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“Yeaaaah!” Isla cries.
“How old are you today? Can you show me?” he asks.
Isla takes her time, her eyes focused intently on her hands as she tries to count it out. Then she shows him three tiny fingers.
“Very good. How many is that?”
“Three,” she says knowingly.
“How’d you get so smart?”
“Mommy taught me,” Isla says shyly, tucking her head beneath her father’s chin.
Pyotr hugs her close, giving her back a gentle rub. “Your mom is pretty great, isn’t she?”
The little girl nods against his chest.
My heart aches at the sweet interaction. I’ve never put much thought into forming a family of my own. It always seemed a bit irresponsible when considering my life as a bodyguard. But as the oldest of four brothers, I spent a lot of my childhood watching out for my younger siblings. And while our family struggled a lot, I always loved taking care of them. They made the house feel more bearable.
“Shall we go?” Pyotr suggests, and Silvia nods. “Dani, would you like to join us?” he offers suddenly, as if realizing he should have thought of it from the start.
Dani’s cheeks flush a warm rose, and for the first time, I wonder if she’s thinking about how it would look to be seen at dinner with the Veles family. My stomach turns, and I fight to keep my face neutral as she hesitates.
“You’re so sweet to offer, but I can’t intrude. It’s a family dinner.” She smiles tenderly, her gaze shifting to little Isla snuggled in her father’s arms.
“You are family,” Silvia says. “You know that.”
“Unless you have other plans, I insist you join us,” Pyotr adds.
“Oh, well…” Dani’s eyes flick toward me in the subtlest of glances before focusing back on Pyotr.
What’s that supposed to mean?
“Would you like Auntie Dani to join us?” Pyotr asks, turning the decision over to Isla.
“Yeah!” the little girl squeals again, sitting up straight to look at Dani. “Come to my birthday, Auntie!” she insists.
“Well, I can’t say no to that,” Dani says, relinquishing.
And as the family heads out into the hall, their attention shifting to dinner and getting there, Dani casts me what I can only interpret as an apologetic glance.Is she embarrassed because she’s aware of the double standard she just demonstrated?
That doesn’t stop the sinking feeling in my chest. Because after telling me she can’t be seen with anyone associated with the Veles family, she just agreed to eat dinner with Pyotr Veles himself—in public.
And suddenly, her comment at Proclivity feels far more personal.
The Escalade is packed with six people and one toddler-toting car seat. Dani and I end up shoulder to shoulder, her thigh rubbing gently against mine with every shift of the car. Tension crackles between us as we remain silent, listening to Isla hold a conversation with her father about the games she played today.
My attraction to Dani is intense, and my desire to touch her is almost overwhelming. But, even if my emotions weren’t muddled, it would be entirely inappropriate under the circumstances. I’m still on the clock.
She lifts a thumb to her lips to chew on her nail, her tic that alerts me to her anxiety. And I force my eyes toward the window as the visual recalls the memory of her lips wrapping around my cock.
Thankfully, the drive is a short one to Henry’s End. The restaurant is technically within walking distance of the Veles house, but Pyotr’s grown more cautious about how exposed he’s willing to let Silvia and Isla be after the club girls were taken.
Not that I can blame him. Melody and the four other women Pyotr and Silvia took in from our raid on Mikhail’s trucks have opened my eyes to just how sick his men can be. I haven’t spent much time with the girls, but I can see it in their expressions. Whatever happened on the trip from Colorado to New York still haunts them.
So I completely understand mypakhanwanting to hold his family a little closer. Wanting to protect them.
Relief surges through me as Pyotr’s driver pulls up in front of the restaurant, and I step out first. Scanning the street to ensure no one’s lurking, I hold the car door open. Val follows, on alert, as he makes it to the front doors of the restaurant. And we all pile inside.
