I take the whiskey from his hand and set it on the desk. Then I slide off the arm of the chair and into his lap, and his arms close around me. Resting my head against his chest, I listen to his heartbeat. Even after everything, his heartbeat is steady and strong.
“It’s really over,” I whisper against his chest.
His arms tighten around me, and his chin rests on the top of my head.
“Yes, it is,” he agrees.
But we both know that’s not entirely true. There will be fallout.
But tonight, none of that matters.
Tonight we are safe.
And Konstantin Lomonov is dead.
52
LEONORE
When I wake up the following morning, the bed beside me is empty.
I open my eyes, sit up, and look around me.I slept in.I press my palms into my eyes and feel the haziness of sleep drain away.
I don’t remember falling asleep. Just waking up enough in the middle of the night to feel Silas wrap his protective arms around me.
Butterflies dip and soar in my belly when I think about him. About how protective he is of me. How he has my back and would destroy any threat to keep me safe. But most importantly, that he accepts this dark twisted part of me that tends to slip out when backed into a corner.
It was his voice that brought me back.
I think he might be the only man who can handle me, and if I sound like a foolish girl for believing in him wholeheartedly, then so be it.
I hear muffled voices coming from the kitchen, and then Larissa’s sudden giggling, and I smile.We’re all safe.
I make my way down the stairs toward the kitchen.
But before I reach it, I come to a complete halt because I can’t quite believe what I’m looking at.
Silas has Larissa on his shoulders as he flips pancakes at the stove, and she’s giggling so hard her entire body is shaking. His niece, Alexis, only slightly taller than Larissa, is sitting on the counter beside them, kicking her legs back and forth as they watch on with excitement.
Nessa and Gia sit at the kitchen island nursing a cup of coffee in their hands, talking among themselves.
While I watch them, my heart swells so fast it hurts.
And I’m grateful. So damn grateful that Larissa seems undisturbed by what happened yesterday. In fact, although everyone is slightly battered and bruised, everyone seems happy, but most likely because we’re all safe.
“More blueberries!” Larissa demands.
“You’ve already had half the container,” Silas says.
“But it tastes better with more!” Alexis quickly backs up her new friend.
Larissa holds a pointed finger up. “When Auntie Leo and I make pancakes, she says you can’t be stingy with the blueberries.”
“Does she now?” he asks with an arched eyebrow.
“She does. She said a hundred blueberries. That’s the rule.”
Silas glances at Nessa, who shrugs and grins. “The girl knows what she wants.”
