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Danya allows me to float around in the water for another ten minutes before he insists that we go to the house. As my tired legs pull me out of the water and back onto the sand, my stomach growls. I’m ready to eat.
29
Danya
As we gather our clothes from the sand, I have the urge to walk to the house naked. It’s my natural right as a human being. I feel like we’re always so disconnected from nature, especially with how cold it is in Russia. I’d never have the opportunity to be free like this back home.
Taylor puts her pants on, but only those, and we join hands as we step onto the trail that weaves through the woods toward our new house.
The smell of fresh green leaves, the chemical scent of wet rocks at the base of the trees, and the ocean put me in a state of serenity that I haven’t felt in a long time. It reminds me of the days that I was satisfied with very little.
I’d like to return to that period of my life, but with Taylor by my side this time. She’s essential to my happiness.
The walk is short, and Taylor seems grateful when we arrive at the house and we’re able to shower. The showers at the new house are actually much larger than the ones at my previous house. Perhaps I had fantasies about sharing them with dozens of women when I built this place, but I only ever want to share them with one woman now.
Once we’re properly bathed and fed an early dinner of lobster and various local vegetables, Taylor and I take to the swing on the back porch. It looks over the garden where most of the food is grown. Despite me not having been here for year, the residence is still very well maintained.
Money might not buy happiness, but it certainly buys comfort.
I rock us both on the swing with my feet, taking Taylors hand and squeezing it lightly. “How do you like the place?”
She turns her head to me, her eyes glowing with joy. “Oh, it’s beautiful. I’ve always wondered what it was like to have your own little island away from the world.”
“Is it everything you imagined it to be?”
“That, and more.”
Her words put the biggest smile on my face. I realize now that her happiness is far more important than anything else I’ve been working on. Even the diamond mine in Antarctica can wait if it means that Taylor is happy.
She tilts her head to the side, her hair falling over her shoulder like silk drapes. As if she can read my mind, she asks, “What’s the plan now?”
I already know what I have to do, but I was hoping I’d have more time to relax before acting on it.
I sigh. “The terrorist groups need to be eradicated. We can’t risk them coming back to attack us or try to undermine our operations for revenge. They’re not going to get a single milligram of uranium from us, and that’s going to have them all up in arms. The only solution is to eliminate them.”
“So, you’re going to wage a war,” she says, her voice dropping.
“What choice do we have?”
“None,” she replies, seeming to have come to terms with it already. “I’m just happy to be here with you and our baby.” She pats her belly. “As long as we’re safe, I’ll let you do what you need to do.”
I let out a long breath. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that. This got a lot messier than I had anticipated, and I know you’re not a fan of crime and its consequences.”
“Yes, but I trust you,” she says, squeezing my fingers.
When she lets go, she jumps up from the swing, looking out into the garden and holding her arms out. “We should pick some berries for dessert.”
And so, we do, working for a quick thirty minutes to gather enough berries for two bowls with cream and sugar. We eat them in bed with the windows open, falling asleep early with our bellies full and our hearts happy.
We sleep until morning, but when I finally open my eyes, I realized that my sweet dreams have turned to a nightmare.
That’s when everything falls apart again.
30
Danya
Idon’t think I’ll ever get a break long enough to take the tension out of my shoulders. Even on a private island, far away from the rest of the civilized world, trouble finds me in the form of a blaring police siren.
