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A wide grin spread over his face, and his eyes sparkled a little at her words.
“I’ve had this baby for about a year now, but I don’t get to drive it much. It’s not all that practical for a lot of things.”
With a palm on her lower back, he guided her around to the passenger side and opened the door before holding her hand as she sat down. She closed her eyes when he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. There was something about the way he did it that settled her somewhere deep inside. A minute later he was in the driver’s seat, and they were off.
She was grateful she’d taken the time to braid her hair after her shower, as it meant she could enjoy the wind in her face without worrying about her hair flying around. As he drove them further north, up the coast, she relaxed into the seat, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths of the sea air. She must have dozed off because she woke with a start when the car’s engine turned off. Jerking in the seat, she sat up straighter and looked around.
“Stay there a minute, I just need to grab something.”
She nodded as she continued to stare at the sights around her. It made her miss her camera. Daniil had brought her up to Mystics Beach in Minnamurra. It was a beautiful white sandy beach that wasn’t nearly as busy as Bondi. She couldn’t see it from the carpark, but she’d been here before so she knew what was just through the trees. She glanced around, pleased to see only two other cars. She hoped that meant they’d have the beach mostly to themselves.
When he slipped back into the driver’s seat, he had a wrapped box. She frowned at it, then him.
“What’s that?”
“Just a little something I thought you might like.”
Curiosity had her tearing the paper way like an excited toddler. She swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat at the case that was revealed. It was a sleek, metal, high-end camera case. She’d drooled over similar cases online but couldn’t justify buying one. Running her palms over the smooth surface, she flicked her gaze up to Daniil’s face. He was grinning at her, looking like a cat that had gotten all the cream.
“What did you do?”
He nodded to the case. “Open it up and you’ll see.”
Excitement had her heart racing. Daniil didn’t do presents by halves. Her flowers had always arrived in fancy vases. The necklace he’d sent her was from Hardy Brothers, and when she’d checked their website, had discovered he’d spent around two thousand dollars on the gorgeous yellow gold and diamond creation. She raised her fingers to play with the dozen or so different sized hoops of gold that made up the pendant she was wearing. His gaze tracked her fingers, his expression turning to one of pride and desire.
This man confused her so much. He was extremely ruthless, cutting down anyone in his way with brutal force and finality, yet he spoilt her with pretty things and made sure she was protected. Now that her depression fog was finally lifting, she was left with so many questions.
“Open it already, solnyshka moto. I want to see your reaction.”
Pushing her questions aside to worry about later, she flipped open the latches and opened the case. When she saw the square shape of the camera along with the word “Nikon” on the top of the front of it, her heart stopped beating, her lungs froze, and her fingers shook as she reached forward to hesitantly touch the piece of extremely expensive equipment.
“Breathe, Julietta.”
She gulped in a few breaths and wiped the tears from her eyes. This was an insane gift. There was close to, if not more than, ten thousand dollars’ worth of camera and lenses in this case. Without pulling it out, she knew this was the Z9 model. She’d seen a review on YouTube of this camera a few months ago and had instantly wanted one. But it had been so far out of her price range, she’d allowed herself to drool for only a little while before trying to forget it existed.
“It’s too much! I can’t accept this—”
He cut her off by leaning over and kissing her, taking her lips over and over again, until she relaxed and all but melted against the seat.
“You can and you will accept it. Your last camera was broken in the attack, and if it weren’t for me, those men wouldn’t have been after you. So, you’ll let me replace it for you.”
She held his gaze, trying to see if he was being truthful. Did he really blame himself?
“Firstly, it wasn’t your fault. Rodger was my ex, not yours. He’s the bastard who sold me out, and it was on his head that I broke my camera. Secondly, this isn’t replacing my old Canon. This is so much more than what I had, I’m not sure I can even call it an upgrade. Hell, what’s sitting in my lap is most likely worth more than my car!”
With her face in his palms, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers for a moment.
“I’d upgrade that for you, too, if I thought you’d let me. You are the most precious thing in the world to me. I’ve made several mistakes these past weeks, and in the end, they cost you greatly. When I first saw you, I thought you were pretty, and then when I spoke to you, I realised you were also smart, quirky and fun. From the first day at the markets, you were like a ray of sunshine in my world of shadows. The more I learned about your history, the more I admired you for remaining so happy. For keeping your inner light bright despite all the times you’d been knocked down. Then, last weekend, you had that light stolen from you. I’ve watched with my heart bleeding all week as you’ve hidden away and faded from the world. You need to get out and do what you love, and photography is your passion. So, here we are at Mystics Beach, where there is lots for you to photograph, and now you have the best equipment available to do it. Accept the gift, krasivaya, and repay me with a smile and letting me witness your light shining brightly again.”
Tears were falling freely, and she did nothing to try to stop them. Yeah, he’d been a total douchebag for taking that video of her, but he’d more than made up for it. Especially since he hadn’t given up on her. She’d been a miserable bitch all week, pushing away everyone and everything, yet he’d still visited her every day.
“Have you deleted the video?”
He nodded. “Yes, it’s gone. I’m so sorry I even took it in the first place. It was such a dickhead move. Am I forgiven?”
With gentle strokes, he thumbed away her tears.
“Yeah, you’re forgiven. But if you do anything like that ever again, I’ll cut your balls off. Understand me?”
