AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I open my mouth to argue, but he stops me.
“By no means am I excusing his actions,” he quickly adds.
Contemplating for a moment, I let out a sigh. “I’m not forgiving him just yet. I need to really see that he’s changing.”
“That’s all I’m asking,mo ghra.” He kisses the top of my head. “Come on, they moved into the living room.” He takes my hand and leads me into the other room.
Sitting down on the couch, my father clears his throat before speaking. “Natalia, I know that I have done some cruel things…” he begins, pausing briefly. “But, I need you to know that I only acted this way because that’s all I’ve known.”
I nod and wait for him to continue.
“My father was like this, and his father before him. Then when we lost Dmitri, it made everything worse. I was so blinded by rage and sadness that I took it out on you.” He looks down at his hands, before looking back up at me. “I want to do better, and I’m going to start right now.”
“Thank you,” I say softly. “I accept your apology, and I would like to move forward,” I add, meaning every word. No onewantsto hate their father.
We spend the rest of the time talking and catching up on things. My father expresses that he is happy for Declan and I, that he can’t wait to see how we run things once we both take over. After a while, Declan pats my leg and looks at my parents.
“I hate to cut this short,” he says. “I have made a promise to Natalia that I cannot back out of. You two should come visit us soon.”
“Yes, please. I would love that,” I say with a smile as I stand. Giving my parents awkward hugs, we walk out to the car.
Once in the vehicle, Declan begins the drive to his house. I glance over at him. “So, the lunch? That was a little publicity stunt, wasn’t it?” I ask.
“Yes, and no,” he says with a sigh. “It was because word will spread fast, and the rest of the families will know that we are getting married soon enough. However, that was not the main reason. I wanted to take you to your favorite place to propose, because I wanted it to be special for you.”
Listening to his words, I can’t hide the smile that slowly creeps onto my face. “Well, it was very thoughtful of you,” I thrum my fingers on my thigh. “So, are you going to tell me what you and my father talked about now?”
“We just talked about how we are going to run the businesses together, and I am going to treat you as my equal, nothing less. He also asked about a prenup, and I explained to him what I had drawn up. If we divorce, we split the business down the middle. You get the weapons, I get the drugs. Then we split the money we have earned while married, and I ensure you have a house of your own,” he explains.
“Wow, that sounds wonderful. No wonder you won him over,” I smirk.
As we pull up to the gate of his home, he types in the code and drives through once it opens. “0730 is the code.”
“Welcome home,mo ghrá.”
Chapter twenty
Declan
As we walk through the house, I give Natalia a brief tour. “You can explore all you want later. We have somewhere more important to be right now, though,” I say as I lead her to our bedroom. “Here’s our room. I had Maxine go out and grab you a few things in your size that I thought you might need until your stuff arrives this week.”
“Where are we going?” She asks, curiosity lacing her words.
“I promised you a hitman,” I say, grabbing a spare white button-up out of the closet and turn toward her.
“Ah, that you did!” Her eyes light up.She rummages through the pile of clothes Maxine bought her before grabbing a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. “I’m ready,” she says as she throws them in a bag and reaches out for my spare shirt. Shaking my head, I take the bag from her.
She slips her hand in mine as we walk down the hall and back out to the garage. “We’re going to take my car this time,” I tell her, coming to a stop beside it.
“Sounds good to me,” she bounces around to her side and climbs in.
The drive to the safe house is silent, and as we pull in, Natalia seems to liven up. “I’m going to let you take the lead on this,mo ghrá. I’ll be in the room if you need me, but he’s all yours.”
She nods and we get out of the car. Before we go into the house, she takes my hand and turns us to face one another. “Thank you for this,” she whispers, looking up at me. The gratitude displayed on her face just makes the impact of her words even better.
“I would do anything for you, Natalia. I hope you know that,” I brush her cheek with my thumb and lean down, quickly kissing the corner of her lips. “Come on, let’s see if you can get this fucker to talk.”
Walking inside, I lead her to the basement. As we enter the room, Finn is standing there waiting for us. “I hear congratulations are in order,” he says as he walks over to us.
