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Family.Was that really what we’d become? He felt like my family now more than ever, and I wondered when that had changed. I’d lied to him for years, and still, he managed to prove himself and secure a place in the center of my life. “So would I.”
His lips barely grazed mine, and the light pressure sent chills through me as I leaned forward and placed a hand at the nape of his neck, tugging him closer. Viktor made a sound in the back of his throat, and—
“Gross.”
I shot back, shooting daggers at my son who had somehow snuck his way to the front of our chairs. Had he really snuck closer, or had I been too engrossed in his father to notice?
“Can I help you?” I asked impatiently.
“It’s getting a little cold, and I want dinner. And my show comes on at eight. It’s seven-thirty now. We need to go inside.”
The thought of leaving this beach's crashing waves and salty smell had me exaggerating a pout. But I noticed how his shorts dripped with water that he shouldn’t have been in. He was getting chilly as night descended.
“I’ll take care of that. You stay out here and relax,” Viktor said, pulling himself to his feet and gesturing for Sean to follow. Sean didn’t bother giving me a second glance as he followed his father into the house.
I reclined all the way back and closed my eyes.
Chapter Seventeen
Viktor Nikolaev
There was something about the simplicity of putting a child to bed that I never thought I’d experience. Sean ate his dinner, telling me all about his school and the friends he’s quickly been making. He told me about his last school and his best friend from there—a friend he insisted on keeping. Sean put off the same joyful energy as Ciara, and as he spoke, I saw her nuances manifest within him. The way he spoke, the way he used his hands to talk—all of it reminded me of her.
I went through the nighttime routine I’d seen her do over a dozen times, and he took to it just as well with me.
I’d never particularly wanted to bring a child into this life, but I couldn’t be more grateful to have him. I would never go back to the way it was before, even if Ciara told me she wanted that. She was mine, and she was going to stay that way. So was Sean.
I tucked him into bed and closed the door behind him, making my way into the kitchen and gathering two more plates of food before setting them on a tray. I poured a small glass of wine and rested it alongside the foot before tucking the bottle beneath my arm and making my way out of the house and back toward the beach. Ciara still lay in her chair, flipped onto her stomach as she took in the fleeting sunlight.
The light brown of her hair appeared blonder in the sunlight than brown, and as it hung down at her sides, I stopped in my tracks, taking her in. All the curves and divots of her body. The stunning way she held herself and the sexy plump lips. She’d lifted her shirt enough to get some sun on her back, and my eyes caught on the circular lower back tattoos she had of her father’s mob symbol. The lines had thickened with time, and I remembered trailing kisses all around it the night that Sean had been conceived.
Ciara was the only woman I had ever wanted this badly, and she was the only one who would ever see this side of me.
She heard me approach and pushed up on her elbows, looking at the tray I held before me. “You brought out dinner,” she said with a wide, appreciative smile. “What did I do to deserve all of this?”
I didn’t reply as she flipped onto her back, and I placed it on her lap. She took a bite of the chicken and nodded in approval.
“You’re staying,” I told her.
She glanced over at me, not at all surprised by my outburst. “Most people would say please first.”
“It’s not a request. I have a team going to your apartment to pack all of your belongings, and I need you to be here for the next few days as it’s all brought in. You won’t have to lift a finger, but the movers are all ordered to do whatever you say. Tell them where to put things, and it will be done.”
She gaped, dropping her fork and next bite of food. “I never said I would move in with you.”
“Your lease is up next month, and I terminated it. You’re living here from now on.”
I couldn’t place the emotions that fled across her face. Surprise and confusion were the most prominent, but the tilt of her brow was something I hadn’t seen before. She thought through what I had just said as we sat in silence, and I pushed my food aside, uninterested in anything but this conversation. She grabbed her glass of wine and took a long sip.
“Sometimes, I convince myself that I’m here out of convenience, and once all this is over, you don’t want me to stay.” I opened my mouth to tell her how ridiculous that sounded, but she held up a hand to stop me. “I know that you care for me, and I know that’s not true, but it’s hard to believe that someone like you would care so much for someone like me.”
“You deserve a thousand times better,” I told her. “But I’m selfish, and I want you for myself, so you won’t get it. I promise I’ll make your life with me worth all the shit I’m sure to put you through.”
She nodded, smiling slightly as she stared out at the crashing waves. The tides came in quickly, and the wind was slowly intensifying. I felt an occasional grain of sand pelting my skin, but nothing could distract me from the woman at my side—the woman I’d follow into the pits of hell without a second thought.
“For a long time,” she started, biting her lip as if hesitating to tell me what was on her mind. “I thought I deserved to be alone. Everyone left me, and I had nobody but Sean. I thought maybe my father had cursed me with all the bad things he’d done. Or maybe I just wasn’t enough to hold onto friendships or family bonds. But with you—” She cut herself off and looked over at me. “With you, I finally feel like I deserve something—like I’m worth something. I feel like I canlive,not just survive and roll with the punches that life constantly gives.”
“I’ve only ever wanted you, and I plan to show you that every day for the rest of my life how deep that want goes.”
