Page 89 of Obsessed Bratva Daddy
The cold in my stomach softened a notch. Only a notch.
"But?"
"She will be slow for a few days, and she should not be on her own for the first week. Your grandmother is a stubborn woman. She will try the stairs, lift the laundry, cook her own dinner. None of that yet. If you have someone in the family who can stay with her, this is the time."
"I'll come," I said. "Today."
"Good. I told her you would say that. She told me not to bother you."
That sounded like her. My mouth pulled a little at the corner even with my hand braced on the counter.
"Thank you, Doctor."
"Take care of her."
"I will."
I hung up and stood there for one long breath with the towel still in my hand. Then I was already moving.
I found him in the back study. The door was open a finger's width. His laptop sat in front of him, two stacks of paper at his elbow, a coffee cup at the corner of the desk that was half full and probably long cold. The lamp was on even though it was barely past mid-morning. His scarred knuckle tapped the edge of the desk in a slow rhythm while he read.
He looked up the second I crossed the threshold. Whatever he saw in my face made him close the laptop and stand.
"What is it?"
"My grandma had a fall," I said. "She is okay. But she needs me there for a few days."
He was moving before I finished the sentence.
His jacket was off the back of the chair and over his arm in one motion. Around the desk in two strides. The phone was already in his hand, his thumb finding a contact, the line ringing before he hit the door.
"Mikhail. Bring the car around. I need an hour, maybe two, then we leave for Queens."
"Daniil. No."
He did not hear me. He was checking his watch.
"I am coming with you."
"You can't."
"Pack what you need. I will have a sweep done of the building before we arrive."
"Daniil."
I stepped in front of him so he had to look at me. His gray-green eyes finally landed and held.
"You have things to fix here," I said. "Real things. You can't leave the compound for a week to sit on my grandma's couch and watch her sleep."
"Those things can wait."
"No. They can't." I kept my voice level. "The longer they wait, the more dangerous it gets for everyone, including me. You know that. I am going. You're staying. I'll come back."
His jaw set. He looked at the phone in his hand like he was deciding whether to ignore me. The phone did not go down.
"You will be alone in that apartment."
"I will be with my grandmother."
