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I guide them both to the bedroom, waiting a moment to say anything at all. Niki clambers into the huge bed, curling into a ball, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Mila sinks down on the edge of it as I help her, reaching over to gently stroke his hair.
I reach over, grazing the back of my fingers against the side of her neck. In a matter of moments, I can see that Niki’s breathing turns even as he falls asleep, exhausted from fear and the night’s events. I don’t doubt that he’ll wake in the night, which is why I wanted to make sure Mila was able to stay with him.
“We have all the time in the world to enjoy each other,” I say softly, and she turns back to me, her eyes widening.
“What do you mean?—”
Before I can stop myself, I sink down to my knees in front of her, my hand resting on her thigh. “I love you, Mila,” I murmur softly. “I wanted to say it in a better way than this, a different way—but after what happened tonight, I can’t wait any longer. I want us to be together. I will keep you safe, I’ll provide for you—there doesn’t need to be an ‘arrangement’ between us if we’re together. I would take care of any woman who?—”
“Who belongs to you.” The word is a faint whisper. “Isn’t it all the same?”
“No.” I shake my head, leaning to press a kiss to the back of her hand, resting next to mine. “Because I belong to you, too. I love you, Mila Ilenya. And my world would be shattered without you in it.”
I reach up, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. “You don’t have to say it back. I just want this moment with you—with you here, and safe, with me.”
She swallows hard. “What about Niki?—”
“I’ll take care of him, too. There’s plenty of room here, if you want to stay with me. Or we can figure out something else.”
“He’s not yours.” She bites her lip. “He’s not related to you. Why would you care?”
“Because he’s your family. You love him, and so he matters to me, too. My family is close, Mila.” I gently touch her chin, turning her face to mine. “One more member of our family would be something to celebrate, not be upset about. I know it’s going to be a long time before you and I might ever have children. Your ballet career will be more important to you. I’ll help you take care of Niki. He’ll want for nothing. And in the future, maybe there will be a different kind of family for you and me.”
Mila is staring at me as if she’s seeing me for the first time. “How long have you been thinking about this?” she whispers, and I laugh quietly.
“Longer than I think I wanted to admit to myself.” I glance over at Niki, and then at her. “It’s fast, I know. If you need time to think about it, I understand. But I love you, and I couldn’t let it go unsaid any longer?—”
She looks back at me, and she reaches up, her fingers tracing the edge of my jaw. “I love you too,” she murmurs. “The rest—we’ll have to talk about it, figure it out, when you haven’t just murdered a man, and I’m not in shock. But I know that, Lorenzo. I love you.”
I lean up, catching her face between both of my hands as I press my lips to hers, holding her there for a long moment. It’s a kiss that can go nowhere right now, but it doesn’t matter. It’s enough to have her touching me, to feel her against me, her hands pressed against my chest as I breathe her in and know that she’s safe.
Slowly, I stand up. “I’ll be just down the hall,” I tell her quietly. “Get some rest. I need to call my brother, and you’ll need to stay here for a few days, while I make sure there’s no retaliation. But after that, we can decide what comes next.”
Mila nods. “Okay,” she says simply, sliding back on the bed. She lays down next to Niki, and as I look at them both, I feel a sense of quiet, of peace, that I’ve never felt before.
Until this moment, I realize, I never knew what it meant to be truly happy.
I start to turn, walking to the door, before I hear her voice behind me.
“I love you,” she whispers, and I feel a smile spread over my face.
“I love you, too.”
When I look back to see if she heard me, she’s already asleep. But it doesn’t matter.
She’ll be here in the morning, for me to say it again.
And if I’m lucky, every morning after that, too.
Mila
If anyone had asked me the first night, I would have sworn that Niki and I would go home after a few days. Maybe not to the same apartment—I wondered, that night after Lorenzo brought us to his place, whether I would ever be able to go back there. But I thought we might find a different apartment, Niki and I. Mostly because I thought for sure that Niki would want to leave, as soon as he woke up in a strange place.
As it turns out, that’s not what happens at all.
I wake up the next morning to coffee and breakfast on a tray next to the bed, a note next to it telling me that Lorenzo has gone out to meet with his brother, and that he’ll be back this afternoon. I get up slowly—Niki is still sleeping, and hobble into the bathroom. I was too exhausted last night to shower, and as it turns out, a shower is impossible with a cast. Instead, I draw a hot bath, hoping Niki will stay asleep long enough for me to clean up, and manage it awkwardly with my foot over the edge. There’s a thick robe hanging up on the back of the door, and I wrap myself up in it after, hobbling back out to find Niki just blinking awake and Darcy curled up on the bed next to him.
She looks at me, letting out a slow breath. “Let’s eat,” she says quietly, “and get Niki situated with something to watch. Then I need you to tell me everything.”
