Page 94 of Possessive Mafia Bodyguard

I hold Ivana’s hand carefully like she’s a fragile bird.

And I smile at her, because she’s still my beautiful sister.

“Did you know it was him?” I begin.

There’s no right or wrong way to start this conversation, so I’m winging it. I’m pretending that we’re sitting in her bedroom in Leonid’s mansion, the sun is shining outside, and everyone else is sleeping. Those precious moments between waking and our time that belongs to the Ivanov family.

“I’d have come with you, Ivana,” I continue. “I’d have helped you every step of the way, but I guess you knew that. Is that why you sent me to the wrong dock that night? Because you wanted to prove you could do this alone?”

I glance at Finn who gives me an encouraging nod.

I puff up my cheeks and exhale slowly. Fuck, this is hard.

“Just be you,” Finn whispers in my ear.

Katya wriggles in his lap without opening her eyes. The poor child is exhausted, and I’m reminded again that she needs medical care to heal physically, a pause between her past life and her new life wherever it may take her. Mentally … this trauma will always be a part of her; I only hope she’s strong enough to not let it define her but rather use it as a foundation to build a good life on. A great life.

Just be me, Finn said. That’s easier said than done when I no longer know who I am. I’m not only Ivana’s twin sister and Leonid’s enforcer, I’m … the woman who can’t live without Finn … the woman who promised to keep a frightened child safe with no idea of what that promise would really mean to either of us.

I’m also the woman who is going to be a mom.

“So much has happened,” I start over. “I never thought I could exist without you, Ivana. We’ve always been in this together, right? Do you remember when we were in the orphanage, and the big kids taught you how to fight? You were my hero then. You’re still my hero now.”

Finn finds my free hand and squeezes.

My gaze drifts between my left hand holding Ivana, and my right hand in Finn’s, and it occurs to me that I can have both. I’m the connector. The bridge between two worlds that can co-exist if I allow them to. If that’s what I want.

Tears fill my eyes, and my throat aches with the words that need to come out.

“I will live without you, Ivana, if this is your time to go. I promise. You don’t have to fight for me anymore. You don’t have to worry about me; I can take care of myself. And… I met someone. His name is Finn. I think you would like him because…”

I’ve not stopped to question why I like Finn. Aside from the obvious physical attraction which I’m not going to share with my sister, I simply accepted his unconditional love without question. Without analyzing how I felt about him. Probably because I was frightened that he might try to replace my sister. But now I know he would never…

“Because he is selfless, and kind, and funny, and sexy.”

“Sexy?” Finn whispers in my ear. “I didn’t know you thought I was sexy.”

Heat rises to my face, and I realize that he’s joking when he winks at me.

“The multiple orgasms didn’t give it away?” I whisper back.

“I thought you were just using me for my body.”

I run my tongue across my top lip, studying his mouth, while my clit tingles at the mental images of him licking me till I come.

“Your body is good.” I’m still whispering, conscious that this conversation is for our ears only.

“Good?” He frowns, feigning hurt.

“Okay, it’s better than good.”

“How much better?”

“You want me to score you out of ten?”

We shouldn’t be doing this here. I have no idea how this conversation has even drifted from serious to playful in a matter of seconds, but I guess it must be some kind of coping mechanism because I can no longer feel the weight pressing down on the top of my skull.

“Hmm…” Finn scrunches his nose. “Do I?”