Page 234 of Vicious Intentions
“When the dust settles and I know it’s safe, I’ll come find you,” he says.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he confirms. “Ti voglio bene, stronzo.”
I laugh at that, his teasing easing the boulder pressing against my chest.
“I love you too, asshole,” I mimic.
“Take care of yourself. And give my love to Anna. Tell her Mom misses her.”
“I will,” I nod. “And you take care of yourself too. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”
“You mean like get married to someone you barely know and fall in love like a chump? Too late, brother. That ship has already sailed.”
I don’t have time to ask what he’s talking about since the fucker ends the call with that cliffhanger.
Well, wonders never cease. Niccolò got hitched.
My smile must still be plastered across my face when I hand Kirill back his phone, only to watch him break it apart with his bare hands before crushing the chip in his fist.
“Can’t be too careful, you know?” he laughs. “Glad to see you’re in better spirits. Good call?”
“The best. Thank you.”
“Don’t sweat it. We’re family now,” Kirill says with a smile before walking over to his wife.
I follow suit and wrap my arms around my Anna, who is somehow smiling and crying at the same time.
Stella’s gaze flicks from her sister’s face to mine.
“Glad to see you’re a man of your word. My sister has never looked happier.”
“I intend to keep her that way,” I grin, pressing a sweet kiss to Anna’s cheek.
“That’s good.” Stella smiles at me. “Now we’ve wasted enough time as it is. You two need to get on that plane. The pilot’s been instructed to fly you over the Bering Strait before landing in Anadyr. From there, another plane will take you to Yaroslavl. You’re looking at fourteen hours in the air, so I hope you two brought a good book to entertain yourselves,” Stella jokes lightheartedly.
“Oh, I think we can entertain ourselves just fine. Don’t you agree, sweetheart?”
Anna elbows me in the gut, her smile silently telling me to behave.
Like that’s even an option.
Luckily, neither her sister nor her brother-in-law seems to notice.
“The second you land in Yaroslavl, Kostya will be waiting to drive you the rest of the way to Misha’s compound. There, you can rest, regroup, and start thinking about where you want to put down roots.”
Stella reaches for Anna’s hand and gives it a squeeze.
“I really think you’ll love Russia, sis. And if you decide that’s where you want to stay, then we can visit whenever we want and people will just assume we’re visiting Misha.”
There it is.
The hope in Stella’s eyes is the same hope my wife sometimes carries.
But when I look at Kirill, his eyes tell me something different.
They aren’t nearly as optimistic.
