is that he’ll try to contact her—since he knows she’s hanging out with one of the individuals responsible for his grandfather being in prison.

Note to self: Tell Ava that Chloe thinks Liam and his team are working for Chloe’s cousin.

Yep, Liam’s going to kill me for dragging his wife further into this mess, but there’s not much I can do about that. I’m doing the job we were hired to do.

Chloe gulps down the contents of her glass. I remove it from her hands and set it on the table next to the half-empty bottle. She’s already had three drinks, and she doesn’t come off as someone who regularly consumes alcohol.

I don’t want her to regret it tomorrow when she has to teach a bunch of noisy kindergarteners.

“Since you’re moving into my town house for the time being,” I say, “we should pick up some of your things from your apartment.”

She flops her head against the back of the couch. “God, this is such a mess. How will I explain this to anyone? Kiera will think I’ve gone insane.”

“I don’t give a damn what everyone thinks. You’re my number one priority. And I bet Whiskey doesn’t give a damn either.” I nod at the snoring puppy asleep on Chloe’s lap. “I can guarantee he’ll be happy you’re my new roommate.”

Chloe laughs. “You might be right about that. He seems to want to adopt me as his personal pillow. He’s definitely the single perk in all this.” She grins at me, the weariness from earlier after she was attacked fading slightly at the edges.

She might be grinning, but the humor from a few seconds ago vanishes from inside me. The flash of fear that coursed through me when I witnessed the man dragging her to her feet still lingers like the stench of ripe stilton cheese.

But that momentary fear wasn’t the only emotion I experienced at the time. Pride had swooped in when she hit him in the back of the