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“I’ll have it brought to us when it’s done cooking.”
“So, we’re staying in?” I pushed.
“We’re not leaving. Just trust me.”
I nodded slowly, waiting for Sean to come back downstairs. He didn’t take long to rush downstairs with the same outfit, a winter jacket, and a pair of tennis shoes. I waved it off, not bothering to criticize it. If we weren’t leaving the house, it wouldn’t hurt to wear something that didn’t match. Who would see him other than us?
“Ready?” Viktor asked.
We both nodded, and he guided us toward the back of the house. I’d taken to spending many evenings on this back porch that overlooked the beach, but when I strode out on it this time, there was something different that took a moment to register. Off in the distance sat three lawn chairs, surrounded by candles in the sand and…
Flower petals.
I placed a hand over my chest as I gaped at what I was seeing. Sean didn’t seem to care about the scene that Viktor must have spent a long time organizing. He only saw the beach and charged toward it.
“Don’t go in the water,” I shouted at him, and he replied with a vague “okay” that told me he’d certainly be soaked when he returned. “You didn’t have to do this,” I told him, shaking my head as he guided me down the ramp and into the sand. My toes curled around it as I walked, mesmerized by the entirely empty beach.
“Do you like it?”
“More than anything,” I whispered. As we came closer, I also found a large blanket resting in the sand, the corners staked into the ground so the sharp breeze wouldn’t take it away. “Did I do something to deserve this?”
He only shook his head as I settled into the reclining seat and stared at the ocean. I turned my gaze on him and found him intently staring at me. He didn’t say anything, but when he met my eyes, the tension that had previously been in his shoulders relaxed. “You know that we’re going to get you and Sean out of all this, right?”
I nodded. That had been heavy on my mind recently, too—if and when this would be over. If I had been alone, I wouldn’t have been confident about surviving this. Frankly, if I had anyone else in my corner, I may have questioned my fate. But with Viktor here, I didn’t doubt that we’d get out of this in one piece.
“I trust you,” I told him.
His brows shot up. “That’s the first time you’ve said that.”
I rolled my eyes and looked where Sean hovered close to the water’s edge. I considered yelling at him, but I decided to let him have fun instead. “It should have been implied. I’m living with you. Sleeping in the same bed as you. Letting you around our son.”
“It’s different hearing you say it,” he told me.
I didn’t look at him again for a few minutes, and when I did, he continued staring at me. I chuckled and bit my lip, gesturing to the ocean. “You have a view like that, and you’re looking at me?”
“It doesn’t even compare.”
It took me a moment to understand the meaning behind his words, and when I did, my mouth fell open.
“I thought my purpose in life was to gain all the power there was to have and take over this crime sector. I thought that was my purpose, but when I saw you again, my purpose shifted.”
“Keeping me safe isn’t going to be a job you’ll have forever,” I told him.
“Yes, it is. Even when this threat is over, it will still be my first priority.”
“Speaking of,” I pushed, taking in a deep breath. “Do we have an end date on that threat yet?”
I heard him shift as he sat up in his chair and stood. He moved it close enough that both the armrests overlapped before he sat down and leaned back again. “I have Andrei tasked with finding some more information, and we have a few leads that we found today. But there’s nothing of substance. If we don’t figure something out this week, we’ll make a more blatant move to end this.”
I shook my head adamantly. “I don’t want you to do something to get yourself killed,” I begged.
“I’ll be careful, but it goes beyond you now. He’s directly threatening me because of our marriage, and I can’t let that kind of challenge go unanswered. I’m giving him enough time to reconsider and make accommodations, but if he doesn’t do it by the end of the week, I’m going to make him do it.”
I thought back to all the negotiations and conflicts my father had with Viktor over the years. If there was one thing I took from all of it, it was that Viktor wasn’t someone to be trifled with. He seemed to be three steps ahead of his enemies at all times. There was a reason the Italians hadn’t ever trekked into the Brighton Beach area to do business, and there was a reason my father had ultimately decided against pushing Viktor’s limits.
“Thank you for taking care of this,” I finally said, relaxing a bit. “Thank you for everything you’ve given to us.”
I felt cool fingers on my chin, tugging me to face him fully. I met his heated gaze that shot between my eyes and my lips. “I would tear the world apart for my family.”
