Stay Close (For You 1)

I pick up the ring and look at it. The band is a black metal, but smooth and thick. I shrug. “I don’t care,” I say.

I watch relief wash over his face.

“If it makes you feel—” He cuts me off as his mouth takes mine in a kiss. I’m flat on my back with him over me once again.

He pulls back. “I made it myself, but I will make you a better one as soon as I have the time.”

“This one is perfect,” I tell him. This is the one he put on me. It’s the one I want to wear.

“Net, krasotu, you are perfect.”

Chapter Twelve

Ivan

“I want to talk to you,” I say, lightly knocking on the office door.

Paige looks up from her computer and nods. “I’ve wondered when we would have this conversation.”

Her knowing eyes scan the area behind me, but I shake my head and close the door. “I wanted to speak to you alone.”

“I’m guessing Penny doesn’t know you’re talking to me.”

“A mother misses nothing, does she?” I say, sitting down across from her.

“Not me. And not when it comes to my babies.”

“I love Penelope and I want to marry her. You and I have a long history, and I don’t want to see that broken. So I’m coming to you now.”

She narrows her eyes at me and crosses her arms. “You come to me after the fact, Ivan. We all knew when you saw her what was happening.”

Paige stands up and walks over to the window. It looks out at the garden that separates the guest house from this one. She’s quiet for so long I don’t know if she’s going to speak again. But I wait, and eventually she sighs.

“You’re just like him.” She turns to look at me over her shoulder and then returns her attention to the window. “Captain always had a pretty face he could hide behind. His true darkness was hidden. But you, Ivan, yours is on display for the world to see.”

She walks over to a picture of the family on the wall and looks at it, smiling. “He was born in Russia. Did you know that? I think if he hadn’t been adopted he could have easily gone down the same path as you.”

I remain silent, wanting to let Paige speak, needing to hear her words before I try to convince her that I’m good enough for her daughter. When her eyes turn to me again, I see fierce protection there, a mother guarding her young.

“If I didn’t trust you, you would have never been her guard to begin with. It’s because I know deep down you’re just as good as she is. But she is the light of our lives. Penelope is different than the rest of us. Pandora is like Captain and me. She’s strong, and I never worry about her. Penelope has always had a soft heart.”

“Da. She is too good for me,” I agree.

“Penelope is the kind of woman that will need someone with shoulders big enough to carry her. A man with strength enough to hold her and his family together.”

I nod, comfortable in the knowledge that I am that man. I was placed on this earth to do exactly what Paige is asking me—to keep her safe and protect her purity of heart.

“Will you ever let her go?”

“Never,” I answer sharply.

“I wanted better for my daughters. I made sure they had a better childhood, a better life, everything better than what I had. But I never envisioned a love better than the one I have with Captain. Because there’s nothing more than what I have with him. What we share, what we’ve made is the only thing I’ve ever wanted for my girls.”

“You’re right,” I say, sitting up. “I see the two of you, and there is no doubt that what you have with your husband is rare. It’s soulmates living side by side. And it’s what I have with Penelope.”

Paige looks at me and nods.

“I love her, and I will love her until the end of this life and the thousands that follow.” I stand up and walk over to Paige. “I would like your blessing and Ryan’s to marry Penelope. It would honor us and our love.”

“Let me talk to him. He’s not going to take it well.” She laughs and closes her eyes, shaking her head. “But you have my blessing, Ivan. I knew she was a goner for you from the beginning. And I can’t say she didn’t get that from me.”

Paige shrugs and looks back at the family photo. “Just do me a favor, okay?”

“Anything,” I say, standing at attention.

“Promise me you won’t take her away from us.”

There is a pain in my heart at her words. “The reason I love Penelope is because she’s afternoon sunshine and the first blossom of spring. She smells like warm cookies and laughs like an angel. I would never do anything to stop that. I don’t want to put her in a box and seal her away. Her family is important to her, and so it’s important to me.”