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“Absolutely,” I said and reached out to ruffle his hair. “If you’re up to it, we’ll spend the whole day together tomorrow.”
“Can we go do something fun?”
I glanced at Nataliya. “As long as your mom says the activity is okay,” I said. “But you’ve got to get some good sleep tonight, all right?”
He sighed but conceded. “Fine,” he said. A conflicted expression flickered across his face. “Can I talk to my mom for a bit? Do you mind?”
“Of course! I’ll wait for you in the kitchen, okay?”
Nataliya smiled, soft and pretty, and my heart thudded in my chest so hard I thought they might be able to hear it. “I’ll be out soon.”
I bid Elias goodnight again and slipped out of the room. Owen and Sam were in the kitchen, cleaning up after having put Myles to bed. “Did he settle down?” Sam asked.
I waved my hand in a so-so gesture. “He’s nearly there,” I said. “He just wanted some time alone with Nataliya first.”
Sam hummed. “That’s not surprising. The sun rises and sets with her for him, you know?” I did; it was the same way for her with him. “So…you two are together.”
I nodded. “We are.”
“And you’re serious about her?”
I couldn’t identify the tone in her voice. “Why are you asking?” She crossed her arms over her chest, surprising a laugh out of me as it struck me what she was doing. “Are you really giving me the shovel talk right now?”
Her stony expression faltered. “Shovel talk?”
Owen chuckled. “You know, ‘If you ever hurt her, I have a shovel I’ll use to bury your body after I kill you.’”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Then, yes, this is what this is. Are you serious about her and Elias?”
“Sam, it’s not our business,” Owen said gently.
She glared at him, and he immediately backed down. I smirked—it was hilarious to see the big former SEAL back down to his tiny wife. “I need to know you aren’t going to jerk her around,” Sam said bluntly. “She and Elias have been through so much, and they deserve someone who’s serious and stable and?—”
“I’m serious,” I cut her off. “About her. About them.”
Owen stepped in again. “You didn’t see what he was like when Hayes had nabbed her,” he said, running a hand soothingly up and down her back, easing her down. “I’ve never seen him so frantic, and it was only over the phone. I can only imagine how freaked out Zach and Gabe were.”
“I wasn’t that bad.”
Owen snorted. “Yes, you were.” He looked back at Sam. “I trust him when he says that he’s serious.”
Sam’s shoulders relaxed a touch. “Okay,” she conceded. “Okay, I trust you.” She pointed at me, looking as fierce as an angry kitten. “But if you hurt her?—”
“Shovel,” I said with a nod. “Got it.”
“A shovel for what?”
I turned and saw Nataliya standing at the mouth of the hallway. The sheer joy that smashed into me just from the sight of her was almost overwhelming. I had been away from her for five minutes, and it felt like I hadn’t laid my eyes on her in days.
“She was threatening me in case I wasn’t serious about you,” I said, and Sam turned a bright red, making us all laugh.
“I appreciate that,” Nataliya said warmly. “Elias thinks the world of you, and so do I.”
The four of us opened a bottle of red wine and sat around the kitchen table to share it and a little dessert, and it was just…nice. After everything from the last few weeks, it was surreal to relax. Owen pulled out a deck of cards, and we played a few hands of rummy and laughed and joked, and as the night slipped on, Nataliya and I leaned into each other.
“Take me to bed?” she murmured finally, low and only for me.
Heat spread through my chest, and almost unconsciously, my eyes fell to her mouth. “You sure?” I asked.
