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“My papa loves you too. He told me as much.”
Out of the mouths of babes.
If he only knew how far that would go in the world of trust and desire to marry him.
“I’ll be right back.” I jogged down the stairs, reminding myself that being winded was all because of the malnutrition I’d suffered and that I should take it easy for a few days.
As I’d been taught to do, I checked the security system by the door to ensure who was standing on the front porch before opening the door.
“Mario. He sent you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” In his arms were several bags he was struggling with.
“I hope it wasn’t too much trouble. Let me help you with those.”
“I got it.”
I gave him the same look I’d used on Maxsim dozens of times. “Aren’t you supposed to follow my orders?”
“To a point, ma’am.”
He allowed me to grab a couple of bags anyway and at least I noticed he had a personality, dimples in his cheeks the first time I’d seen them. He followed behind me as I headed into the kitchen.
“You can put them anywhere. What did you do, buy out the entire grocery store?”
“The Pakhan was very clear. He wanted the refrigerator and the pantry filled. There are a few more bags in the SUV.”
“My goodness.” I laughed as I pulled out three kinds of cake mix, sugar, canned frosting, and powdered sugar. Just to start. “Did he give you a list?”
“A small one.” He appeared sheepish.
“So you improvised.”
“Yes, ma’am. I hope I made good choices. I have a sister about Mina’s age. I also have a little boy, although he’d be upset if he heard me use the term little.”
I hadn’t reminded myself men in his employ also had families. Like good ole regular people. “I think you did an extraordinary job.”
He backed away from where he’d put the bags on the end of the island, rubbing his hands on his jeans, clearly nervous around me. “I should get the rest of the groceries. I bought ice cream too.”
“Mina will be thrilled.”
“If you don’t mind, let the Pakhan know if you’re happy.”
“I will.” I watched him head toward the door, frustrated with watching a man in Maxsim’s employ walking on eggshells. “Mario. Can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me anything, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to answer.” He turned back to face me and I could see concern about what I might grill him about.
“Because you might not know or aren’t allowed?”
He scratched his head. “Maybe a little of both.”
“Fair enough. I’m just curious why you wanted to work for Maxsim. I mean you’re obviously very intelligent. Why work for a man who treats you like a soldier and not an employee?”
The worry lines crisscrossing his face faded, a genuine smile replacing the frown. “Working with the Pakhan is a pleasure and an honor, Ms. Dayne. I know it seems unfathomable to you, but there are a lot of guys who’d kill to be in my shoes.”
“Forgive me for being crude, but is this about being free to act on some need for violence?”
“A fair assessment, but no. It’s about being in a family. After my mama died when I was just a kid, I was tossed around from one foster home to another until I finally ran away at fifteen. Mr. Aristov was working for his father as a lieutenant at that point. After I broke into his car and stole money and a weapon, he caught me. He was going to kill me but saw something in me and gave me a job instead.”
