“No, I still should have trusted you. Trusted myself.”
He looked down at her, held her face in his hands. She stared up at him with so much adoration. “I want to make damn sure. You’re telling me you want to be together?”
“Yes, Raffi, yes. I love you.” She laughed, then said it again. “I can’t be without you. I love you.”
Raffi held her so tight and kissed the top of her head. “I’ve been wanting to tell you the same thing for a long time, Ani jan. I love you in a way that I can barely control. No one hasmade me feel this way in my life. No one. It’s you. Since I met you, Ani, it’s always been you.”
Tears slid down her cheeks, and Raffi wiped them away with his thumbs. She did the same for him. He kissed her cheeks, her eyelashes, then her mouth.
The kiss deepened, Raffi pressed against his car and Ani melted into him. They didn’t stop until a tourist family full of children brought him back down to earth. He heard a toddler boy say, “They doing kissing?” and he and Ani pulled away and started laughing.
“But Raffi,” she said. “Why was your phone off, or whatever? I thought you blocked me and never wanted to talk to me again.”
He nuzzled her head, hoping the gesture could take away her past pain. “I’m so sorry that you ever thought that. Fuck. I never wanted to make you feel like that. I was on a plane.”
“Plane?”
“I’ve been out of the country.”
Ani appeared puzzled, rightfully. Raffi dug into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a check, then handed it to his girlfriend.
She read it. “Sixty thousand…? What is this? I thought I told you I didn’t need—”
“Look at the name,” Raffi said.
The check was from the Avedissians. Those fuckers who scammed the love of his life.
“You…” Ani began, but was at a loss for words.
“Went to Bali,” Raffi finished. At Lana’s suggestion: “Why don’t you just go to Bali and find them yourself? You’ve got connections.” “I found them. And made them pay. As you cansee, that’s a cashier’s check, so this one isn’t going to bounce. Fifty thousand plus interest.”
Ani gaped at him, open-mouthed. “How did you get them to pay—?”
“Good question. And by the way, we have to go back there. I hardly got to see it, but truth be told, I didn’t want to experience it without you.” Raffi took out his phone. “Here’s how I did it.”
He showed Ani a video of his dad, Moushegh, sitting in front of a roaring fireplace, gripping a cane with both hands, glowering at the camera. Dad did look incredibly intimidating. Raffi dragged the player forward a bit. “There’s a little intro, then we get here,” he said.
In Armenian, his dad roared, “And if you do not pay, the entire force of the Armenian mob will rain down on your sorry asses, sending you back to hell, where you belong.”
Ani let out a choked laugh. “What? Oh my God, heisin the mob?”
Raffi smiled. “No, he’s not. But if everyone thinks he is, why not a little threat to help out a woman in need? I’m sorry I told him about the debt; I know it’s a tough subject. I hope that’s okay. He really likes you. Was happy to make this video if it meant lending you a hand.”
Ani stared at the screen, her eyes wide and unblinking, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. A laugh bubbled up in her throat, equal parts disbelief and joy. “He’s really convincing. So this actually worked?”
He nodded. “It actually worked. And they gave me an apology full of excuses, but I won’t sully your brain by repeating them. Suffice it to say, they’re sorry now.”
Ani shook her head and looked at the check, her smile growing brighter. “Wow.Wow. Thank you. Seriously.”
Raffi shrugged. “It’s not exactly a grand romantic gesture, but it was the best I could do.”
Ani stared up at him, a huge smile on her face. “It isincrediblyromantic.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
He pulled back and groaned. “We live too far away. I can’t be away from you.”
“I know…” she said.
