I told my men to get in the car with Andrei when we arrived at the cafe knowing, or more so hoping, I’d have Willow to myself. They also grabbed the dickhead she was with and should currently have him in one of our warehouses, ready to be questioned.
How am I going to tell her we know she’s being stalked, but we don’t know who by or what they want with her, especiallywhen I’ve already been lying to her from the start when I made up about telling the police because I thought it was Andrei.
What if the first time was Andrei and only now has someone else seen that we have him following her and using that to their advantage? I have so many questions and I don’t know how we will get the answers, but for her, I’ll do anything to find out.
I scrub a hand down my face at a red light and look over at her. She looks so peaceful, so fucking beautiful and I already know my mother is going to adore her as much as I do. I just need to figure out how to keep her away from Bratva business.
The light turns green and I drive the rest of the way to her apartment wondering how the fuck I got in this position but knowing there’s no other way I would have it.
We pull up outside and I see Lev’s car, which means he’s still here and I find myself releasing a breath I didn’t know I was holding. He can help tell the girls together about the car following Willow and hopefully it won’t scare them too much. They can’t know I’ve put Andrei on Willow, but we can make sure they know they are safe without giving anything else away. I don’t like that I’m having to lie to Willow, but it’s for her own safety.
My hand finds its way into her hair like it belongs there, just gently stroking strands of it away from her face. She starts to stir awake and she looks out the window confused that we’re already at her apartment.
“Oh my god did I fall asleep?” She covers her face with her hands like she’s embarrassed I saw her sleeping and I can’t help but smirk at her.
“It’s okaymoya dusha.” I laugh a little as I talk and she peers up to look at me between her fingers which only makes me laugh more.
“I didn’t know you were capable of this emotion.” She says looking at me like I’m from another planet.
“What, laughing, being happy? There’s a lot you don’t know about me, but I want to change that, if you’ll let me.”
I get out of the car before she can say anything back and walk round to open the door for her. I help her out and we walk hand in hand to her door where I left her standing before. She gets her keys out without speaking a word to me and opens the front door. She looks up at me like she’s waiting for me to leave her again, only this time I press a hand to her lower back, guiding her inside before following her.
We reach the top of the stairs and I take in the hallway. Photos of Willow and Aline line the walls, from toddlers to recent pictures from nights out, pictures of their families, other friends and holidays over the years. Willows innocent life laid out before me. She is beaming in every photo with her gorgeous smile on display and I realise she’s kept walking as I’ve stood deathly still looking in amazement at her face in every photo.
“Dragna, you okay?” I hear her call to me from a doorway into the kitchen area. I turn around to look at her and she looks like a goddess. The light from the kitchen illuminating behind her making her look like some kind of ethereal creature and she doesn’t even have to try. She’s just naturally that beautiful.
She continues to stare at me and I realise I haven’t actually said anything to her, I’ve just been staring at her at a loss for words over how I have went from vowing to never need a woman to not being able to function without having her close to me.
“I’m fine.” I clear my throat. “Where can we talk?”
“Lev and Alina are in there, so we can go to my room.” She says as she hikes a thumb over her shoulder walking closer to me.
“Actually, Lev and I need to talk to both of you.”
“Oh? Is everything okay?” She starts to toy with the sleeve of her sweater and I know she’s feeling anxious. I walk to her and gently take both her hands in mine.
“Come onmoya dusha.” I walk towards the doorway she was standing in and walk into her kitchen which is open plan to a much larger living area than I expected.
Her apartment is a decent size, it’s what most would probably consider cute and it suits her a lot.
Lev sees me from his spot on the sofa and sits up before greeting me.
“Moy brat! Isn’t this lovely, the four of us hanging out.” He grins and I don’t return the niceties. His face falls and he realises I’m about to drop a bomb and not just any bomb, butthebomb.
He sits up and says something to Alina that I can’t hear but it makes her sit up and take her attention away from the movie they were watching.
“We all need to sit down and talk.” I say while guiding Willow behind me by her hand. I take a seat on one of their armchairs, finally letting go of her hand and gesturing to the sofa for her. She takes a seat beside Alina and Lev comes to stand behind me.
“What’s going on. You both look terrifying right now.” Alina says trying to laugh but it comes out nervous.
“There’s no easy way to say this, but you were right Willow. The car you saw following you to work that morning, it’s been following you around since then.” I try to say as softly as I can.
“WHAT!” Alina shrieks and Willow just slumps back in the sofa and brings her knees up to her chin, not saying a word.
“The police are keeping an eye on the situation and I promise you both that you’re safe, especially with us around, but there is currently no information. No details on the cars registration, nothing. So we need you both to be extra vigilant. If you see the car, or any other car for that matter looking suspicious, you call me or Lev straight away. One of my business associates is in surveillance and can get a camera installed out the front of the house too just for extra precautions.”
“Hold on a minute, Willow is fully being stalked?” Alina says while putting a hand on Willows knee.
