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I grin sleepily. “Of course.” Then I melt right back into his arms.

When he asked me to have dinner with him, I assumed he meant a private dinner at home. But that evening, he steers me toward the front door, palm firm at the small of my back, my heart hammering in my throat as we head for the car in the driveway.

He holds the passenger door open, and I slip inside, limbs jittery. This feels like we’re going on a date—an actual date out in public. Is he going to confess his feelings tonight? A thrill races through me, and my toes curl, digging into the leather of my heels.

He rounds the hood and slides into the driver’s seat, but instead of starting the engine, he turns to me. “I should probably warn you, but I don’t want to because I don’t want you running scared.”

“What?” I frown at him, his words making zero sense. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re having dinner with my family.”

My jaw drops.

For several seconds, all I can do is stare at him. I saw his family at his brother’s wedding, and I saw his brothers at the expo his company hosted weeks ago, but I didn’t actually meet them. No introductions were made. The fact that he wants to take me to dinner with them feels like a big deal.

My stomach twists into knots as my thoughts spiral. What am I going to do? What am I going to say? What am I wearing? I glance down at my dress, trying to assess whether it’s appropriate for a first meeting with his family. What do you wear to meet the family of your… your…

What even are we?

I’m on the verge of panicking when he reaches for my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. My siblings and I have dinner with my mother once a month to catch up, and I wanted them to meet you.” He lifts our joined hands and presses a kiss to the back of mine. “But I’ll understand if it’s too much.”

Is it really too much when I love him? “I want to.” My voice comes out thick. “I really want to. But they probably know who I am… what I did…” My throat closes, cold horror washing over me. His brothers came to see me in my cell that night. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

“They’re going to keep seeing you because I’m keeping you, Grace. So the sooner they start seeing you around, the sooner they’ll get used to you and get over the past.”

Getting over the past is easier said than done. And… he’s keeping me? My heart thuds. “You’re keeping me? What does that mean?” I fish openly, and I have no shame about it whatsoever.

Hands still linked, he lifts his other hand to my face. “It means I’ve fallen in love with you. So they’re either going to learn to love you too or stop coming to family dinners.” He winks, but my throat has tightened so much I’m not sure I’m still breathing.

“You—you love me?” I ask in a shaky whisper. “Why?”

“Why do you love me?” He turns the question back on me, and when I don’t answer right away, he sighs. “Your loyalty. You loved your friend enough to risk your own life for her. You kept your mouth shut when my men questioned you. Kept your mouth shut when I questioned you. You protected her until you knew I would protect her too. That’s admirable.” He pauses before continuing. “Your resilience. You refused to let your past define you, and you’ve fought your way to becoming the woman you are today.” Then his lips curve into a teasing smile. “Your perky tits. They taste like the sweetest berries, and I could spend hours sucking on them.”

“Dimitri!” I let out a choked laugh as tears slip down my face.

He brushes one away with his thumb. “I could sit here listing everything until morning. But they all amount to the same thing—a beautiful whole that is you, Grace. And it’s the whole of you I love, more than any single part.” His eyes hold mine. “I love you, Grace.”

My lips tremble as I lean into his touch. “I love you too.”

41

GRACE

The drive to Dimitri’s mother’s house is short. As in ten minutes. “Wow, I didn’t know she lived so close by,” I say as he cuts the engine.

“Only my family lives in this estate.” He nods at the house across the road. “That’s my sister’s home. The other houses belong to my brothers and me, though they’re not actively living in theirs.”

“So you all just decided to build a community for yourselves?” That sounds like a very expensive endeavor.

He smiles and gets out of the car. “Makes it easier to protect our loved ones.”

He comes around to open my door, and as I step out, the front door of the house opens too, and I go rigid. “It’s okay.” His hand glides reassuringly down my arm. “I told them I was bringing a plus-one.”

Yeah, that’s not the reason I’m nervous.

I force myself to unclench my muscles and look toward the house. An older woman I recognize from his brother’s wedding—his mother—is standing in the doorway, watching us with an expectant expression. She’s wearing a floral-print apron over her pretty dress, and her dark hair is pulled up into a loose bun, exposing the silvery strands at her temples.