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His smile shifts into something uncomfortable. “Volkovich has Alek… I don’t know how he got him, or where he found him but knowing what we know now—it is my intention to liberate him as well.”
“You can’t just drop something like that on me! How long have you known? You know what… I can’t…” I try to get off of him once more, but he holds me firmly in place.
“If you cannot keep yourself together, then you are not ready for this sort of information. At the time, I thought that Alek murdered my sister. I wanted him dead. I have every right to want my sister’s murderer dead. However, the choices were you… or him. Don’t expect me to apologize for the choice that I made,” Daniel says darkly.
It should bother me how badly I want him whenever he uses that tone of voice on me.
“These things take time. He’s still alive. He will remain that way so long as Nikolai thinks that I want to be the one to kill him myself. He will be used as leverage. You have to keep your wits about you.”
I glance down at him. “That’s going to be very hard to do if you keep holding me like this,” I whisper and allow myself to flatten the rest of the way into his chest. We sink slightly into the plush pillows, and Daniel smirks.
“I always have a plan,” he says reassuringly and kisses the tip of my nose. “However, getting you recovered fully is the top priority at the moment. I already have the plans in mind. This is what I’m good at, don’t you worry,” he says before kissing me softly. “Once you’re fully recovered, I plan to claim you fully in every way that our imaginations can dream up.”
“You have plans for that too, don’t you?” I tease playfully. It’s easier like this. It’s easier to just sink into him and let him do what he wants. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m free to give him control without needing to have a backup plan or an exit strategy.
“Of course.” He grins and kisses me again. His arms band tighter around my waist and I wrap my arms around his head, surrendering to his kiss. For a moment, I forget all the rest. Just a couple of days ago I thought that I was a dead woman walking, and now the future is wholly unclear and undetermined. But, for the first time in my life I’m not worried about where it’s going to go.
“Am I to take this as you agreeing to being mine, Helena?” Daniel pulls back and whispers.
I pretend to deliberate for a moment. It’s actually the easiest choice that I can remember making. “Hmm, I guess so.” I grin and laugh as Daniel shifts us. He flips us over on the bed so that he’s on top of me, pinning me down. His comforting weight settles over me as my thighs lift partly to accommodate him. My knees lift on either side, my feet hooking around his calves to pull him closer—only to be interrupted.
A pebble is thrown against the window. Then again, andagain.
Daniel’s forehead drops into my shoulder as he heaves a long-suffering sigh before dragging himself off of me. He crosses to the window to see who it is and peeks out of the curtain. I can tell exactly who it is by the face he makes.
“Henry?” I ask, knowing the answer.
Daniel nods. “He’s motioning rather fervently that we should go out and join him.” Daniel closes the curtain and glances back at me. “Are you feeling up for a different sort of game instead?”
“Of course,” I push myself up onto my elbows as Daniel disappears into the closet. He returns with a dress for me while putting on a shirt for himself. With a wink, he hands me itand pulls on a pair of pants. I don't know when he had time to order me more appropriate clothing than what was in there before, and I don't care. This is a lot more my style.
Daniel and I walk hand in hand outside. As I step barefoot into the perfectly manicured grass, the warm sunlight feels wonderful on my skin. Henry rushes up to me and tightly embraces me. I don't notice he has more company than usual until he's pulling away from me. Daniel stiffens as he looks over at a man in a wheelchair being pushed by the same woman who has been checking on me every day.
“Helena, this is my father, Joshua Colombo,” Daniel says in a tightly controlled voice.
I’m not sure that his father is fully aware of where he is, but I smile brightly anyway. “Nice to meet you, sir.” I don’t want to seem rude by trying to hold out my hand to shake. His lip curls slightly, and the oxygen tube in his nose shifts in a way that almost looks like it’s going to fall.
“Be nice, sir,” the woman behind him says firmly.
“This is the woman you’ve been fussing over?” Joshua says to his son. His voice is cold and cutting, but Henry doesn’t seem the slightest bit phased by it.
“She is,” Daniel says simply and slides his hands into his pockets.
Joshua turns a critical eye to me once more. “Soft, too soft,” he remarks.
Daniel scoffs loudly. “Wrong again,” he says simply with a smile.
Joshua motions with his fingers to be brought forward and the nurse pushes him with a sigh.
“He doesn’t mean anything by it. You just have to—” she tries to explain his behavior away, but he motions with the same hand to have her stop speaking, so she does.
Joshua turns his head this way and that and finally grunts in what I have to say is approval. “Well, if Henry likes her… she must not be too bad,” he finally says. I have a feeling that’s about the closest thing to a compliment that Mr. Colombo has ever given.
“I don’t just like her!” Henry interjects. “She’s my favorite!”
I grin and hug Henry again. I start to speak, but Daniel beats me to it.
“Would you like to keep her, Henry?” he says, and I glance up at him curiously, not sure what he means by that.
