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Laughing, he shook his head. “Uh, no. Once a month he makes a deposit to me, I make a deposit to my men, so on, so forth. It comes from one of Sergei’s trusts so there’s a paper trail that legitimizes everything. A criminally smart corporate attorney set it up for us. Hiding less-than-legal activities in plain sight is something of a game for him.”
“You’re not worried about the feds seizing your money?”
“No. Even if they did, I have enough cash set aside to start over.” He smiled when I looked up at him quickly but the corners of his eyes tightened. “Why all of the questions all of a sudden?”
I shrugged, shoving my hands into my pockets. “A combination of curiosity and worry, I guess.”
“It’s my job to worry, not yours.”
“Can’t help it. It feels like I’ve been worrying my entire life.”
Pulling me to a stop, the Christmas lights twinkled in his eyes when he looked down. “You don’t need to worry. You have me now.”
“You can’t solve all of my problems. I know you want to, for whatever reason, but it’s not possible. And I won’t take any more of your money. It’s too much. I can never repay you as it is.”
“I told you, Iwantto take care of you, including your problems. Trying to make you happy gives me purpose. Imagine the statue they’ll build in my honor if I ever succeed.”
I gaped at him as he started laughing. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you actually said that!”
“What?” He blinked innocently, never mind the smug little smirk on his face as he fought some more laughter. “You’renotan easy person to please.”
“I’mveryeasy to please,” I shot back.
He took a step closer, lowering his mouth to my ear. “Only in bed.”
A shiver raced down my spine and, ironically, I wasn’t cold anymore.
Straightening again, he raised his brows like a silent challenge and pivoted slowly to continue down the lighted path.
Shaking off the remnants of the tingles racing over my skin, I hurried to catch up to him. “You know, one of these days, I’m sure I’ll get an opportunity to take care of you. Then we’ll see how smug you are.”
“You already take care of me.”
I furrowed my brow. “How?”
“You cook for me every time I’m at the apartment. Plus, you’re watching over Nadia while I’ve been busy.” He stole a glance at me. “More than anything, you bring me peace.”
“I bring you problems,” I countered.
He stopped and faced me, plucking my hand out of my pocket so he could hold it between his. I glanced around quickly but his gaze never wavered. Guess he wasn’t concerned about anyone seeing us holding hands in public. “In forty-four years, I’ve faced many problems. You are not among them.”
“You’rethatold?” I made a show of wrinkling my nose. “I don’t know if this is going to work.”
“Smart ass.”
It was my turn to smirk. “You better start being nice or no hot chocolate for you. This is a date. We’re not supposed to be roasting each other.”
His brows dipped for a moment. “Roast means ‘make fun’?”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Sometimes all of the languages get confused.” He gestured toward his forehead and rolled his eyes. “Must be the old age.”
I nodded, adopting a serious expression. “We’ll stop by the pharmacy and get you some omega-3 on the way home.”
“Don’t forget calcium. I wouldn’t want to break a hip.”
“I think your hips are just fine considering you railed me to Milwaukee and back the other night.”
