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I can’t deny that being close to Efrem made the day even better. Though he had a job to do, and I could see him taking it more seriously than ever, we still managed to steal a few moments together. In his touch, I can feel that we’re in a good space once again.
“Thanks for spending the day with us, Dani,” Pyotr says, his smile softening his sharp gray eyes as we stand in the entryway.
“Thanks for letting me crash your family day,” I say, wrinkling my nose at Isla and running a finger over her soft cheek.
She giggles, tucking her shoulder to her ear with a shy smile.
“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Silvia offers.
And I can’t help myself. I glance at Efrem.
His lips twitch in a subtle smile, then his eyes drop to the floor, forcing me to make my own decision.
“Yeah, I’d love that,” I agree.
“Great.”
I head to the guest room I spent the night in last night to clean up for dinner, and I join them a short time later for a meal of pelmeni soup. Again, the room is filled with laughter as Silvia regales me with a story about her twin brothers and the pranks they pulled growing up.
“Did I ever tell you about the summer we spent a weekend in Long Island, and Ben and Pyotr kept pranking me?” I ask Silvia.
And to my delight, Pyotr pales. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, glancing at Silvia as she eyes him with open horror. “I would never,” he insists.
“No? So you didn’t get my towel wet and stick it in the fridge while I was in the pool? I was calling Ben, asking if he’d seen it because I couldn’t find it once I got out. And, of course, these two just walk up, all innocent, and Ben wraps it around my shoulders. I think I scared the neighbors, I screamed so loud.”
“That was all Ben,” Pyotr insists as Silvia gasps.
“And what about switching my sunscreen for yogurt?”
Silvia bursts out laughing at that, and to my delight, I even catch Efrem’s low chuckle from the doorway. He was there that day. He probably remembers how furious I was.
“Yeah, you didn’t realize your husband is actually an absolute terror, did you? I bet he and your brothers get along real well,” I state.
“Actually…” Silvia and Pyotr share a look, and the deep connection I see there has so much meaning. “My brothers hated Pyotr when they first met.”
“To be fair, they didn’t get a very good first impression of my family,” he says.
And I cock my head, suddenly aware that I don’t know the beginning of their love story—only that they met when Pyotr moved to Chicago to go to the college Silvia attended.
“I feel like I need more details,” I state as Silvia blushes intensely.
She opens her mouth as if to object, but before she says anything, my phone rings loudly in my pocket. Startled by the unexpected noise, I jump.
“Sorry,” I say, pulling it out to silence it. Then I frown at the unknown number.
“Is something wrong?” Silvia asks.
“I don’t think so,” I say, but a sense of unease settles over me.Who would be calling at this time of night when I don’t have their number?
“You can take it,” Pyotr assures me, and I bite my lip.
“Sorry,” I say again. “I’ll be fast. I’m sure it’s a wrong number or something.”
Rising from my chair, I head toward the front room, my hand brushing lightly across Efrem’s chest as I pass him.
“Hello?” I answer once I find myself alone.
“Dani?” I recognize the oily voice of Mikhail Sidorov instantly, and in the background, the throbbing sound of music.
