“My little bunny,” he divulged, his heated gaze immediately warming me up.
“A bunny? Of all things?” I asked with a chuckle, desperately trying to lighten the mood.
“Rabbits are lovely. They’re innocent and totally adorable. My favorite animals.”
“Really?”
“Hm-mm,” he answered with a nod. “Let’s not eat cold food, Mrs. Lobanov.”
I sighed, turning away from him.
I didn’t look in his direction until after I’d emptied my small white round plate.
“So, when I said eating here was my main reason for coming here, I wasn’t being totally truthful,” he revealed.
“Oh?” I uttered, placing my almost-empty glass of water back in the tray.
“Yes.”
He put his empty plate on mine and bent to reach for something at the corner beside him on the sofa. It was a small box.
“I came to give you this,” he disclosed, handing the box to me.
I stared at the image on the white rectangular box.
“A phone?”
“Work keeps me out for long hours. Having a medium of direct communication is crucial; not all messages are appropriate for my men to deliver,” he explained, chuckling. “Yours was destroyed before you even got here. It’s only right for me to get you another phone.”
“Thank you. I’m just surprised. Are you not supposed to make sure I can’t reach anyone out there?”
“The person I had in mind when I got it isn’t the captive who tried to run away from me; it’s the wife I’m beginning to learn to trust.”
My right hand came over my chest.
“Viktor,” I called, my tone low. “That’s sweet. Thank you.”
“You never have to thank me. Open it,” he said, gesturing to the box on my lap.
I opened the box and brought out the sleek rose-gold phone.
“You didn’t have to buy the latest model,” I mentioned as I switched the phone on.
“I totally had to,” he disagreed. “All my lines are programmed into it, alongside a location tracker.”
“Oh..”
“For security reasons.”
“Okay,” I answered with a smile. “And do you have my number, too?”
“Of course.”
I nodded, my smile not quite absent yet.
“Isabella mentioned that she’ll be dropping by later today,” he informed.
“Oh. I’d love to see her.”
