Page 81 of The Russian's Kidnapped Bride
Despite my exhaustion, I reach for his hand and lace our fingers together, feeling the way he lightly squeezes my hand in return.
Regardless of all the horrors I’ve seen tonight, having Mikhail beside me is enough.
Chapter 28 - Mikhail
Parked across the street from one of the med buildings on campus, I lean back in my seat with one hand lazily on the steering wheel while the other taps against my thigh.
Lily insisted that I didn’t need to come pick her up personally, trying to downplay just how big a moment it was for her to finish another semester, but I still pulled some strings anyway and managed to slip away early. After everything that went down, Roman didn’t have much he could say to fight me on the topic, and he decided to throw me a bone instead.
Even if he didn’t, I would’ve just left anyway.
The campus has been quieter than usual, making me assume most have already wrapped up their finals. Despite the wait feeling long, given how much I just want to see her already, I don’t mind the chance to pause. To slow down and appreciate the moment, knowing it won’t be long before I’m in her presence again.
Students come and go, and then a group of them streams out from the glass doors in small groups, either chatting aimlessly or wearing grim looks after bearing whatever they faced in their finals.
The faces I don’t recognize blur together while I watch for her. My girl.
Then, I see her. Her short hair is half down while the top portion of her dark strands is pulled back with a claw clip, and her bag is slung over one shoulder. Her steps are tired, given how her belly is slowly growing, but there’s still a lightness to her movements as if the weight of that last exam has finally been lifted.
As she looks up, her gaze lands on me in the car, and my chest warms at her small, vaguely worn-out smile.
Getting out before she reaches the car, I meet her the rest of the way, and she surrenders her bag without arguing. I slide my arm around her back, gently resting my hand on her opposite hip while she holds my bicep.
“Done?”
“All done,” she says with an exhale, looking like she’s still going through the motions of basking in the relief of it. “Last exam of the year. I’ve never been so close to crying over diagrams.”
My lips pull. “Not even a single tear?”
“Fortunately, no. Not yet, at least,” she hums, grinning.
“Then I’d say you’re already stronger than my whole family combined.”
Lily huffs an amused breath. “I’d pay to see your brothers in a lab.”
“Well, if the price is right, I’m sure it can be arranged,” I hum, pressing a kiss to her temple before I open the passenger door for her. She slides in, sighing like being able to sit is the greatest reward of the day. “But, today isn’t about them.”
Putting her bag in the backseat, I go around and get back in, turning the engine on.
“So,” she begins, eyeing me while I pull away from the curb. “Do I get to know where we’re going, or do I have to assume I’m being kidnapped again?”
I chuckle at her words, keeping my gaze on the road. “Seeing as I did that once already, I’m hoping I won’t have to again.”
“Then my question still stands.”
Glancing at her from the corner of my eye, that familiar tenderness moves through my chest. “We’re going to see my family. Elena picked out another restaurant she wants to try, and you know how she is about this kind of thing...”
“It’s about unity and morale,” Lily finishes for me with a knowing smile.
I mirror her expression and nod. “That’s right.”
“Then I suppose I can allow it.”
After returning to the penthouse, I give Lily a chance to wash up and feel more presentable after her exam, and she eventually comes down wearing a long, relaxed dress with a heavy knit cardigan over the top, looking both refined and comfortable.
She’s refreshed and looking less tired when we head out again, making it to the restaurant before the others even have the chance to get appetizers on the table.
I guide Lily in, hand low on her back and savoring her warmth beneath my palm. I always made the effort to keep her close while out in public, but after everything went down with Maxim and Aldo, I take greater care in appreciating having her by my side. In knowing she’s safe and with me.
