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“What did you say?” I can’t keep the husky note out of my question.
His smile has my core clenching tight as it floods with wet heat. “I want you to promise if you need anything, you will call me—day or night. Whether it is your father, your car, anything at all, you will call me.”
“That isn’t what you said.” My lips are numb from pressing them tight to keep the sob in.
He caresses my cheek with the back of his finger. I want to grab it and hold it against me—it isn’t nearly enough of his touch. “No, it isn’t. Regardless, I want you to promise me if you need anything—even just a voice in the night—you will call me. I will answer no matter the time and I will be whatever you need.”
I blink back tears. He’s saying goodbye, but he’s leaving the door open to me.
“Promise me, Celia,” he demands.
Nodding, I swallow against the lump in my throat. “I will call you if I need you.”
Milos gives no quarter. “Not me,anything.”
“Okay, yes, anything I need, I’ll call you,” I promise him. I need him gone so I can cry alone.
At last satisfied, with one last stroke of his finger across my lips he’s gone, leaving my whole body trembling and my lips tingling from the slight caress.
Only minutes after he closes the door, my mother is home. She and Carlo had an argument, she mutters as she slams the door to her room. Holy shit that was a close call. I wipe my face, grateful my mom didn’t see I was crying—the tears falling the moment I heard the door close behind Milos.
He said goodbye. I would likely never see him again, and if I did…it didn’t matter. It was the right thing—for the both of us.
As I cried myself to sleep, I wondered why he made me promise him I would call him. The man had walked away from me. No way could I bring myself to call him—unless I was on the brink of death and there was no one else.
One week later Sonny disappeared. Carlo flipped his shit. He wasn’t sure if Sonny disappeared on his own or if someone else did it.
For a long minute I considered calling Milos and asking if he was behind what happened to Sonny. Except I knew the answer. Milos would know I knew and see it as the pitiful need to cling to him it was. I couldn’t do it. Despite my promise to him, I made a new promise tomyself,never to call him.
It’s what I reminded myself of over the next few weeks as thoughts of Milos lingered. Yet thirteen months later I would call him. And yes, it was only because I wondered if I was on the brink of death. He also kept his promise—he came for me and he saved my life, then took another life for me.
Chapter5
Celia
Present Day
The enormous houseMilos lives in leaves me breathless. It isn’t just that it’s huge, it’s that it’s beautiful inside and out. It’s the epitome of a classic Georgian mansion on the outside in all white marble and brick. I’m looking forward to the full tour of the place. The one time I was here I only got to a few rooms beyond the one he put me in.
Before we pull up the front door is open for me. I slide out of the car the minute it comes to a stop without looking back.
A woman is waiting in a gray and white uniform. She curtsies to me. “Would mademoiselle like a drink or something to eat?”
She isn’t the woman who waited on me when I was here before. I wonder if the other woman is still here; then again, Milos mentioned there were three maids as well as a full-time cook and gardener here. I shake my head. “No thank you.”
Peter nods to me, I follow him into a large sitting room. He points to a green silk sofa. “Sit. Milos will be home soon.”
He turns to find Milos crossing the large hall. “Problem?” The word is a dare, he’s speaking Russian.
Peter tilts his head. “Of course, there was. She wouldn’t behave. I picked her up and put her in the car.”
Milos sighs. “Go on.” To me, speaking English. “What did Dominic Sabatini say to you?”
I roll my eyes. “He told me if I need him I could always go to him. What I’ve always known.”
His eyes narrow. “What do you mean you’ve always known? And what the hell did you say to him?”
Shrugging, I study a chipped nail. I’m going to have to do the whole getting my nails done thing. While you’re worried about having your hands inside an animal, you tend not to get your nails done. The women who always had their hands on his arms had perfectly done nails. “I’ve always known I could call Tony or Dominic Sabatini if I needed something. Both men have told me a few different times. They know how Carlo is, what he’s like to me and my sister. I said thank you.”
