Page 39 of Secret Bratva Baby
“Great. I’ll make a few calls tonight and arrange things.”
We both stand for a moment. I realize I’m still holding her. I don’t want to let her go, but it’s clear the mood has shifted.
I take a reluctant step away from her, brushing my fingers through my hair.
“Dinner will be served in thirty minutes,” I say, my gaze turning to Lily.
She’s sitting on the grass now, giving up with the butterfly hunting, digging a hole between the lush green blades.
“Lily, no, honey,” Rose says, worried when she sees the mess Lily is making of the lawn. “You can’t dig holes in the grass, baby.” She huffs, lifting Lily and her dirt-coated hands into her arms.
“It’s okay. Grass grows back. Don’t worry about it.”
“No, the place looks so beautiful. I’m really sorry about that,” Rose says nervously.
“I promise you, in a week or two, you won’t even see the hole anymore.”
I touch my hand against her lower back and gently push her towards the house. “Let’s go and get some dinner.”
***
I wake up excited to take Rose with me to one of our business operations. I want to show her something—not quite what happens at the warehouses, but definitely enough to allow her to see what my life is like. That’s why I was so eager to offer her a job. It’s the perfect way to introduce her to my lifestyle. To show her it’s not all shooting and kidnapping and things like that. We do business. We work. There are good people around.
In the kitchen, Rose has made me a cup of coffee. She jumps, spilling some of it when I almost bump into her as I walk through the door. “Were you bringing that to me?” I ask, curiously.
“Yes, I thought you’d overslept. I just wanted—I was going to—I—" she stammers.
“That’s really sweet. I can’t remember the last time someone woke me up with coffee in the morning.”
“That’s something I don’t want to think about,” she huffs, rolling her eyes. I chuckle, sensing a touch of jealously. I don’t tell her that she was the last person to make me coffee in the morning. I haven’t let anyone else close enough since.
Her cheeks are flushed red after she realizes she hinted at being jealous. It makes me smile even wider.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
“What about Lily?” she frowns. “Surely she can’t come with us?”
“No, the babysitter is arriving any minute. She comes highly recommended by my brother’s wife, and Serafina is crazy strict about her vetting process when it comes to her kids, so I knew it was the only option.”
Rose nods. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent. And we have cameras set up in the house. We can check in on them at any time.”
Rose takes a deep breath. “Okay. Then I’ll grab my purse, and as soon as she arrives, we can go.”
Rose is wearing a tightly fitted gray dress with a gray blazer over it. Her black heels and black purse look slick and professional. She looks ridiculously sexy.
She talks to Mila, the au pair Serafina put me in touch with, when she arrives. I’m waiting patiently, understanding that she needs to be comfortable with the girl before leaving Lily with her. I trust Serafina—I know how pedantic she is about who she allows near her kids. Niko would have investigated the hell out of that girl already.
Lily, on the other hand, has already chosen Mila as her new best friend. She’s trying to drag her towards the toybox I had set up in the living room.
Rose laughs, shaking her head. “Alright, and you’ll call if anything happens,” she says sternly.
“Of course, your husband gave me his number. I will call immediately if I need anything, or even if I have a question about Lily.”
“My um, my husband—um, yes, okay. Lily, honey, come say goodbye, Mommy is going to work.”
She didn’t correct the girl.
