Leveled: A Novella (Saints of Denver #0.5)(18)

Finally, my sister gave in to irritation. “Well? You just gonna stand there?” She huffed out a breath. “How does she look, Lev?”

Mina looked up at me through lowered lashes, biting the inside of her lip. She wrung her fingers together, and I wondered how it would feel to have those fingers run through my hair.

How did she look?

“Like art,” I responded sincerely.

Mina blinked, releasing the inside of her lip. Her mouth gaped slightly. Those full lips calling me to taste them.

She blurted out, “Nas took me to a fancy beauty salon. They did my hair and makeup.” She threw out her hands to show me her polished nails. “I had a manicure and pedicure too. Then I got my brows shaped and they waxed my le—” Realizing she was rambling, her cheeks turned pink and she finished quietly with, “But you don’t want to know about that.”

And still, I stared.

Taking a handful of bags, she slid past me, her upper arm brushing my chest. “I’ll take these upstairs.” I watched her make her way up the stairs in her heels.

She walked like a newborn calf.

Nastasia whispered, “We’re working on that. Give her time. This is all so new to her.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

My sister laughed. “You didn’t need to, Lev. You never need to.” She waved a hand over my face. “It’s all written there, plain and simple, for the world to see.”

I followed her into the family room, where Lidiya played with her dolls. “I gather today went well.”

“Not at first, but,” she smiled, “I had fun. It was fun. We went shopping, did girlie things, stopped for something to eat, and then…” She paused. “Okay, so we finished what we were doing, and I asked Mina if she’d show me where she lived.” Her face darkened. “I don’t know how anyone could’ve lived like that for seven years.”

Seven years? She lived like that for seven f*cking years?

I fumed in silence, wanting to beat to death the person who put her in this position, and I would find out who.

“We’re passing through the area, and suddenly she yells out ‘Stop!’ so, of course, I freak the f*ck out and pull over. She jumps out the car with her lunch and chases down this little teenage thug. He was just a kid, Lev.” She shook her head. “So I’m watching in the rearview and, finally, the kid stops. Looks about ready to smash heads. But then, he recognizes her. They talk. She hands him her sandwich. He smiles at her. She waves, walks back to the car, gets in, and acts like the whole thing never happened.”

“I see.” I saw from the very beginning. This girl was no thief. I was right about her.

Nastasia looked me dead in the eye and uttered, “I like her, Lev. She’s good people, you know?”

“No. I don’t know. Not yet.”

But I intended to find out.





Chapter Ten

Mina




“Mina?” I heard vaguely.

I wasn’t interested. Instead, I burrowed farther into the covers, desperately wanting them to merge with me so I’d never have to leave.

“It’s time to wake up, mouse.”

Pulling my chin under the quilt, I groaned long and pained. “Five more minutes.”

“You might recall that you said the same thing the last three times I’ve tried to wake you.”

Oh. That’s right.

It all came back to me.

Lev had been trying to wake me for the good part of twenty minutes, but every time I swore I was awake and fine to be left to get ready, I fell back asleep.

I peered up at him. He stood by the bed, looking and smelling freshly showered. His jaw was dark with stubble, and his light cologne smelled edible. My reply was muffled by bedding. “Okay, I’m up. Give me five minutes.”

“I’d leave you to it, but you’ve proven to be quite the fibber on that front,” he accused lightly.

I tried to scowl, but my sleepy eyes kept blinking, ruining the effect. His eyes, the color of warm honey, crinkled in the corners as he looked down at me.

I knew there was only one thing to do. In one fell swoop, the covers flew off me and I sat up, shaking my head to clear it of sleep. “Okay,” I chirped. “Yep. That did it. I’m awake.” But as my eyes began to droop again, I mumbled, “I’m sort of awake.”

“What are you wearing?” he asked, his disgust clear.

“My new pajamas,” I looked down at the canary yellow jammies and returned a little defensively.

He looked me up and down, and not in a good way. “They’re hideous.”

My nose bunched. “I didn’t choose them for the way they looked. They’re comfortable.”

I did not dare tell him that they were the bargain price of $4—new in pack, I might add.

My eyes had closed on me again, gosh darn it.

Lev had obviously never had an issue getting up in his life, because his large, warm hand was suddenly on my forehead. “Are you sure you’re all right? You seem lethargic.”

Lifting my hand, I pushed his away gently, and snorted. “I’m fine. It’s this bed. It’s magical. I never want to leave it. If I could, I would have all my meals served in this bed. This magical bed.”

I smiled sleepily up at him, but all I could focus on was his hard frown. He shook his head. “No, I don’t think you’re okay to work tonight. Perhaps next week.”