“And who’s to say your brother wouldn’t have done what he did, anyway? He sounds like he was a very jealous man.”
Daniil nodded against my shoulder. “He was always jealous of me.”
I nodded with him. “You know better than to blame yourself. You’re the smartest man I know. Do the math. It would have happened sometime.” I stroked his hair. “You know it wasn’t your fault. You sacrificed. Gave your kids what they needed growing up. And then, your brother took. You’re not to blame.” I sucked in a breath. “And, although your dad didn’t do everything right, he wasn’t to blame, either.” That was the truth.
Daniil was silent for so long, I started to worry, leaning my head back to look at him. He gazed at me through the water and snorted…and then chuckled. I watched him warily, wondering if he was going to have another mini-breakdown. He asked through his soft laughing, “For someone so young and inexperienced, you give excellent advice.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head back. “I just figure, no matter how old the parent, as long as they’re of well mind and body, they’re all a pain in the ass. But they mean well, even if they are a little misconstrued.”
Daniil’s body really started shaking as he laughed. “God, you’re adorable. Smart. Beautiful. And fucking perfect.” He kissed me lightly, saying against my lips, “How did I get so damn lucky to find you?”
I shrugged again, feeling better that I had helped him. “I am the preacher’s daughter. God gave me to my best match.”
Daniil grinned against my lips. “You really believe that.”
Not a question, but I kissed him softly. “I do.”
That night, after a harrowing day of avoiding Daniil’s dad and Daniil talking with his kids—since most of them had thought their parents relationship perfect—and giving Ember her books and tapes back in exchange for my mousse, the entire lot of us were dressed pretty damn snazzy. We were going out to dinner. I wore a little black dress—that was a little snug around my belly since I had been eating so much—with the pearls Daniil gifted me. Daniil was in all black, matching me with wool pants, dress shoes, and a V-neck cashmere sweater. I was proud to say, my curls had been manageable, so my hair only looked halfway inhuman. I wore contacts, not because Daniil thought I looked better with them, but because I thought so with this outfit.
My parents were even along for the ride after a little persuasion from Daniil, pretty much guilting them into keeping his dad busy since he insisted on joining them. His kids were abnormally quiet. Ember, Chloe, and Kirill were trying to get them out of their funk they’d been in all day—they seriously didn’t even go into work today after hearing the news about their mom…and the fact that they were upset with Roman because he hadn’t told them…but he was even quieter than normal staring out a window silently.
It was Daniil’s dad who was making the most racket, arguing—good Lord—with my dad about something in the Bible. It appeared his father knew his Bible verses and was going toe-to-toe with my dad trying to prove a point about whether or not it was all right to—ahem—take care of someone if they stole from you. Yeah, interesting conversation there.
Daniil actually looked a little amused, but he turned his attention from them, asking me loudly, “Beth, is Katie going to be at the restaurant?”
I blinked because we had already discussed this. In fact, he had specifically asked me to invite her to dinner with us. And…then…I noticed Artur’s eyes zoning in and out, darting to us. I turned my attention to the side window, so he could see my expression, and said in a normal voice, “Yes. She’ll be there.” I paused and had a moment of worry, but shrugged it off. “She’s bringing a friend of ours, Merc Farris, with her.”
Daniil stiffened. “A friend of both of yours?”
“Mmm-hmm,” I stated casually. Fuck, I hadn’t even thought of that. Merc was handsome as hell. All golden skinned and dark hair and eyes. Not to mention a body to die for. “Just a really good friend of ours.” But he wasn’t what any of them was going to expect.
My dad’s gaze darted to me, and then Daniil, stating, “They’re really just friends. You don’t need to kill him or anything. He’s a good kid.”
I tried not to gawk at my dad as he grinned at Daniil and then went back to arguing with Daniil’s dad.
“What does he look like?” Ember asked, hitting the nail on the head.
I tried not to scowl at her. “Handsome.”
“Is he single?” Eva asked, finally breaking her mold and paying attention.
I nodded slowly. “But he’s not…er…” I sighed. “He wouldn’t be interested in someone like you. Or me. Or anyone in this car for example.”
Eva’s eyebrows came together as the limo came to a stop in front of the restaurant. “And why not? Is he practicing to be a monk or something?”
I shook my head quickly, seeing the photographers all around the limo and a bodyguard getting ready to open our door. “No. But you’ll see soon enough.” I didn’t have time to explain.
Daniil was looking at me with raised eyebrows, but bent over and kissed me gently right before the door opened. Then he was pulling me out of the car swiftly and tucking me in close to his side as flashes went off. Someone had tattled about our reservation. We were having Italian, which I was grateful since I was starving, and I was sure the dive we would be going to after this would only have greasy unhealthy—yummy—food, so I was going to fill up here first so I wouldn’t be tempted to do so later on.
And again, amazingly, it was Micah’s voice I heard over everyone else’s who was shouting our name as we slowly made our way to the front door. He stuck his hand through the bodyguards when they were busy with others, and yelled, “Is it a boy or a girl, Elizabeth?”
And…I knew I shouldn’t, but I snatched his tape recorder from him before his arm was thrown back and tossed it into my clutch.Dick.
Daniil’s shoulders started shaking, and he stared down at me as the shouting changed from us to Grigori and Ember since they must have exited the limo behind us and then Eva and Artur. It was kind of nice to have some of the attention pulled off us, and Daniil leaned down, asking, “Was that really necessary. I know what you did to the poor man in the elevator.”
I huffed. “I’m going to have a talk with Trofim.”
He chuckled outright as we reached the front doors, and he hurried me inside to the main foyer where the photographers weren’t allowed. We waited for the rest of our group, and once everyone was inside safely, the hostess took us back to a private room where Katie, Merc, and Mary would be waiting. We got more than a few stares from actual—in my opinion—celebrities who were eating in the restaurant as we followed along, Daniil’s hand resting possessively on the small of my back.
