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"Honestly, this situation isn’t ideal If you and Aleksei walked hand in hand intolike Russia has never seen But if it was known that my most trusted enforcer had--what’s the word?--trifled with you, that would not be good"
I sed nervously, having no doubt he’d consider what Sevastyan and I had done trifling "You’d be angry?"
"Only that you would be put at risk If this continued, others would find out I would lose respect for not keeping my men in order, and Aleksei would lose respect for disloyalty to me Unfortunately, our business--and our safety--depends on respect With Travkin aggressing, we are already vulnerable He would use this to underanization"
"I don’t think Sevastyan and I are in danger of any ht feel some inexplicable connection to him, whatever interest he’d felt for ed was that he’d gotten to know me better, so ouch
"I would not even have approached you with this if I hadn’t seen your own interest in him" Paxán looked troubled as he said, "Still, just as I hat’s best for him, I must secure that for you as well And I’m not convinced he is what you need"
"Why not?"
"Aleksei lives a life of extre at Sevastyan with a look at once proud and a little ilance I’ve known him for nearly twenty years and have seen hily head!--"but I have never seen him respond to anyone the way he does to you His interest is dark, and that’s not necessarily a good thing"
Paxán hadn’t exactly answered the question "Are you warning me away from him?"
"I’m in an uncomfortable position Do I hinder his happiness to secure yours? Or do I dare hope the two of you could make each other happy? Matches like this weren’t uncoht-handhappiness? This all sounded so ominous--and permanent My commitment-phobe self was on full alert "This is really heavy I hardly know him"
"Did Aleksei tell you hoe met?"
"He said I should ask you"
Paxán raised his brows "That’s surprising He’s a very private man"
"He did say you took him in as a boy Will you tellthe slu for a foothold in the city And I saw thisa boy of nounique It was after the fall of communism There were thousands of street children, and many were harshly abused"