Page 271 of Merciless Daddy

“You better fucking not.”

“I will stand on the bar and shout it.”

“You will not.”

“Then ask her.”

I watched Yelena dance. Her hair had fallen over one shoulder. Her ringless hand lifted in the air as she laughed at something Donatella said.

My throat tightened.

“I will,” I said.

Tonio’s expression gentled.

“Good.”

I crossed the room before I could think myself into another decade of silence.

Yelena saw me coming. Her smile turned knowing.

“There he is,” she said. “The suspicious man.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“You canceled meetings. Fed me breakfast like I was preparing for a siege. Kept looking at your pocket. You’ve been acting like a priest with a body in the basement.”

“That seems harsh.”

“You’re right, priests shouldn’t hide bodies. They’re meant to be good people.”

I put one hand at her waist.

“Dance with me.”

She looked at the women around her. Donatella waved her away with theatrical impatience.

“Go,” she said. “He looks like he might faint.”

“I do not faint,” I said.

Yelena’s brows rose. “You do look pale.”

She came into my arms.

The music was slower now. Her body settled against mine with no hesitation. One hand rested on my shoulder. The other slid into mine.

Her fingers fit between mine.

I had held knives with less care.

“You know,” she said, “I have spent all day trying to determine what you planned.”

“And?”

“I assumed a party. But we had one.”

“Interesting.”