David’s cheeks turned pink, his expression dazed. Mati couldn’t blame him. She was having a hell of a time not picturing it, too.
Mike grinned at Alexei. “Well, wewereconsidering it.”
David’s cheeks went pinker. “Holy smokes,” he whispered.
“Anyway,”Rupert said, steering the conversation back into PG territory, “we’re very glad you’re here, and that you’ve taken such good care of him, and that you all seem so happy.”
Mati smiled at Rupert, who she’d missed every day since he’d moved to Moncton, but never loved more than today.
Maybe he saw that, because he hugged her again.
“Thank you,” she said.
Rupert pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re family.”
David felt the oddest mix of relief, envy, and sorrow as he stood in the middle of Callum and Rupert’s warm, welcoming home.
It was clear Mati and Reese had protection here in Moncton. Maybe it wasn’t the same kind he could offer them, but it was a place they could come to relax and be themselves and know they were sheltered from the world outside.
This was what he’d tried to build at home. A safe space. But he’d foolishly thought it was the four walls that would keep the world at bay. Now, he knew what he’d been missing.
And what he would be missing again when he went back to Boston alone.
Callum nudged David with his elbow. “Penny for your thoughts?”
David had last seen Callum’s picture inPeople Magazine, for Christ’s sake, so this was a little surreal. He was comforted by the hints of Kieran he could see in the arched eyebrows and square chin.
Maybe that was why he was honest. “You ever do something you know is going to hurt like hell in the long run, but you can’t seem to stop?”
A slow smile grew on Callum’s face. “Yeah. I have.”
“What did you do?”
Callum looked around the room, his eyes tracing over each person in it. “I figured out what really mattered and made that happen.”
“What if it’s not up to me?”
Callum studied him, as if weighing his words.
“He didn’t bring hisbodyguardhome to meet his family.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mati drove the last few miles home, content and happy, listening to Reese and David talk about nothing in particular. They’d all stayed up late, talking, taking turns holding Eleanor, and eating way too much delicious food. David had ended up in the kitchen with Alexei and the two of them were now besties. They had made another feast in the morning, with David somehow pulling together a quiche while Alexei taught him how to make blini.
Fortunately, they hadn’t been in any hurry to get going, and the last leg of the trip was easy. Mati knew these roads like the back of her hand.
That also meant she knew when they were close enough to Sydney for her phone to work reliably, and with location tracking off, there was no reason she couldn’t make a call. Telling herself to suck it up, she dialed her parent’s house. She didn’t put the call on speaker—she’d learned her lesson there.
“Viveiros residence.”
“Hey, Mom. I wanted to let you know I’m back.”
“Oh, Tilly! I’m so happy you’re home.”
You are?Mati didn’t doubt her mom loved her, but she wasn’t usually this effusive. “I’m just driving into town now. Everything okay there?”
“What? Oh, ah, yes. Yes.”
