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As soon as she’d left the kitchen, Vlad faced me, making a cutting motion across his throat. “If you so much as make her break a nail, you can kiss your pretty face good-bye.”
There was no question about his intimidating size or angry scowl. But it was hard to take a man seriously when he had a pink apron strapped around him that said “Natural Born Griller” on it. The warning was one he’d given me many times over the last few weeks.
Saluting him, I leaned against the kitchen island. “I have no intention of hurting her. Not that it’s any of your business, but she’s my world. I want her to move in with me. And once she’s ready, she’s going to marry me. So you can either accept this for what it is, because I’m not going away, or you can be a stubborn brute and fight me until you turn blue. But you’re not getting rid of me.”
Fixing me with one of his signature glares that bore an eerie resemblance to his brother Aleksándr’s, he nodded and turned his attention back to the pot on the stove.
That was probably as much of an acceptance as I’d get. My attention was quickly diverted to Quinn, who came back into the kitchen, looking at her phone.
“Everyone stand in front of the new stove so we can take a photo,” she instructed, holding the phone out in front of us.
Once we were all closer than both Vlad and I were comfortable with, she snapped a few pictures.
Amara grabbed a plate filled with lasagna and nodded at the others still on the counter. “Grab a plate and come to the dining room.”
Vlad followed her, plate in one hand, glass of water in the other. Quinn was leaning against me, flipping through the pictures she’d taken. “Liam, you’re not looking at the camera at all,” she complained, her nose wrinkling.
Glancing over her shoulder, I grinned at the photos. I was staring at her in every single one.
Taking our plates, we joined Vlad and Amara at one of the tables. The food I’d eaten at the restaurant the last few weeks was the best I’d ever had. And there was no way I’d ever admit to even thinking it around Mom. Her cooking was amazing, but Vlad, Amara, and Quinn had a gift.
25
Quinn
Running a hand over Liam’s bare chest, I watched the play of his muscles, thinking I could get addicted to waking up in his arms. Today was the first day we’d had off in weeks.
The restaurant opened last weekend and was booked out for the next six weeks. The unplanned makeover had meant we could make it look exactly like we’d always envisioned. And it turned out the customers loved it.
“When are you flying back to Chicago?” I asked, my voice still heavy from sleep. I couldn’t leave the restaurant at the moment but had been planning ways on how best to talk Vlad into becoming the manager so I’d have more flexibility.
Making him manager would also mean I could go ahead with a plan I’d made over the last few days.
“This afternoon. Gabriel wants me at the meeting with Yuri.”
“How long are you staying?”
Pulling me on top of him, our faces only inches apart, Liam buried one of his hands in my hair while the other sat low on my back, his fingertips grazing my butt. “Two nights. There’s a charity gala Mom insists we go to tomorrow.”
Scraping all my courage together, I leaned up on my elbows, looking down at him. “If you’re still serious about moving in together, we should start looking at houses in Chicago. I could always open another restaurant there.”
Liam stilled, his body going tight underneath me. “What did you say?”
“I mean, I was thinking if we moved to Chicago, I’d open a restaurant there. Vlad and Amara are more than capable of managing the restaurant here. And Vlad is definitely more than a sous-chef. He could start his own restaurant any time he wanted to.”
“You’d move to Chicago?” His voice was hoarse.
Putting a hand on his cheek, the need to feel him overwhelming, I nodded. “Your family and work are there. I know how important both are to you. It’s much easier for me to pack up my life. My parents will visit. And we wouldn’t be far. We can come back here as well. I mean, if you wanted me to come with you, of course.”
Licking my suddenly dry lips when he didn’t say anything, I continued rambling. “I thought when you mentioned buying a house for us, we’d have to make a decision on where we wanted to live.”
His body shook from the deep breath he took. “You’re everything to me.”
He looked up, his beautiful features causing a familiar warmth to spread in my chest. “I want you by my side, always. If you want to stay in San Francisco, we’ll make it work. But that you’d be willing to move to Chicago for me means everything. I know we still have a long way to go for you to fully trust me again, but there won’t be a day for the rest of our lives that you’ll ever feel like you don’t matter to me.”
Leaning down, I pressed my lips to his, swallowing any other words he might have spoken. “I love you.”
Our lips brushed against each other with every word.
