My heartbeat increases with every word he says, and feeling frustrated as fuck, I shove a hand through my hair. “I’m only going to say this once. My loyalty belongs to you, Alexei. That’s the end of this discussion. You will stand down until I can join you, or I’m leaving Ariana alone on the island to meet you in Seattle.”

Alexei’s quiet for a moment, then he finally relents, “Fine. I’ll have Nikhil track Tao until you can join me.”

I take a deep breath of relief. “Don’t you ever fucking say shit like that again.”

“I’m sorry, brother. I just don’t want you to look back one day and realize you had no life at all because of me.”

“I have a life. One I’m perfectly happy with.” Sitting back down in the chair by the monitors, I say, “Let’s do a panic test.”

Alexei, our brothers, and their wives wear tags around our necks that I can activate to track them in case one of them needs help.

A moment later, the alarm comes through on my phone, and it shows me Alexei’s at Koslov & Hayes, which is the business he runs with his friend Tristan.

“Got it.”

“Yeah, yeah. You just wanted to make sure I’m not already in Seattle,” Alexei calls me out.

“Do you fucking blame me? Guarding you is like trying to protect a kid that’s on a sugar rush.”

My words draw a chuckle from my friend. “How are things there?”

“We haven’t killed each other… yet,” I mutter.

Alexei chuckles again. “Is she so much of a handful?”

“You have no idea. Never before has a woman gotten me this worked up before. Everything she does and says hits a fucking nerve.”

“Hmm…”

A scowl forms on my face. “Don’t even go there.” Alexei has a habit of playing matchmaker for everyone. He was the one who arranged the marriage between my brother, Damien and Winter. “This is just a job.”

“If you say so.” I hear the teasing tone in Alexei’s voice, and it makes my scowl deepen. “I have another call coming through. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later,” I mutter, and then I set the phone down on the desk.

Still upset that Alexei even considered going on a job without me there to watch his back, I get up from the chair and stalk out of the security room.

When I walk into the living room, Ariana glances at me, looks back at the TV, and then her gaze snaps back to my face. Her eyes widen, apprehension tightening her features.

“W-what’s that look for?” she stammers.

Frowning at her, I ask, “Did I miss something?”

Confusion flutters over her face. “Ah… you… for a second there, it looked like you were going to kill me.”

Letting out a sigh, I head to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I drink half of it before I turn around to face Ariana again.