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“They’re still getting your room ready,” I told her as we stood in the empty lodge. “Why don’t you go back to my room and get settled, and I’m going to swing by Harry’s place to pick up Kenlee.” I handed her the key to my room, and she nodded, then took her boy’s hand and walked away. Once I had Kenlee, and was on my way back to my place, Harry texted to let me know Katya’s room was ready. I walked into my place and saw her sitting on the floor with Luca, playing with one of the toys he’d brought over.
I smiled, then cleared my throat, sorry to interrupt this sweet family moment. “Your—uh—your room is ready.”
“You hear that, Luca? You ready to go?”
The boy smiled, though he still appeared apprehensive. I couldn’t blame him, after the night he’d had. We gathered their things and made our way down the hall to their room. I opened the door for them and let them go in before me.
“I hope this place will work,” I said sheepishly.
“Are you kidding?” she asked, laughing. “It is bigger than my entire apartment. I don’t know how to thank you for this, but I promise I will find a way to make it up to you.” There were tears in her eyes.
“There’s nothing to thank me for,” I told her. “It has been a long day. Why don’t you unpack and take a shower, and I will watch the kids.”
She looked like she wanted to argue but didn’t have the energy, so she nodded her head and disappeared around the corner into the bedroom. I almost asked her if she knew where it was but then I remembered that she worked here so of course, she did.
I called the front desk and asked them to send up some basic groceries and bill them to me. I saw Luca sitting quietly on the floor so I walked over to play with him. It was obvious he was a good kid, but no child should have to witness what he saw tonight. I couldn’t allow myself to wonder how many times he had seen it before. It was too heartbreaking. He was quiet and shy at first but warmed up fairly quickly. I was sure he was leery of men after Aleks, and so I made sure to speak in a soft voice and not make any sudden movements while I was around him. Kenlee was happily playing in her carrier and Luca and I were playingAngry Birdson my phone when Katya came out shortly thereafter.
Drying her platinum blonde hair with a towel, she looked around and saw the groceries that had been delivered, and looked at me with gratitude.
“Thank you for having this brought up. How much do I owe you?” she asked.
I stood to gather Kenlee and told her, “Not a cent. My payment is knowing you and Luca are safe. That is all that matters. Now that you are settled, I’ll head back to my room. Here is my number and I am right down the hall if you need me.” Before I left, I walked over to Luca and gave him a fist bump. “See you later, buddy.”
She nodded and saw me to the door before thanking me again and telling me goodnight. When I returned to my room, I put Kenlee to bed and retrieved my cell phone. I had one more call to make. Thirty minutes later I had successfully called the police, explained the situation and filed a domestic violence report on Aleks Petrachova. Katya never told me his last name, but it is amazing what a four-year-old will tell you when you are nice to them.
Tonight, I slept better knowing that I had done the right thing.
I just hoped Katya thought so as well tomorrow in the light of the day when reality struck home.
Chapter Fourteen
Katya
AfterZaneleft,Lucaand I crawled into bed and snuggled. I knew there was a separate bedroom for him, but tonight we needed each other. He had seen too much in his short life, and it hurt my heart just thinking about it. I made a silent vow that he would never witness that again. Holding my precious little boy, I fell into the deepest sleep I had in years, but it was short-lived.
In the morning, I woke up in a panic. I was suddenly overwhelmed with fear that Aleks was waiting outside to drag me back home. Expecting to see a barrage of angry messages, I grabbed my phone. I was shocked when there weren’t any.That’s strange,I said out loud to no one.
“What’s strange, Mommy?” Luca asked. Kissing his head and pulling him close, I sighed and said, “Nothing, Sweet Pea.”
I realized it was Saturday which meant that Luca did not have school, and it was also my day off. The last two days had been a whirlwind and I could use the downtime. I kissed Luca once more before cheerfully saying, “Why don’t we go eat breakfast and then make some cookies for Mr. Zane? Does that sound like fun?”
Squealing with excitement, he started jumping up and down.
“Yay cookies! Can we make him chocolate chip cookies? I’ll bet those are his favorite,” he said smiling.
Tousling his hair, I said, “Of course, we can.”
I didn’t let on that I knew his ulterior motive. Chocolate chip was his favorite, and he knew I would never make chocolate chip cookies without saving a plate full just for him. We headed to the kitchen where I made him scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. It felt nice not to worry about someone else eating his food and to be able to feed him something healthier than cereal. He smiled at me with his bright blue eyes and my heart melted.
After breakfast, I looked through the cupboards for the ingredients to make cookies, but the groceries Zane had sent up were lacking in the baking department. I placed a call down to the lobby and asked if I could place another order. I rattled off a list of all the things we need for cookies, as well as ingredients I needed to make some of Luca’s other favorites, and they said they would send them up. It wasn’t until after I hung up the phone that I realized they must’ve automatically charged them to Zane’s account.
Oh shoot,I thought.I have to be more careful about that next time.
I did thankfully remember to have them leave the food outside of the door, and I didn’t
give them my name, just my room number. The less people who knew I was staying here, the better.
Am I being paranoid?
