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“How did you sleep?” I asked, brushing a curl back from her face.
“It seems I always sleep well with you,” she said. She stretched her body again, this time several joints popping loudly in the process. She groaned quietly.
I raised my eyebrow at her. “I’m a little sore,” she said. My eyebrows furrowed, wondering why she would be sore. “Between racing you yesterday and Andrei the personal trainer, my muscles are complaining this morning,” she said.
“Andrei didn’t take it easy on you?” I asked.
“No, he did. This is the problem. It’s been too long since I worked out. I used to go to the gym with Max sometimes after work, but I had skipped it the week before, uh…” she trailed off, not wanting to say it. She just pointed to her neck. The bruises were slowly getting lighter with each day that passed.
I ran my hands over her arm, down her body to her leg. I pulled her leg over my hip, so I could easily run my hand over her leg while we talked. “You can go to the gym anytime you want now, solnishko.”
“I know. I was actually hoping to go for a run today?” she phrased it like a question, like she was asking for permission. I smiled at her. She still didn’t know she could do whatever she pleased, whenever she pleased.
“You can do whatever you please, solnishko. Take Misha with you. He likes to run. He might be able to keep up with you.”
She laughed. “No sprinting today, but it’s been a while since I’ve been for a long run. I miss it.”
“Then I will tell Misha to stretch, so he’s ready.” I grinned at her.
She smiled back at me, but her smile faded quickly. She looked like she was struggling internally, like she wasn’t sure how to say something. I leaned over to kiss her lightly. “You know you can say anything that’s on your mind with me. I want to know what’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours.”
She looked at me, slightly surprised. Shyly, she asked, “Can I go back to work? I mean, I don’t really miss the job per se, but I miss Max. And I want to check on Ms. Jackson and Mr. Turner.”
I felt a pull in my chest. She’s been so happy here that I almost forgot I took her away from her life. She didn’t realize that she didn’t need to work anymore because I would take care of every need, or want, she would ever have. I wanted her to be happy. Most of all, I needed to keep her safe. Anthony wasn’t gone yet, but even after he left, I still didn’t trust that he wouldn’t try something.
“Not yet, sladkaya. Anthony will be gone by tomorrow. I want you to stay here until he’s gone, so I know you are safe,” I said. I saw disappointment flash across her eyes, but she masked it quickly.
“Gone where? Like taking a trip down the river Styx gone?” she asked, her eyes wide.
I smiled at the direction her mind immediately went. “Unfortunately, no. I would prefer that outcome, truth be told. His father made a deal with me. Anthony is banished to Sicily. For now.”
“Taking that island off the list of places I’d like to visit one day,” she said, her face serious. She had handled everything so well, but she had moments where I could tell she was still bothered by it all. I took a deep breath in, thinking about everything she had been through in a few short years. I watched as her face went dark for a moment. She closed her eyes, holding her breath for a moment. When she opened her eyes, her eyes were light once again.
“You have to work today?” she asked, snuggling closer to my chest, and wrapping her leg tighter around my hips.
“Not if you keep doing that,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
I felt the vibration of her giggle against my chest. “Sorry…that’s a lie. Not sorry,” she said.
I ran my hands under my shirt that she was wearing. She didn’t flinch this time when my hands touched her scars. Good. I wanted her to feel comfortable. I wanted her to know that my feelings hadn’t changed. As I ran my hand over her body, I lazily told her what my plans for the day were. “I have some work to finish here this morning. I have meetings in the city this afternoon. I will leave Andrei with you again if you like. Or you can pick another one to abuse in my absence.”
She giggled again. “You don’t have to leave any of them with me, you know. You need them more than me. You said nobody knows about this place, so how would anybody find me here? And if they did find me here, how would they get through the army of guards and dogs outside?”
“I’m leaving one of them with you. No arguing. The guards outside don’t have the…special set of skills that my guys have. You’re stuck with one of them. But I’ll let you choose which one,” I said.
“Should we let them choose? I feel like it’s punishment for them to have to babysit me, so I don’t want to force them to have to do it.”
I laughed at her. “This is a good idea. Then you’ll see that it is definitely not punishment to stay with a beautiful woman instead of following my grumpy ass around all day.” I held her close, not wanting to get up. Not wanting this moment to end. As soon as we got out of bed, my day would start and I already knew that I would be counting the minutes until I could get back to her.
We laid in silence for a few more minutes. She sighed and rolled away from me slightly. “I should go get dressed,” she said, stretching her arms over her head.
“You can move your things in here. There’s plenty of room,” I said as she sat up.
She looked back at me. “But then it won’t be so easy to kick me out when you get annoyed with me and my smart mouth,” she said, a devilish grin on her face.
I sat up beside her. I looked at her very seriously. “Solnishko. I wouldn’t kick you out. You would just have to sleep on the floor,” I said as I jumped out of bed before she could smack me. I heard her laughing as I went to the bathroom, closing the door.
Everyone was in the kitchen when we came downstairs. Tori was making breakfast for everyone as usual. The house staff was back and walking through the kitchen now that it was a weekday. I gave them the weekends off. I always offered Tori the weekend off as well, but she always refused. Now I understand it was because she wanted to be close to Andrei.
