“Fine,” I stopped him. “Fine. But is it even necessary that we share the same room?”
“The same bed.”
“Thank you for clarifying, but that’s even worse.” I shifted slightly. “I understand it’s because of Grandma. But I can take the sofa. I already know where the extra blankets are, it takes two minutes, and then we both have space, and nobody has to—”
“Bullshit,” he said, and I exhaled because there was nothing left to argue and we both knew it.
I settled back into him and let the quiet take over.
The truth was, I didn’t entirely mind this; being held the way he was holding me was something I hadn’t asked for, but I received anyway.
“Do you miss your parents?” I asked, mostly to keep myselfdistracted from the simple touch and the position I was in.
“No.” He didn’t even hesitate.
I turned to ask more about that and stopped the moment my lips brushed his jaw. His face was close enough that his breath brushed my skin. He didn’t pull back.
“Why not?” I whispered.
“They lived their lives,” he declared. “I can’t waste mine thinking about the dead.”
I lay there and turned that over. Most people needed at least some time and some distance before they could set that boundary. But Dmitri said it like his parents meant nothing to him.
“Were you close?” I asked, lifting my chin toward his jaw again, not sure what was happening to my common sense. His face shifted slightly, and for one suspended second, I thought he would close the distance and kiss me.
My lips brushed his. A bare touch that suggested a contact. All he had to do was accept my lips, but he turned his head.
He let out a sigh. “Sleep.”
“Yeah. Sorry, I just…” The words came out in a tangle I didn’t know how to unsnarl. I stopped making it worse and pressed my lips together, facing away.
He dodged it. He actually turned his head.
I lay in the exact position I landed in and did not move, pretending I was asleep.
Minutes passed. He was probably asleep. His arm stayed around me. I didn’t want to think about it, but why would he hold me this way if it meant nothing? Even if I wasn’t his type, shouldn’t something feel different when someone pressed their lips to yours in the dark?
Dmitri shifted, and I became alert again, but remained still. The weight behind me shifted. He pulled the duvet over my shoulder before he moved.
The walk-in closet light came on, spilling a thin line across the floor. Dmitri’s movements were quiet, making me turn my head a fraction to see what was happening.
He stepped out, dressed all in black, with a cap pulled low. What caught my eye was the mask hiding half his face. He adjusted something at his waist before he moved back toward the closet.
“Get ready to move.” He ordered someone, probably on his phone.
The closet light went out. His footsteps crossed the room, the bedroom door opened and closed, and in a few seconds, the outer door closed.
He left.
I grabbed my phone and checked the time. It was two in the morning. Where was he going?
Chapter Twenty-three
Inna Grace
Dmitri never returned after heleft three nights ago. Some things were strange enough to stay with you, and a man leaving his house at two in the morning was one of them. That was why I asked Caitlin to meet me today.
I sat across from her in a cafe, both hands wrapped around a coffee cup, trying to work out how to get answers from her.
