“I told him to quiet down and I’m just playing with you, I didn’t hurt you.” I tell her and she laughs even louder.
“Good boy Boulder. You’ve got my back.” She tells him with a smile on her face and I can’t help but smile back at her.
“Okay time to switch.” She continues as she holds out Boulder’s lead and I offer Volk’s lead to her.
“Volk is strong so he might pull you a little.” I warn her as we swap the leads and to my surprise, Volk walks gently beside her, not even pulling her a little bit.
I guess she has all four of us wrapped around her finger.
We continue to walk around the grounds for an hour, swapping the leads every ten minutes and talking about herwork, the club, both of our interests and at some point during the evening, our hands join, fingers interlocked as we walk casually like she has always belonged right here.
Chapter Twenty Five
Willow
I’m off work today and Dragna told me he had a surprise for me and I don’t know what to think as I finish getting ready, preparing for him to pick me up.
I have seen him every day since dinner with his mom last week. Whether it’s been him coming here for dinner and a movie, or me going to his house to walk the dogs, to shopping together and late night drives in his car, we haven’t been apart much save for when I’m at work and he’s at the club.
I can feel the negative thoughts creeping in about why he has chosen me and why someone like him would want me and as much as I have tried to stomp them down, I woke up this morning with a horrible feeling in my chest and stomach that he is going to realise I’m nothing special and move on to someone more deserving of him.
I finish curling the last section of my hair when I see his car appear on the camera feed and I take a big deep breath in trying to calm my nerves.
The knock at the door comes and I take a look at myself in my mirror at the effort I’ve put in, trying to convince myself that the thoughts I have aren’t my reality and that Dragna has only shown me effort and care, proving he does want to be with me. It doesn’t help though, when I find myself spiralling like this there isn’t much that can pull me out of it until the thoughts pass on their own.
I take another deep breath in and exhale slowly as I make my way down the stairs and open the front door to let Dragna in.
He stands looking as commanding, dangerous and as beautiful as ever and suddenly my spiralling mind goes even further into thoughts of unworthiness.
“Are you okay?” His voice is gentle and sincere as I feel his hands on the tops of my shoulders and he leans down to make eye contact with me.
I try my best to give him a convincing smile as I nod my head.
“I’m fine, just tired!” I tell him and a second later he pulls me into his embrace.
“You’re a terrible liarmoya dusha.” He says as he strokes my head softly with one hand while the other is wrapped around my back holding me to him.
I feel tears prickle at my eyes but I refuse to let them fall. If I do, he will definitely realise I’m not as stable as I appear to be and he’ll run a mile if he hasn’t already planned to anyway.
“Talk to me.” He continues when I haven’t said anything back to him.
“My brain is just being silly today.” I speak into his chest as I breathe in his aftershave, not wanting him to let go of me.
“Well then, you can decide what we do today. Would you rather relax and we can stay in, or I can tell you where I was going to take you and you can see if you’d still like to go out?” He offers still holding me close to him except now he is resting his chin on my head and I feel the urge to cry again.
He makes me feel so supported despite my stupid mind trying to convince me otherwise. Be brave Willow I tell myself. He wants to be with me, he wants to spend time with me, he likes me exactly as I am I repeat over and over again as I think about what I would rather do today.
“I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so don’t tell me anything. Let me get my coat and we’ll go. I’m okay, honestly. I just had a moment.” I tell him as he lets go of me and looks into my eyes looking for any sense that I’m not telling him the truth.
He gives me a nod before leaning down and kissing my forehead as he reaches behind me. He lifts my coat off the hanger in the hallway and holds it open for me being the true gentleman he is.
“I think where we are going will help calm your mind.” He says as I put my arms into my coat and he pulls it up over my shoulders.
“It’s somewhere I used to go when I couldn’t quiet my own mind.” He continues before lifting my handbag, closing the front door and taking my hand in his, leading me to the car.
“I’m intrigued to see what kind of place it is now.” I joke with him, attempting to lighten the mood a little as he opens the door for me to get in.
“If I know you like I believe I do, you’re going to love it.” He says as I climb into the passenger seat and he closes the door.
