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I wonder if he’s going to tell me to break it off just like my father did. I don’t want to give him up. It hurts just thinking about it. I start to say something, but Andrei holds up his hand.
“Your sister misses you.”
My heart almost drops out of my chest at his words. I swallow so I don’t cry in front of him.
“I’m very sorry I put her in danger. It wasn’t my plan to hurt her or risk her that way. I thought I was doing the right thing. I guess I should have been straight and just talked to her. I didn’t know Daron had a gun. I’m sorry your guard got shot.”
I hear a cough behind me and then Ly’s chair scratching against the floor. My cell pings, and I look down at the text.
“Just a moment. Let me respond to this. There is a lot going on at the shelter today.” I give him an excuse as I look down.
Ly
WTF! He had a gun. Goddamn him. I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him. He’s just a fuck buddy of Ainsley’s.
Me
Yes. He shot a guard and then tased Sparrow.
Ly
That fucker. I’ll cut off his balls when I find him.
I’m about to respond and ask her why she has to look for him. I left him in that alley. I glance up and Andrei lifts his brow. Shit.
“I’m so sorry. Very disrespectful of me. Mr. Morosov, I really want you to understand, and if you can tell Sparrow how truly sorry I am, I’d appreciate it.”
I set my phone face down so he can’t see the screen. I hear the scraping of Ly’s chair again and know she is leaving. She walks by the window out front, and I look to see her hand signaling peace. It’s her sign that she’s okay. I try not to stare after her and turn back to face Andrei, who I find is watching me.
“I don’t want to see either of them hurt.” He doesn’t have to explain who he means.
“Are you going to tell me to break it off with him too? Are you going to tell me I can’t see my sister anymore?” Tears rush up and I feel them on my lashes. I blink several times and a couple fall. I angrily swipe at them. “I need to go.” I stand up, but he reaches out and takes my hand. He pulls me back down into my seat.
“No, I won’t tell you that. Your father is an asshole for saying that to you,” he says, and I don’t correct him. “As for Sparrow, I won’t do that either. She wants a family. She forgives you, but she is worried because you haven’t talked to her since that night. Dima is a big boy and can take care of himself.”
I decide to put it all on the table. I need him in my corner because when the truth comes out, I don’t know where everything is going to fall and who will still be on my side. I hate that I got in this deep with them.
“May I be honest?” I ask, and he nods. “I’ve never been in a relationship like what I have with Dima. I’ve never done long-term. My only relationship was in college, and he only wanted two things from me.” I take a fortifying breath. “My virginity and the Melody.”
Andrei shakes his head before he speaks, and I see the wisdom in his eyes. “You can’t know if people are with you for you or for what you have. My brother struggled with that before he got married.”
“My father has also only ever chosen the Melody and not me.”
“Come to the house tonight. I’ll send a car. You and Sparrow can have a movie night.”
“I don’t know.”
“That wasn’t a request. Be there, Lennon. You both need it.”
“Do we? Do you trust me with her still?”
“I do. I saw what you did for her. You saved her from that man. I watched the footage. You didn’t know he’d have a gun, and she told me you only wanted her and I to have space because you didn’t know we’d been together longer.”
“I swear I’ll never put her in danger like that again. So maybe I shouldn’t come over.” I think about what Ly said. I don’t know how to tell him. He’d tell Dima, and I don’t know how he’d react. Okay, wait, I do know how he’d react. He’d put me on lockdown.
“Be ready.” He stands and makes his way to the door.
I turn and watch him stop at the entrance. I get up from the table and drop my cup in the trash. When I turn around, he’s still standing at the door. He’s staring at the table Ly was sitting at, and I see the napkin on the tabletop.
