Page 110 of Demitri

Mia enters the room, wearing a new pair of my sweats, her clothing of choice this week, and smiles at the guys. They say their goodbyes and Mia takes her position in the chair next to the bed, immediately taking my hand.

I rub her thumb with mine before pulling it out and using the new toy Joker left for me.

“I love you. Thank you for being here.”

She blinks at the Australian guy speaking for me and laughs. “Joker?” I nod. “Figures. And I love you, too. But I miss your voice.”

I shrug, the pain of moving getting less each day. I look at the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, even if she doesn’t know it yet, and type the words I know I need to, but hate all the same. “Can you call Sasha and Linda? I think we need to talk.”

She nods. “I’ll set it up.”

Guess I need to get all my emotions in check and my questions figured out.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

MIA

The day after he asked,Sasha and Aunt Linda come to see Demitri and me. Daniel trails in behind them, a silent observer. And probably a peacekeeper, if we need one.

“Demi.” Sasha nods. “You look much better.”

Using his fancy new talking toy, Demitri types. “Can’t talk, don’t say anything about the voice.”

Sasha laughs, shaking his head. “Good thing that boy went army. He’d have driven us all crazy in the agency.”

“What agency exactly?”

“That’s hard to explain. Linda?”

Aunt Linda steps up to the bed, rubbing Demitri’s good foot. “We work for an unknown. We don’t have letters, and we answer to two people.”

“Who?”

“The President. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Demitri blinks at them. I blink at them. Daniel says nothing.

“Surprise?” Aunt Linda uses jazz hands and an awkward grin. Demitri closes his eyes and shakes his head.

“You did this my whole life?”

“Yes. I was recruited while in college. Imagine if that news had gotten out.”

“You’d be dead. Why?”

“I didn’t want that life. I fell in love.” Sasha looks at Linda. “I didn’t want her life to be in danger every day. Nor do I think she would have stayed with me if I didn’t find a way. So I found a way.”

“I was recruited at the same time. Aunt Marley recruited me, Uncle Frank, Sasha. They were professors in the ethics class we took together in undergrad. They were looking at retirement and wanted us to take over.”

“How many of you are there?” I ask.

“Not many.”

“Why didn’t you ever try to help me?”

I look at Demitri’s face, and it’s full of a lifetime of hurt. Pain. Fear. This isn’t adult Demitri asking. It’s a scared little boy who grew up in a life he never should have had.

“I tried, Demi. I pushed for boarding school. Military school. Hell, I tried to get yourotetzto send you to yourbabushkaback home. He wouldn’t let you go.”

---