“I’ve thought of that,” she admitted. “Mostly, after talking to Evangeline. I grew up away from everyone, so I have no reference to what it would be like in school. She didn’t either, and she’s worried for her children. She asked me if I thought it would be a terrible thing to homeschool them. At the time, I said it was a distance in the future and we should cross that bridge when we came to it. Still, it made me think.”
“What did you think?” He began a slow massage. Her skin was always so warm and inviting. She never moved away from him or denied him touching her. He loved that about her.
“I didn’t know what to think. I really didn’t miss going to school because I never went. I didn’t miss having other children around. I was too busy. When I got older and went out on my own, I had to catch up socially. All the books in the world don’t prepare you, but I did it. Evangeline said there are other women, wives of some of the other men. She likes them and says I will too. They’ll have children. Our children can be friends.”
He bent his head to press a kiss to the small of her back. “You’re absolutely right, they will have children, and we can make certain they get together.”
“What are you going to do about your uncles? Lazar and Rolan?”
“Nothing. Not right now. We’ve gotten word out to all our friends to watch them and every entry point we know they use to get in and out of the States. We’ll be prepared, but the more time we have, the better that will be.”
“You don’t sound worried.”
“I’m not. Their greatest weapon is a leopard. Leopards are scarce. We killed not only his top man, but several of his best soldiers. We also destroyed the leopards who had joined with Beau and Gilbert, which meant his local recruits are stamped out. If we missed any of them, Drake is bound to ferret them out. He’s that pissed. He isn’t likely to miss anyone or anything this time around. And Joshua is looking closely at all the men who had originally worked for Rafe Cordeau. Neither Lazar or Rolan is going to chance losing any more of their assets until they’re stronger. That means alliances. We’re working on a plan.”
“What if they just decide to kill all of you and get it over with? They could put a hit out on you.”
“We would know immediately. He would have to go to someone like Elijah. There is no way he knows Elijah, or Joshua, for that matter, is working for the other side. In any case, baby, we’re safe for a while. They might not make their move for a long time. Or they’ll decide to come after us immediately. I have no control over either choice. At the moment, they’re in Russia and we’re here. All we can do is prepare and keep our eyes open.”
“I suppose you’re right. They just feel a little like a sword hanging over our heads. That has to be the way my parents felt their entire lives.”
Living with a sword hanging over his head was the way he’d lived his entire life, and it felt natural to him. “I wish I could have met them. I would have thanked them for teaching you how to defend yourself. You probably saved Gorya’s life. Possibly Jeremiah too.”
She made a face. “Jeremiah needed someone to shoot him.”
He laughed and she joined with him. “You two fight like brother and sister.”
“Don’t ever tell him, but I kind of feel like he’s my brother,” Ashe admitted.
“Has Fyodor told Evangeline about her father and uncle?”
“Yes. Yesterday. We’ve had work crews in tearing up the place just in case those damn cops come around looking for Evangeline’s pastries. Speaking of, what was up with all the charcoaled croissants they had to throw in the Dumpsters?”
She leaned over and bit his wrist. He retaliated by smacking her bottom, not that it did much good—she just laughed.
“Don’t ever say the word croissant in front of me again, Timur. And just so you know, if someone tells you baking is far easier than cooking, don’t believe a word they say. I told Evangeline she was a liar, a straight up liar.”
He leaned down and kissed her cheek, right where his handprint was. “The word croissant is stricken forever from my vocabulary.”
“It had better be stricken from Jeremiah’s as well,” she said. “And do we have to have fire alarms? I really hate the things.
“Absolutely we do.” He nuzzled her back with his chin and then planted a trail of kisses from her shoulder to the dents just above the curve of her buttocks. “I forgot to tell you.”
“What?” She half lifted her torso up, but he pressed her back down with a hand to the middle of her back.