And not a single one of us wanted anything to do with the man who tried to destroy our family.
I wouldn’t allow it.
My uncle might have survived his first brush with death.
But should he interfere with any of the Bratva business again, and should he dare to target any of us, I would make sure that he wished he were dead.
38
ELENA
This morning, Adrik said he wanted to start the first day of our marriage right. That meant spending time in bed before we got up and began working.
As the day went on, though, and I got hooked on the possibility of uncovering more than I might have initially bargained for, I realized that I’d almost forgotten about my new status of “normal”. The one that meant I wasn’t alone and that I had a family. The one that meant I had a husband to think about and secretly smile over.
Closer to dinnertime, I checked my phone and realized how late it was.
It didn’t bother me that he hadn’t checked in on me. He’d mentioned during our morning shower that before he got too busy, he had to meet with a guest who hadn’t left from our wedding yet. Some other crime boss from the Big Apple.
Yet, he hadn’t checked in with me since that meeting would’ve happened. A smidgen of guilt hit me that I’d been too in the zoneto realize that the day, and the start of the evening, was zipping by.
I bit my lip and worried that something might be wrong. We’d smooth out how to be a couple in our home and also working in this same location. It’d be a work in progress, and to be fair, we’d only reconciled and come together for a couple of weeks now despite the almost four months I’d been here altogether.
As if on cue, Adrik entered the office.
“Sorry!” I winced as I turned, assuming I was late in coming to dinner. “I’m really getting into something here and I haven’t considered stopping yet.”
He held his hand up as he approached. His expression was too somber for my liking, and I was immediately uneasy. He seemed patient, though, as he cut me off and came to kiss my forehead. “Relax.”
I smiled up at him, but he didn’t reply with one of his own.
“I only wanted to come and let you know that I need to go out with Maksim to speak with someone on the Strip.”
I nodded. “You don’t need to report to me,” I said, laughing lightly.
He was the boss, not me.
“I was hoping that our first night in marriage would end with us sharing dinner together, at least.”
I smiled. “Technically,” I said as I stood and faced him slowly, “our first night of marriage was last night.” Leaning against him, I hugged him tightly and sighed happily.
He’d always be a busy man, but I wasn’t so needy for him and his attention that it was a requirement for me. I wasn’t clingy.
“Besides, I’m not sure you could pull me away from this angle I’m working on.” I gestured at the computer behind me.
I kind of thought he’d smile. Or that he’d act intrigued and curious. He always had. Even when we weren’t necessarily close and getting along as smoothly as we were now, he’d given me his rapt attention about what I found with the books and the investigation.
“Then I won’t worry as much about leaving you to your own devices.”
I blinked, more than a little surprised. That… hurt. It almost seemed like he was dismissing me. If I hadn’t noticed the stress lines he couldn’t hide and the mixture of anger in his eyes, I would’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of thinking we were reverting to that terrible lack of communication from before.
He kissed me again and left, telling me that he’d see me as soon as he could later tonight.
Weird.
I stood there, frowning at the door he’d gone through.
Maybe he’s not dismissing me. But he’s dismissing that I could be onto something that would matter.
