Page 13 of Protecting His Queen

A cute little frown wrinkled her brow. “How in the world did you come to that conclusion? We barely know each other. And if you’re so worried about being seen as weak because of me, the solution is simple. Let me go.”

Daniil growled at her. Didn’t she understand? He couldn’t do that, and even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. Word would have spread by now that he’d shown interest in her. Even if he never touched her again, she would be targeted.

“You don’t make me look weak, Julietta, but rather are a weakness, a vulnerability. I have no family that I hold dear. I don’t even have a pet. Those who want to get to me have been waiting a long time for me to show them a way to hurt me, and by rescuing you, taking such an interest in you, I’ve done just that. So, even if I could let you walk away from me, it wouldn’t make any difference. You will be a target now.”

She stilled, tilting her head to the side as she frowned at him. The action made him nervous enough he loosened his hold on her. What was she thinking now?

“No family? At all?”

He shook his head. “None.”

“Neither have I.”

She whispered her words before stepping back and sitting in her seat. Daniil followed her lead and returned to his place opposite her. Within moments, a waiter brought out their main course, and they stayed silent until the man left. He wanted to ask how she came to be alone but wasn’t sure how to word it so she didn’t shut down on him. He knew about her mother’s death, but she didn’t know he knew. And he couldn’t find anything on her father when he’d researched her background.

In the end, he decided he’d just eat his meal and let her decide when to speak. They’d nearly finished when she did finally break the silence.

“Is your family back in Russia?”

He finished his mouthful before responding. “I have relatives back in Russia, but no one I’m close with. My parents immigrated to Australia when I was four years old. Then, when I was twelve, they were in a car accident that killed them both. I have no siblings, so now it’s just me.”

He hoped she didn’t ask for more details about the years after he lost his parents. But as he watched the expressions flit over her face, he knew she would. He took another mouthful of food to postpone the inevitable.

“What about a foster family?”

He took his time chewing, trying to find a way to word things.

“I wasn’t in the system long. The family I was placed with wasn’t a good fit.” Understatement of the year. That family had been horrific. Both parents and the older teenage boy had treated him like a convenient punching bag. He cleared his throat. “I ran away and lived on the streets, doing what I had to in order to survive.”

He’d worked his arse off to rise up from nothing to what he had now. He wasn’t ashamed of where he’d come from, but he suspected his sweet Julietta wouldn’t appreciate the fact he’d sold drugs and gotten his hands very dirty over the years to get where he was. But it was worth it. Every single nasty thing he’d ever done. Because he knew he’d never again go hungry, never again not know where he was going to sleep at night and whether it was safe. It also put him in a position to be able to provide everything required to keep his family safe and cared for, when he had one. He really wanted Julietta to be that family.

He finished the last of his food, and after putting down his cutlery, looked up to hold her gaze. She had tears in her eyes. He frowned. Were they for him? The fact she was upset over his childhood floored him, and made him desperate to get the focus off him and back onto her.

“Ah, krasivaya, don’t cry for me. I’m fine. I survived, and it made me who I am. What about you? Did you grow up in the system?”

She shook her head and blinked away the unshed tears.

“I was raised by my mum. I have no idea who my dad is. Mum, she, ah… well, she always had an eye on the door, waiting for something better to come along. Kind of ironic really, that the first time a man shoved her aside for someone else, she reacted by taking her own life.”

Shock had him swallowing his mouthful of wine wrong, and he started coughing. She spoke about her mother’s suicide and the reason behind it as though it were no big deal. Once he got his breath back, he looked up to find her calmly eating the last of her dessert with her gaze locked on her plate.

“Julietta? Look at me, please. Did I hear you right? Your mother took her own life? How old were you?”

He needed her to tell him all the details, so then he wouldn’t have to worry about slipping up and admitting to knowing things she hadn’t told him. With slow, steady moves that showed him she was not calm at all, Julietta set her fork down and wiped her mouth with her napkin.

“You heard me right. Mum’s last boyfriend dumped her for a younger model. She took it really hard, and I found her in the tub. She’d downed an entire bottle of sleeping pills. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. I was eighteen.”

He knew from her licence that she was currently thirty-two, so she’d been without family for fourteen years. He shook his head, not wanting to end their night on negative thoughts.

“I’m sorry for your loss, krasivaya, and I must say, I’m impressed at how you’ve kept your positive outlook after all you’ve been through.”

That was the truth. He certainly didn’t see the world as she did. Even after everything, she appeared to only see the good around her. Until meeting her, Daniil hadn’t believed there was much good left in the world for a very long damn time. He’d seen and done too much evil to have ever had that particular illusion in his life.

As he ran his gaze over her, from her purple-blue hair, her sexy little pink dress, to her neon-blue nails, he had the thought that she was the light to his dark. That if he could work out a way to keep her, she might just be able to breathe some life back into his cold heart.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Come spend the night with me, krasivaya.”

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