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I marvel at the strength she possesses all the time.
“Where’s Nate?” she questions, looking around the house.
“His nanny sent me a text. They went to get some ice-cream and then he asked to go to the cinema to watch a movie.”
She blinks, her expression growing troubled. “I want him back here.”
I shift forward to press a kiss on her forehead. “He’ll be back soon, princess. Just relax.”
I wait quietly as she finishes her cup of hot chocolate.
“Do you want me to put you in bed?” I ask her, already knowing the answer.
She nods, stretching her arms out for me to carry her.
“Big baby,” I say affectionately as I move to lift her head, carrying her up the stairs.
Sleeping is Katerina’s coping mechanism. As soon as I tuck her in, she’s out like a light. I head back downstairs to try and get some work done but I’m on edge as well, discomfited at the news.
Still my worries are nothing in the face of Katerina’s when she wakes up less than two hours later.
“I think we should move into the mansion now,” she tells me, padding across the kitchen floors to the dining table where I’m seated.
I look up from my laptop to her face.
“Why?”
“Because it’s safer,” she says simply.
“Baby, we’re not going to upend our entire lives because there’s a slim possibility that man will be in the city.”
“It wouldn’t be upending it,” she says on a frown. “I just want us to be safe. Anything could happen in this house.”
“Katerina, I don’t think you’re looking at this clearly.”
“I also don’t think Nate should be going to school. At least for the time being.”
There’s science in the face of that proclamation. I stare at her, my jaw clenching.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s not safe,” she repeats.
“Princess, you’re starting to sound like a broken record here,” I tell her getting to my feet.
“I’m just trying to protect you both.”
“So what? You’re going to move him out of his house into another one? And then keep him away from school? Why don’t you wrap him in some bubble wrap while you’re at it?” I question.
She places a hand on her forehead in frustration. “Xander, you’re not listening to me.”
“No, I need you to listen to me. You don’t get to tell me what I can or can’t do with my son.”
“Our son!’ she yells. “He’s our son and I have as much say in how we protect him.”
“He already has two men shadowing him everywhere he goes. Why can’t that be enough?”
“Because this is the Cosa Nostra,” she says in exasperation. “I’ve heard of too many child abductions to delude myself into thinking anything we do will be enough. I need to do this, Xander. Because I can’t. I can’t lose him. Please,” she says desperately.
