I raised my brows. I never taught him that.
“My uncle told me how to do that. He heard me having a nightmare one time and he comforted me.”
Luka?
I blinked, surprised. Luka Dubinin was one of the world’s most fearsome Mafia bosses. Yet, he truly did have a soft spot for my son. All of the children in the family now.
“Want me to sit with you until you fall back asleep?” he offered a moment later.
“Me and Lev do that when Andre is fussy sometimes.”
I smiled. Those two boys were so good with that rascal of a toddler.
It seemed that Kalina gave him a reply. Maybe a nod, because Misha didn’t leave the room. More squeaks sounded and I guessed that he was scooting up to sit next to her.
“Oh, man. Your bedsucks,” he complained. “The mattress is so hard.”
I bit my lip not to laugh.
“No? You don’t think so?” he asked. Kalina must have shook her head.
“Well, it sucks. It’s too hard. Wanna come to my bed? It’s way softer. And you can see my stuffed animals. I only brought three, but you could hold Rennedy. He’s a St. Bernard dog that Emil gave me for my birthday.”
Oh, my God…
Staying in the darkness of my room, I peered around the edge of the doorframe and watched as Misha led Kalina to his room across the cabin. All the while, he talked to her and chatted about how he wasn’t too old for stuffed animals yet. Yawns cut his words off, but they both ended up in his room.
“Is that good?” Misha asked after some shuffling. He, too, was leaving his door open. Perhaps because he guessed Kalina might prefer it. “Do you have enough room on that side of the bed?”
She must have nodded again because Misha didn’t speak any further.
I sighed, so proud of him to help like this, to have such a caring personality.
But that was the last word.
Until a moment later when I determined they were settled and I could go back to my bed.
Kalina spoke with a quiet and soft reply. “Thank you.”
I froze mid-step, stunned.
He’d gotten through to her.
He made her crack.
My son had finally gotten her to speak.
With a big smile crossing over my face, I returned to bed with the confident optimism that it was a step in the right direction.
12
KALINA
Another week passed at the cabin out of the city.
From morning to night, everything stayed the same. The consistency of being here, away from the prison of a world I was once stuck in, allowed me to feel more comfortable than I ever had, more able to try to relax than I had tried to in too many years to count.
Alexsei didn’t approach me, staying in the background to prepare the food or read on his phone. He napped, too.
