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but this young woman, so fragile and broken, but with a heart of gold and a steel spine she didn’t even know she had.
    He read the compassion in her eyes easily, and knew that was his best “in” with her. She would run at the first hint of interest, of a takeover, but she would be drawn to him if she thought he needed her help.
    He sank into the swing and tugged her hand so that she slowly, almost reluctantly sat beside him. Clearly she wasn’t used to being with a man, a stranger, but still, she was more worried about him than about herself in that moment, and he had no compunction against capitalizing on her compassionate nature.
    Her shoulder fit beneath his. His thigh was tight along hers. He wanted to close his eyes and rest, to just sit with her on the porch swing, something he’d never done in his life, but suddenly it was the most important thing in the world to do. He allowed her to feel his exhaustion, even his pain, although he sensed she did so on her own, that she saw far more than he would ever want another human being to see.
    â€œDid you take Caine to the hospital?” Lexi asked.
    Levi and Thomas exchanged a long glance with Max. Caine had been in no shape to go to the hospital or anywhere else for that matter. He’d been long gone by the time they’d arrived and probably begged for death long before he’d ever seen it coming for him. Gavriil hadn’t even broken a sweat. He’d straightened up slowly, looking at them, not with the eyes of a long lost brother, but rather the eyes of a killer, a man long lost to the world of humanity.
    â€œI’m sorry, honey,” Thomas said. “Well, maybe I’m not. He was dead by the time we got there.”
    â€œBut . . .” she protested. “He was yelling at me, calling me names. He was alive . . .”
    â€œHe bled to death, Lexi,” Max said.
    â€œI
murdered
him then.” She started to cover her face with her hands, but Gavriil caught her one hand and brought it to his chest.
    â€œSelf-defense isn’t the same as murder,
solnyshko moya
, and you acted in self-defense,” he said. He opened her fist and pressed her palm over his heart.
    Max exchanged a quick look with his brothers. Gavriil was using a very tender version of “my sun,” in Russian, an unusual endearment to call a woman he’d just met. “It isn’t any different than when we fought off the men coming to take Airiana away,” Max added. “We used every means possible to defend ourselves and those we love.”
    â€œI wanted him dead,” Lexi confessed in a little rush. “I hit the ground too hard because I wanted him dead.”
    â€œHe was an evil man,” Gavriil said. “Believe me, Lexi,I know evil when I see it. I’ve come across it enough in my lifetime.”
    That brought her attention immediately back to him. She tilted her head to look up at him. “You need to rest. You were up all night, weren’t you?”
    He nodded his head. “I traveled a long way to find Ilya and to see all of you. Sorbacov put a hit out on Ilya.”
    â€œI didn’t expect that,” Levi said.
    Thomas shook his head. “Sooner or later one of us is going to have to kill that man. There’s no reason to go after Ilya other than pure spite.”
    â€œWhy are you using your real name?” Max asked. “That’s a beacon for Sorbacov. You know that. Unless you’re just using it because you’re with family.”
    Gavriil shrugged. “I want him to know where I am after I leave here. Once I’m well away from all of you, I’ll establish a trail. He’ll send someone after me, and I can lead them away from Ilya and this farm.” That had been his plan all along. But now there was Lexi. What did a man like him do about a woman like her? He sure as hell had no intention of giving her up, or leaving her to Caine’s