Page 131 of Deadly Knight

“They did?” Katya’s brows ripple, her disturbed and concerned look makes obvious where her worries went.

“Nico doesn’t trust us, and I get it,” Vanessa continues. “They know how many Bratva members are in this building, and if all but one comes out, I’d rather not test his kindness. Returning in a few days might be a different matter, considering you’ve done it for a decade, but he also might be on higher alert for a while. Either way, he has to see you physically leave the country, no exceptions.”

I don’t like it at all. Not so soon after I was targeted. Even with Mikhail and Andrei gone, who knows what’s next, who’ll go after Katya once she’s unprotected.

Recognizing my anxiety, Katya knocks her shoulder into mine. “I’ll be fine. I’ve survived many years without you here every minute of the day, remember?”

Not by choice.Duties took me away more often than I care to admit.

“If not me, can one of the men stay here and guard her until she moves?”

Vanessa’s silent response is my answer.

“Fuck. Fine,” I concede with a grumble. “Only because I know you can wield a knife.”

Two weeks feels endless.

I’ve said goodbye to work for good.

To Ava.

To Toronto.

To my parents.

To Nora.

And now, the moving company Dimitri hired is loading a small truck with the remainder of my things, before driving to the tarmac where the Bratva plane waits.

The day after Dimitri managed to get out of bed, he was forced to kiss me goodbye in the most possessive, searing way ever experienced. When he left with Vanessa, Anastasia, and their soldiers, the look in his eyes haunted me. It was a look of a man terrified to be saying goodbye again, and I realized then, he was frightened I’d change my mind once they left.

Once he texted me about their arrival into Moscow and that he was home, I eagerly called him and we talked for hours. Even his goodbye that night felt uncertain, and while understandable,I made certain to spend the next two weeks ridding him of that feeling more and more.

Over the days, his bruising shifted colour and the cuts began sealing up more. As he healed, he slowly became more like my Dimitri, and when he arrived hours ago at my doorstep to take me home with him, he showed signs of being almost fully mended, like none of it ever happened.

It’s been a whirlwind few hours, but finally being able to settle into a seat at the far end of the plane immediately makes everything calmer. A new chapter is about to be opened in my life.

My first time on the Bratva jet, I was knocked out for most of it, only waking to the ultimate shock of seeing Dimitri after a decade, and learning some of what occurred to lead us to that point. The second time, a month and a half ago, was when I bolted from the mansion and spent the entire trip going back and forth between wanting to turn around and needing to continue forward.

“Once all my qualifications are transferred over, I think I’d like to open a private therapy clinic,” I casually announce.

“You can do whatever you’d like,” Dimitri replies, dropping beside me. He stretches his legs out in front of him into the aisle and lowers an arm behind me on the back of the couch.

“What’s life going to be like for us?”

Behind me, he fiddles with my hair while watching staff outside finish preparing for departure. “It’ll be whatever you’d like it to be. You know my role. I’ll be working in the mansion sometimes, meetings with Vanessa and whatnot, but I’ll also be around Moscow the majority of the time. I’ll oversee many of the deals, especially the highly illegal ones. Help train any new inductees. Sometimes people lose their lives around me. Whatever you want to be told, you will. If you want to be kept in the dark about everything, then I’ll make sure you are.”

Not the dark, for sure, but maybe noteverylittle thing either. Then again, I do want to know about his day, his life, and every second I’m not with him.

“As much as you’re willing to share, I’d like to be told. To shoulder that weight with you, but especially if it has something to do with me. No more hiding things to protect me.”

He drops a kiss to my forehead. “Deal.”

“Will we live in the mansion?”

“That’s up to you. We could, but we also have your house. The mansion means being around my cousin, Ana, and Lev. Zeno’s coming around more often for Vanessa, and who knows how their future will unfold; trying to rule two mobs under one roof, and now Serafina’s around too. Essentially, it’s pretty packed, and you prefer quiet. Personally, I’m thinking the house might be a better place to raise a family.”

The plane’s door is shut for good, the loud thud echoing through the parts of me that go motionless at his words. We’ve never spoken about things like this, considering prior to two weeks ago, there was no future to discuss.