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“Come on.” Lena tugs on my hand, laughing as she drags us toward the capital. “You can’t spend the whole trip daydreaming.”
I laugh with her and we walk into Valetta, following the crowd of tourists and Maltese people, walking beneath the imposing yellow walls. There’s a McDonald’s off to the left and Lena giggles, pointing at it.
“Some things never change, huh? Come on. Let’s go off the beaten path a little.”
Together we walk toward the city center, the ocean glistening at us from the bottom of the sloped, completely symmetrical roads. There are no buildings to obstruct the view of the sea, designed to let the Maltese know when a foreign army was invading.
But it’s not an army I’m worried about.
It’s the way Lena takes turn after turn, leading us from the more touristy areas to by-streets, and then alleyways until suddenly we’re standing in a quiet shaded section of the city.
Lena leans against a wall and looks up and down, her eyes coming to rest on a bench that is placed beneath a tall tree, a smile lighting up her whole face.
“Oh my God, wouldn’t this be perfect, Kelly? Look at it. Maybe they move through the city in opposite directions, and this is their meeting spot…”
She approaches it as she taps her chin, her ideas moving almost visibly around her mind, but I can’t stop myself from scanning the area, praying for a flood of tourists to come through.
If the Bratva were going to hit us, it would be now, with nobody around to witness their actions.
“Lena, I think—”
Suddenly Kane bursts into the alleyway from the entrance behind Lena, sweat dripping down his muscular body, every part of him tensed and primed and ready for war. His jaw clenches as his eyes flit over me, and then Lena.
She has her back turned to him, facing me. “What?” she says. “What is it?”
“Lena,” Kane says, his voice gruff and low, and even now it sends shivers of need through me.
It’s so wrong. It’s so right.
Lena’s eyes widen and she gasps, spinning around. “Dad?”
Chapter Fourteen
Kane
“We have to go. Now.” My voice is gruff and commanding, brimming with urgency as I race forward and take my daughter by the arm. I stare hard at Kelly, willing her into action, as her gorgeous eyes go wide and her lips begin to quiver. “Come on.”
“I don’t understand,” Lena yells, walking at my side with too-slow footsteps.
Thankfully Kelly jogs after us, keeping pace, as I lead us down the alleyway and my eyes scan back and forth for threats.
“I know. I’m sorry, Lena. I can’t explain right now. I will, soon, very soon. But we need to get out of this goddamn city.”
“But you’re alive…” A heart-wrenching sob cracks Lena’s voice, causing my chest to tighten and my heartbeat to thunder through me, a layer of love placed upon the guilt which whirs through me. “I thought… I didn’t know what happened to you…”
“I know.” I sigh darkly as I lead us back into the main flow of foot traffic, hopefully masking us from the Bratva which followed them into the city. “I’m sorry, Lena. I’m so, so sorry, but I promise it was to keep you safe. I promise I wouldn’t have disappeared unless I had to.”
“Where are we going?” Kelly asks.
Even now – at the most unacceptable goddamn time – I can’t stop my eyes from straying to the way her breasts dance as she walks, the shimmers which move through them, waking up the carnal parts of me.
I keep my eyes focused on the crowds, my gaze flitting here and there, over Maltese faces and French faces and dozens of other nationalities… searching for anybody with neck tattoos or face tattoos or a Bratva look about them.
“Jocko has a car waiting,” I snarl. “We need to get away from the city and regroup. From there, we can decide our next step.”
“Jocko, as in your old military buddy?” Lena says, her voice shaking as though she’s trying to grab onto this one piece of knowledge, the only part of this that makes any sense to her.
“Yes.”
“And then you’ll explain what the hell is going on?”
“Yes.”
I feel her considering, spot her chewing the inside of her cheek out the corner of my eye. Despite all that’s happening, I can’t help but smile at the sight of that, even if it’s a habit she kicked when she was a little kid. Dozens of memories surge up inside of me, warm and welcome, of family scenes in which I told her to quit it.
The circumstances might be fucked beyond belief, but I can’t deny how good it feels to have my daughter’s hand in mine, to feel her warmth, safe.
“Okay.” She breathes. “But the second we get back, you explain.”
I nod as Kelly keeps walks next to me, her eyes flitting to mine for a precious moment, and all the familiar warmth I felt flows away… or, rather, it transfers from the past and swells into the future I want to share with my woman.
