Ruthless Saints

“I like her,” I admit out loud for the first time.

“You liking her is what will get her killed. You know this.” Alexei comes to take a seat next to me and turns his body so he's facing me. Placing his hand on my shoulder, he continues, “She’s an innocent. She’s not from our world. Are you willing to risk her life?”

My eyes lock with my brother's. “I’m trying my best to stay away from her.”

Alexei shakes his head at me again. “Why this girl?”

Staring into his dark gaze, I only see worry where the rest of humanity would see death.

“She makes me feel alive. I’ve never experienced anything like the emotions I have when I’m around her.”

“Does she know what you do? Who we are?”

“Of course not,” I snap.

“Exactly my fucking point.” Alexei’s fingers begin to dig into my shoulder. “What do you think this girl will do the second she finds out who we are?”

She’ll probably be horrified.

Hailey will never look at me the same way again.

For a moment, I close my eyes, and it has Alexei pulling me in for a hug. “You can’t live in her world, and she won’t come into ours. It will never work,” he says, his grip on me tightening.

I know.

“I’m trying to stay away from her,” I mutter.

Alexei pulls back, and his sharp gaze searches my face. “How much do you like her?”

Way too fucking much.

Alexei sees the answer on my face, and it has him cursing. “This isn’t like Damien and Winter. I can’t arrange an alliance. I can’t do anything to fucking make this work for you.” His fingers wrap around the back of my neck. “I’m sorry, brother. If you care for her the way I think you do, you’ll let her go.”

I fucking tried.

“I can’t,” I answer honestly.

“How do you plan on keeping her safe?”

“I’ve arranged safety with Madame Keller. Hailey has the number and knows to phone them if anything goes wrong.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“You have enemies, Carson. You’ve just gained a whole Albanian family, and it’s going to take me a while to silence them all.”

“I’ll take care of it. It’s my mess.”

Slowly, Alexei shakes his head. “I’ve dealt with them before. Tristan almost lost everything because of the Albanians. I’ll handle it.”

Tristan’s my brother’s business partner back in LA. I haven’t met him yet, but I know Alexei is close with him.

“There is a way,” Demitri speaks up for the first time. “Come clean with her. If she accepts who you are, then you can get a custodian to guard her when you’re away for work. St. Monarch’s has two custodians in training who are pretty good. They’ll be up for auction soon. The girl will have to come over to our world, or you’ll have to let her go. Let her make the choice.”

Alexei gestures at Demitri, then he asks me, “Are you willing to tell her you kill for a living?”

Not at the moment.

I let out an empty-sounding chuckle as I shake my head. “I have to make her love me before I drop that bomb on her.”

Alexei pats my shoulder. “It’s going to take me a couple of weeks to clean up the Albanian mess. If you can’t make her fall for you before I have to go back to LA, then you let her go.”

It’s better than nothing.

“You take no jobs and guard this girl. If she dies on your watch, I’ll be fucking pissed with you.” When I nod, Alexei adds, “Just lay low for a while.”

I hate that he has to clean up the mess I made, but it will give me precious time with Hailey. Even if I have to let her go at some point, at least I’ll have more memories of her.

There’s a sudden burst of excitement in my chest, and Alexei immediately picks up on it. “You’re fucking in love.” He shakes his head. “I really hope this works out for you.”

HAILEY

It’s been two long weeks since I last saw Carson, and I’ve gone from hoping to run into him to trying to accept the fact that I won’t see him again.

It sucks. Huge, hairy donkey balls.

It’s also put a damper on the excitement I usually get while traveling. Honestly, I just want to curl up in my bed and cry.

I don’t understand why, though. It’s not like I knew him for that long. But, still, it feels like I lost something important.

Stop, Hailey.

I’m irritated with myself, and the constant feeling that I’m being watched is wearing me thin.

Maybe I should just pack up and move?

I’ve just left the bar after my shift, and walking home with my arms crossed over my chest, I keep glancing behind me.

This is ridiculous!

Stopping in the middle of the road, I turn around and call out, “Who’s there?” When there’s no answer, I mutter, “Coward.”