AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay,” I say, looking up into his unfairly handsome face. “I’ll go with you.”
He looks to Yuliana, who is still staring silently at both of us, too stunned to continue with her tantrum. Then he turns back to me. His gaze softens. “Get your stuff.”
The words he doesn’t say hang in the air.
I’ll take care of you.
You’re safe with me.
I shove my clothes back into my duffel bag and Kirill loops Yuliana’s backpack around his arm. The straps are too small to fit over his biceps, so the sparkly purple bag dangles around his elbow as he helps us across the parking lot to his black car.
“I installed a car seat this morning,” he says, offering Yuliana a hand to help her into the seat.
“You—really?”
He nods. “Just in case.”
The gesture is remarkably sweet, and I’m not sure what to do with it. I can handle a gruff, demanding Kirill. I can even handle a charming, suave Kirill.
But tender, caring Kirill? God, strike me down now. My heart may not be able to take it.
“Go on,” I tell Yuliana when she hesitates. “Kirill is safe. He’s going to take us on an adventure.”
I’m grateful when she climbs into the backseat without another word because I don’t have the energy to convince her. I barely have the energy to keep standing on the pavement, the sun beating down on my head.
My mom lied to me.
My dad lied to me.
My sisters… I don’t know if they lied. I have no idea what Lana or Alexis know, actually. If Dad went home and told them about our conversation, then I’m sure they’re trying to call me right now. Either to explain why they kept my parentage a secret or to tell me they had no idea.
It doesn’t matter, though. I turned my phone off after I called Kirill. I don’t want to talk anymore. I can’t.
“Okay. Everyone ready?” Kirill asks once he’s in the driver’s seat. He smiles into the rearview mirror, making eye contact with Yuliana. She must nod, because he gives her a wink. Then he reaches over and grabs my hand.
He doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t press. He just holds my hand and drives.
It’s exactly what I need.
* * *
Ten minutes later, Kirill pulls up to the tallest building on the tiny town’s main street. I saw rooms available here online when I booked my motel, but they were all absurdly beyond my budget. I should have known Kirill would stay here. Hell, he probably owns the place by now.
“I’ll carry her inside if you can get the bags,” Kirill says, extracting his hand from me.
I turn around and realize Yuliana is crashed out in her seat. Her mouth is hanging open, a tiny bit of drool gathering on the front of her shirt.
“Thank God. She was exhausted.”
“She can sleep upstairs.”
I grab the bags from the trunk and head for the curb, but the sight of Kirill standing on the pavement with a snoozing Yuliana in his arms is enough to stop me in my tracks.
It’s not that it’s strange or unusual—it’s that it’s neither of those things at all.
It’s that the two of them fit perfectly together.
Seeing her head propped on his shoulder and his strong arms wrapped around her legs, I realize how many times I’ve imagined this very sight. How many times I’ve wondered what it would be like if Kirill was in our lives.
