“Awesome!”
“Thank you,” I whisper, reaching for Dmitri’s hand, intertwining our fingers together. I appreciate everything he’s done, including his boss hiring me to work at Club Sage as a bartender.
* * *
After dinner, Allie seems to be settling in, reading a book in her new bedroom with Kona curled up on her puppy bed.
Dmitri has offered to buy Allie a bookshelf that she can fill with as many books as will fit if she promises to read them. The girl is in absolute heaven.
“Walk with me,” Dmitri says, and takes my hand, leading me downstairs and through the back door. There’s a lush garden in full bloom with lights illuminating the path and wrapped around the roof and legs of the pergola.
It’s pretty beautiful.
The sunset was quite some time ago, but it’s difficult to see the stars with all the light pollution from the city.
“How are you doing?” Dmitri asks. He leads me to a wooden bench, and we sit.
“Sore, but otherwise, I’m okay. Are you sure that we’re safe from the mafia?”
“I promise you that Antonio and his men won’t touch you. You have nothing to worry about,Malishka.”
“Thank you.” I breathe a sigh of relief. Antonio is still out there, but with the protection of Dmitri and his brothers, I trust that my daughter and I will be safe.
“I was worried about you in the hospital.” His fingers push back a strand of hair, tucking it behind my ear.
“I’m just glad you could find me before it was any worse.” I cringe at the memories that flood through me. I shouldn’t have run recklessly into the forest. I could have been lost for days, starved to death, or he could have been two minutes longer, and I’d have been mauled to death.
Dmitri’s hand is on my back in soft, soothing motions, and I rest my head on his shoulder. “Almost losing you made me realize that I don’t want to live without you in my life.”
I rest my hand on his thigh. “I almost lost you before I even knew who you were,” I whisper, thinking back to the day I found him shot on the forest floor.
“I love you,” Dmitri whispers.
I tilt my head toward him, shifting slightly as I brush his lips against mine, taking it easy and slow. His kisses are always passionate, and I can’t be wild and unabandoned with need and desire while I’m healing.
“I hate… taking things slow.”
Dmitri chuckles, tears filling his eyes with laughter.
“What?” I ask, not understanding why he’s laughing so damn hard.
“I thought you were about to say I hate you.”
I frown, confused. “Why would I say that?” That’s the furthest thought from my mind and untrue.
I’m not happy he lied to me about who he works for, but I would never have let him anywhere near my daughter or myself. And I’d be working for the Moretti family, and having discovered Antonio’s secret, my daughter and I would probably be dead.
“I don’t know,” Dmitri says with a laugh.
“Well, it’s not easy for me to say, but I do heart you.”
“You heart me?” he asks, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “Is that like the next step before love but after like?”
“It might be,” I say with a smile, and chew on my bottom lip. “I’ve never been in love, not the type you’re referring to. Obviously I love my daughter, but that’s different.”
“Understandably so.”
“What about the man who gave you Allie?” Dmitri asks.