Page 38 of The Bratva's Innocent Pregnant Bride
Well, there wasn’t one, there were several, each one more urgently asking me to get in touch with him. I absolutely didn’t want to hear more about finding Mr. Caraggio, or rather, his body, because I didn’t need the gruesome details.
I read the messages, all of them full of concern for my wellbeing, which also led me to believe I truly was in deep shit. Not that I wasn’t already aware. I suddenly felt so alone, even in that huge place, surrounded by people who so kindly showed that they cared.
Now that I knew Dan a little bit better, I considered creeping down the hall to his room and asking his opinion on my predicament. He was definitely strong, capable, anddetermined. I never would have been able to get firewood on my own and I would have gone crazy with anxiety if he hadn’t been there, ruthlessly cheering me up and keeping me distracted. Katie, who was the biggest mama bear I’d ever met, had no problem with him stepping in when the professional bodyguard couldn’t go shopping with us. Whatever elusive business he did, he knew how to protect.
But would he protect me when he learned what I was involved in?
“You’re crazy if you think so,” I told myself, chucking my phone out of my sight.
A couple of wonderful nights while we were trapped out in the wilderness didn’t change the fact that I’d never see him again once this job was finished. Katie had eluded to keeping me on after the vacation ended, but surely she was just being kind and appeasing her daughter and the other kids who had taken a shine to me. And I was so attached to them already that I really didn’t want to imagine the goodbye scene when we all had to go home.
Except I might not have a home to go to. There was the very high probability that I’d have to go into hiding, maybe for the rest of my life. I couldn’t involve Dan or his family in any of that nonsense, possibly bringing them into a mass murder plot.
Knowing how much Dan adored his family and how protective he was, he’d freak out the minute he knew what I was tangled up in, no matter that it was completely accidental and I certainly wasn’t involved with those criminals at Axon.
I was on my own unless I wanted to trust the FBI, but I didn’t have any answers for them. Once they figured out I was useless to their investigation, they might leave me to swing in the wind, all alone once more.
Trying to shove it all out of my mind, I got the first boiling hot shower in days, thrilling in the steamy heat but almost sad about erasing Dan’s musky scent from my body. In my thick flannel pajamas, I burrowed under the down comforter, trying to be grateful that we’d been rescued, that I was fully warm for the first time in days, and my stomach was full of something other than stale protein bars.
All I felt was alone and even more scared than when Dan and I realized the woodshed was buried and the logs we had wouldn’t last another full day. I was still in danger, and didn’t even have Dan’s strong arms to comfort me, or his skillful hands to keep the thoughts of my murdered coworkers at bay.
I tossed and turned despite my exhaustion, finally pulling the blankets over my head and curling into a tight ball, wishing I wasn’t alone in the big, warm, much too empty bed.
Chapter 25 - Daniil
The aftermath of the storm kept us at the lodge for the next few days while the roads into town were cleared. Paisley was doing her level best to ignore me, but I caught her checking me out a few times. The kids kept her busy and I was taking it easy since Rurik and Mat had relaxed and no longer seemed to care about the Collective. We were all in a little bubble, confined to the lodge with the people we cared about most, and for the time being anyway, it felt like no one could touch us.
That might have been dangerous, but their lassitude was infectious. The roaring fires in every room, the constant hum of Christmas carols coming from the kitchen, along with the aroma of some delicious new treat, made it difficult to care much about anything except when the next feast would be. I’d even taken to playing cards with my brother and cousins in the evenings, hoping Paisley would join us. Rurik knew me better than anyone and even took pity on me a few times, inviting her as she passed on her way upstairs, but she always blushed and declined.
“What the hell did you do to her?” he asked me one night, shaking his head. “She’s like a scared rabbit whenever you’re in the room.”
It was more what she did to me. I couldn’t keep my mind off of the woman. Or my eyes. My hands had to be good, or risk more of Katie’s wrath as well as Paisley’s. She was determined to be as professional as could be and while I admired the hell out of her, my restraint was waning.
Sick of being indoors, Dima and Ivan suggested we take advantage of the wooden targets out front, wielding bows and arrows they’d found in the well stocked supply shed. There were also axes, so I grabbed several and we headed out to practiceshooting and throwing. Most of the women were in the big kitchen, with an explosion of nature strewn all over the long counter tops. Brooke, Jenna, and Olivia had a video playing, which explained how to make wreaths from pine cones, holly berries, and all the other greenery laid out in front of them.
Paisley and the kids were off at their own table, putting together simpler wreaths, and my eyes went to her like a needle on a compass pointing true north. She happened to look up from helping little Pavel slide an acorn onto a wire and her eyes found mine.
I had never in my life wanted to make anything out of junk from the forest floor before, but I almost dropped the armload of axes and plunked myself down in the empty seat next to Alina. My eldest cousin’s daughter looked up to see me and immediately begged to come out with us instead of being trapped indoors with the babies.
Artie took offense, since he was only a year younger, and joined her pleas.
“Maybe later,” their mothers said.
I hurried out before tantrums erupted, but as we took turns tossing axes and shooting arrows at the targets, I kept glancing behind me to see if Paisley would eventually bring them out.
“You’re not exactly being discreet,” Rurik said. “And you’re going to cut your foot off if you don’t pay attention to the target instead of the front door.”
I didn’t even care that he was fully aware how bad I had it for Paisley so there was no need to hide my grin when she came out with Alina and Artie an hour or so later. Artie was satisfied to watch, but Alina wanted to shoot an arrow, in spite of the fact the bows were almost as big as she was.
Paisley was jumpy, certain she had to ask Katie first, but Aleks came out and said it was about time his daughter learned to shoot something.
She laughed, triumphant, and Paisley helped her stay steady as she wielded the bow while I helped her pull the arrow back.
“Oh my gosh,” Paisley yelped as it zinged through the air, clutching her heart.
“You’ve got to try it, Miss Paisley,” Alina squealed, eagerly reaching for another arrow.
“You heard her,” I said, handing Paisley a bow. “Just once. You’ll like it.”
