When I’m done with my cigar, I toss it over the edge of the balcony, strip out of my clothes, and slip into the bed beside her. She instantly reaches for me in sleep, the same way she always has, like gravity. Her tiny frame melts against me, and I wrap an arm around her, wishing I could protect her from whatever is to come, but I can’t. What comes next is not a physical threat, but an emotional one. What if I can’t free her child? Una never should have told her without having a way to get the baby out. Because if we can’t… Anna is already hanging by a thread at this news. I know my little warrior is going to break in ways that I can’t fix.
75
Anna
I wake up, and for a few seconds, there’s nothing but the feel of the warm sun on my bare skin. A few seconds of bliss before I remember everything. Rolling over, I stretch my arm over the cool sheets. The pillow still smells of Rafael, of citrus and cigar smoke.
Dragging myself out of bed, I make my way downstairs. I step into the kitchen, and for a second, I falter. A woman stands at the stove, making eggs, her long dark hair spilling down her back. I think I expected to see the neat greying bun of Maria, and her absence feels all the more tragic in this particular house.
Samuel is sitting on one side of the table, and Rafael on the other. They both look up at me when I walk in, and I pull my long cardigan around me a little tighter.
“Anna.” Rafael folds his newspaper and places it down on the kitchen table.
The girl whirls around to face me and I’m met with the pretty green eyes of Bella. Despite everything, I smile. “Bella. You’re here.”
I glance at Rafael, and he pushes to his feet, fastening the button on his jacket in one smooth motion.
He moves closer and brushes his lips over my jaw. “Well, you gave her a phone,” he whispers. “I figured you liked her.”
“Thank you.”
My stupid heart squeezes at the normalcy of this, of how at home I feel here. With him.
He cups my cheek and kisses my forehead before he goes to leave the room.
“Where are you going?” I ask, taking in the suit he only ever wears for meetings.
“I’ve organized a meeting with Dimitri Petrov, he’s Nicholai Ivanov’s replacement.”
“That was fast.” His lips kick up in a smirk that says ‘I’m Rafael D’Cruze and the world will bow before me’. “I…thank you. I know we’re—"
“Avecita, stop.” His fingers trail my cheek gently. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“I don’t deserve you.”
“You’re wrong. You deserve everything, including your child.” I sniff back tears and press my face to his chest. His large palm cradles the back of my head, and in his arms I feel as though everything will be okay.
“I should come with you.”
“No. You’re too emotionally involved. They see that, and they’ve got us pinned against the wall.”
“Of course, I’m emotionally involved. They stole my eggs, Rafe!”
“I know, but that doesn’t matter now. She does. Your daughter.”
His words settle over me, words I can’t quite take in. I have a daughter. A living, breathing child.
“I have to go. I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?” I nod, and he turns away.
“Be careful.”
He throws a wink over his shoulder and walks away. I know he can handle himself, but I hate the idea of him being at risk. For me. Again. I’d happily never set foot in Russia or near any of the bratva ever again, and I don’t want Rafael near them either, yet here we are. I have no better cause, and yet I’m not the one taking it up, he is.
Bella places a plate of food in front of me the second I sit down.
“You don’t have to make me food, Bella.”
She smiles. “That’s my job.”
“I know, but…”
“And I’m grateful for it. I know that Rafael is helping me because of you.”
“He needed a new maid. Those guys need a woman to keep an eye on them.”
“I heard…about Maria.”
I suck in a sharp breath. “Yeah, when I first came here I was a mess. I was alone and convinced that they’d bought me. You know how it is, another man, another master…”
She nods.
“Maria was kind to me, even though I didn’t trust her.”
“She sounds nice.”
“She was. Anyway, how have the guys been treating you?”
“Good. I don’t see Rafael much, but Samuel has been kind to me.”
I lift a brow. “Samuel? Kind?”
A small smile touches her lips. “Yeah. He keeps the men away from me.”
“Okay, well…good.” Maybe it’s just me that Samuel doesn’t like. “What are you doing now?”
“I was just going to tidy some of the rooms.”
“I’ll help you.” I need the distraction, to be honest. Rafael won’t even reach Russia until tonight, and he’s not meeting Dimitri until tomorrow.