“Oh, wait, three.”
Julian laughs and nods. “Okay, let’s hear them.”
“Well, when you saidshoot, it reminded me. Can I learn? To shoot, that is.”
His smile fades and he narrows his eyes. “Why?”
I blow out a breath and squeeze his fingers. “Because I’m married to Julian Stavros. My father is the head of the Bratva. I’m a smart girl, Julian. At any given moment, I could be in a scary situation and need to know how to get out of it. I don’t know how to shoot; my father wouldn’t let me. But I think it’s a good skill to have.”
“Agreed. Lulu and Scarlett work with all of us learning the same thing you’re talking about. You can join them if you want.”
“Oh.” That makes me nervous. My stomach turns at that, and Julian frowns because apparently I don’t have a poker face around this man.
“You don’t like Lulu?”
“No, I do. She’s very sweet and was so good to me today.”
Did the wedding really happentoday? It feels like so long ago.
“But I’m not great with people, and making friends is hard. I don’t mind learning by myself.”
“Why don’t you give it a try, and if you’re still uncomfortable, we’ll work something out.”
I nod in agreement. “We’re good at the compromise thing.”
He smiles softly, and it hits me in the feels. “Okay, next question.”
“Does our age difference bother you?”
My husband goes very still, and the muscle in his jaw twitches. “No. Does it botheryou?”
“Not at all. You’re what, fifty?” I press my lips together because I know he’s not fifty, and he barks out a laugh.
“Sometimes I feel fifty. I’m forty-three. Elliott’s twenty-five.”
“You were a young dad.” My voice is quiet but not judgmental.
“I was a fucking baby.”
“And that leads to the last question of the night.” I lick my lips and try to pull my hand out of Julian’s, but he holds on tight and frowns at me. “Where’s his mom?”
“She died about a year after Elliott was born. I met her in school when I was seventeen, and we werenotplanning to get pregnant. Sienna was a nice girl. I liked her a lot, and we had fun together. Maybe too much fun for our age. And then she was pregnant, and I married her. She died in a car accident.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“She died before you were born, Angel. There’s nothing to be sorry for. It was a long time ago, and while I never would have wished her dead, our marriage wasn’t likely to survive. We were far too young. Now, I have a question for you.”
“Oh geez. Okay. I’m an open book.”
He covers his mouth with his free hand and laughs. “You look scared out of your mind.”
“I guess I didn’t take into account that the questions worked both ways.” I clear my throat. “I’m ready.”
“How are you?”
I blink at him. “That’s it?”
“Yes. I want to know how you’re doing with everything that happened today. Don’t sugarcoat it for my benefit.”
