Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
I shake my head, a smile touching my lips. “I don’t think so.”
“This was years ago, a different life. You loved that thing. Used to bang the pots and pans around, saying you were going to cook up a storm. Or a monster. Anything, and we always laugh.”
“How have you never told me this before?” I whisper.
He shrugs. “There are too many memories to pick from sometimes. You need to be careful with Damien.”
“You said he was a good man. That’s the whole reason you let me go with him.”
“He is a good man. But that doesn’t mean he’s perfect. I don’t know anything about his personal life or how he treats women. He might hurt you if you let your feelings run away with you.”
I swallow, my fears seeming more real when he coldly states them like that.
It’s exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid.
And yet…
Uncle Nick didn’t say he hated the idea of Damien and me. Just to be careful.
“But what if he wanted to be with me?” I say. “In some different world, even. In some parallel freaking dimension. Let’s say he wanted to be my… I don’t know, my boyfriend. Would you be okay with that?”
My nerves are still tightening, telling me this could go wrong, but it’s a little less now that Uncle Nick isn’t going to yell or storm out.
At least he’s talking to me.
“Would you?” Uncle Nick counters. “He’s the Bratva boss, Liliana. He’s the man who was in charge when….”
“When the Cartel killed Dad, I know. But I’m not sure what else you wanted him to do. He fought with everything he had. He tried his best. And he still hates himself for it. And you were working with the Cartel. We’re still prisoners to them, aren’t we, basically?”
Uncle Nick sighs, nodding.
“He didn’t have to help us. But he did. Because he’s a good person.”
“You sound like you really care about him,” Nick says. “That’s what really frightens me. You might actually like this man. Don’t you care about the age gap?”
I laugh without meaning to. The question feels like it comes out of nowhere.
“Why would I care?”
“You tell me.”
“I’ll tell you that I don’t care,” I say passionately.
In fact, I like it. I want an older, more experienced man to protect me, protect our family, our life.
I hold back that part, knowing it’ll open topics Uncle Nick will find insane.
This is enough, sharing I have feelings for Damien without sharing the rest of it.
“It’s not an issue. He doesn’t seem to mind either. I’m twenty, Uncle Nick. I’m an adult.”
“I wouldn’t want you to rush into something. I wouldn’t want him to take advantage of you.”
I fold my arms, staring stubbornly… like he often stares. “Okay then. Why don’t I promise I’ll never let that happen if that's the problem? I will never, not once, let him take advantage of me. I know I haven’t had very many boyfriends, and I know I get nervous sometimes. But that doesn’t mean I’m a complete freaking doormat.”
“I’d never call you that, Liliana. I just want what’s best for you.”
“So you don’t care, then?” I ask, my voice rising eagerly.
Uncle Nick sighs, sitting back. “Of course, I care. I just told you I care.”
“I mean, you don’t hate me for this?”
“You can’t control who you fall for, Liliana. Your father knew that when he fell for your mother. They were so in love….”
“It’s okay. Just because she died when I was born, and Dad had to turn to booze and drugs, it doesn’t mean you can’t talk about them, Uncle Nick. Honestly, I wish I’d told you that a long time ago.”
“I saw the same look in you just now,” he says. “It terrifies me. So the answer is no, I don’t hate you. I love you, and I want you to be okay.”
“Thank you,” I tell him. “I am okay, really. Better than okay.”
He takes another sip of coffee.
I turn to look at the ground out the window, and Damien’s car is gone. I replay what he said earlier at the table.
Family.
I want to tell him Nick gave his blessing. There won’t be any sneaking around, not like last night.
That doesn’t mean I’ll be able to give him what he needs. It doesn’t mean I’ll automatically become that woman.
But guilt won’t be the thing holding me back.
Please come home safe, I plead silently. Please, Damien.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Damien
“Damien,” Max says.
I turn to my second-in-command, nodding when I realize the car has come to a stop.
I was thinking about breakfast when I almost let it out, how I’m doing this to protect my family.
But not Dad, not the Bratva.
I’m doing this to protect mine and Liliana’s family, the one we’re going to share one day.
My gaze moves over the landscape, the water, the warehouses, and the dockworkers a good fifty meters away. This side of the docks is out of service, perfect for a meet like this. If the objective is to give the suggestion of a fight, this spot is a sign, this spot.