Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal #2)(50)

“What would I have said—that nothing was as it needed to be?”

Violet frowned. “Hello—you could have said hello.”

“You’re right.”

She hadn’t expected him to just come out with that omission, but she was grateful for it.

“Next time, call,” Violet said. “I worried.”

Kaz only nodded.

She took that as a battle won.

His hand only left her thigh for long enough to grab the wheel and take a sharp turn before it was right back in place, holding tight.

“Tell me,” Kaz started to say, “did Konstantin behave himself?”

Violet almost laughed.

Almost.

Kaz had posed the question with barely a smile and a dullness to his words. Yet an edge lingered right behind all the same.

“Define behave,” Violet murmured.

His grip on her thigh squeezed a little harder, making Violet laugh.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Kaz said almost conversationally, “because I do like Konstantin a great deal—old friends and all that are hard to keep loyal. But if he tried any of his crazy nonsense—even jokingly—I don’t mind making a quick trip back to Chicago. I could be back before the night was even out. Don’t test me on that. I really don’t mind.”

Not once had Kaz looked away from the road.

Not once had his expression wavered from his cool, calm appearance.

Violet reached over and patted Kaz on the cheek with her hand, feeling the scruff of his facial hair tickle her fingertips. “He behaved.”

Kaz smirked. “Good.”

“With me,” she added, considering Amelia.

“What does that mean?”

Violet quickly recapped the whole Amelia situation. She was vague because, frankly, she didn’t know much at all, and Konstantin hadn’t offered any explanations when she asked.

Kaz laughed when Violet finished. “Ah, his problem, yes?”

“Pardon?”

“He said he had a problem to take care of—nothing else. Seems like an easy problem to take care of if he wanted to.”

Violet swallowed back the lump in her throat. “You can’t mean—”

“Killing her? Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. She may be just a girl, but she is just a girl with a father who came into their territory and threatened them. She is just a girl who comes from the same family you come from. She is just a girl, Violet, but she is not just a girl at the same time.”

“Oh.”

“Mmm,” Kaz hummed noncommittally. “As I said, it seems like an easy problem to handle, and he’s not handled it yet, which means good things.”

“Good things,” Violet echoed.

“I think so.”

Violet wasn't quite sure what to make of any of that, so she’d hope for the best, even if she seriously doubted Amelia gave a single shit about her.

History was what it was, after all.

Sometimes, it just went bad.

Kaz let go of Violet’s thigh again to grab the wheel as he turned on the blinker and smoothly pulled the car into a free parking space at the end of a street. He’d not explained much about their plans for the day, but Violet was happy to follow along blindly anyway.

She’d missed him.

Did it need a better explanation than that?

Turning in the seat, Kaz reached up to stroke her cheekbone softly. “This—your friend—is one of those things you’ll have to put aside and forget about, Violet. It’s not like you have any say what happens now.”

“That sounds cruel.”

“Of you or of me?”

“Maybe both,” she said.

Kaz sighed. “You’re right—it is. And this is just one thing, but trust that there will be more times, more people. But for right now, you and I are going to visit a friend’s restaurant and have a nice lunch together because there’s nothing else to do, and we have something to celebrate. Yes?”

Violet didn’t think it was that simple or easy, but she knew Kaz had a point.

“Fine,” Violet agreed.

Kaz turned away, stepping out of the car and rounding the front. Violet had just put her hand on the door handle when Kaz pulled her door open, a hand already outstretched to take hers. Stepping out onto the street, Violet looked around, recognizing a bit. Nearly mid-Brooklyn, she was pretty certain it would never be okayed from the Italians that the Russians were this far into their territory, if even for nothing more than a dinner that had nothing to do with business.

“Should we be this far up in Brooklyn?”

Kaz didn’t even blink. “Why shouldn’t we be?”

Well, then …

Violet smiled when Kaz pulled her closer to his side and walked them down the street toward a restaurant with a modern décor on the outside and a large front deck with seating for those who wanted to dine outside.

It was too cold for that, though.

“A week?” Kaz asked out of the blue.

Violet’s brow furrowed. “A week for what?”

“Do you need a week to plan something for a wedding?”

She damn near stumbled in her step, but Kaz’s stronghold kept her moving and on two feet at the same time. “That’s a bit soon.”