Page 65 of Kidnapped By the Boss

“I’m happy for you guys,” Devrick said. “I think it’s better this way.”

I nodded at him. “Me too.”

“We need to get to work,” Mario said. “Check in with Taylor, he’s resting in the barracks, then go home, be with your family, rest, eat, do whatever, just don’t work.”

I snorted. “Yes, Underboss.”

He puffed out his chest. “Damn skippy.”

We left my office and went our separate ways, and I did take some time to go and check on Taylor, who was resting up in one of the few buildings on my property that were dedicated to living quarters for any of the lower ranks spending lots of time on my property. No one besides friends and close family was allowed inside my home, so if they needed to rest or relax, they did so in these rooms.

I updated Taylor on everything that was going on, and he of course wanted to spring into action and help, but I wouldn’t let him. I told him that if I had to rest and recover, then he certainly did, and much to his chagrin, he eventually agreed. His injury wasn’t terrible, considering. The bullet went in and out cleanly because he was so slender, and thankfully missed any vital organs. Still, gunshot wounds were nothing to play about and I wanted to make sure that he was fully healed before I threw him back into the thick of anything. I told him he could help me by recovering, and after he rolled his eyes so deeply at me I thought they might twist out of his skull, I left him to get some more rest.

As much as I didn’t want to be going back to not working after just getting back to work, I was happy to be able to spend another day with my family, just enjoying them and reminding myself that, at least for now, I’d protected them from danger. I wanted to do better with appreciating each and every day, because I never knew when it was all going to come crashing down.

Peeking into our bedroom first, I noticed that Katya was now lying in bed, which was a relief. She’d been through even more than I had, and if Sascha was sleeping, then she definitely deserved to get more sleep. My plan was to climb in bed with her for sure, but I wanted to go and give Sascha a quick snuggle first.

Something told me that Katya and I would be sleeping the rest of the afternoon away.

When I walked in, Kari was inside, sitting on the floor with Sascha playing with some of his toys. Immediately when I walked into the room, he looked up at me and started to flap his arms wildly and coo at me.

“Hey buddy,” I said to him, walking into the room and bending down to pick him up. “Oh! Daddy’s sorry for scaring you this morning!” I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I didn’t mean to wake you up early.”

“Katya told me what happened… Likeeverythingthat happened,” Kari said. “You guys must be freaking out a little bit.”

“We’re dealing with it,” I told her. “Don’t worry though, you’re totally safe here.”

“Oh I know. Katya’s no joke. I’d feel less safe out there,” Kari replied. “She said that you guys may be changing my schedule soon.”

“Probably, but don’t worry, our agreement will remain the same. We’ll still cover all of your costs,” I said.

She smiled at me. “She told me that too. You two really are husband and wife.”

“I have taken the rest of the day off, so I think Katya and I are just going to take itreallyeasy today. We’ll let you go a little later on this evening, but we could both use a lot of rest.”

Kari took Sascha back out of my arms. “I totally understand. I don’t have anything else going on today, so you guys take as much time as you need. I can always call Annika if I need to as well.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Kari.”

She nodded. “No problem.” Then she took Sascha’s hand and held it up. “Say ‘bye daddy!’”

I waved at him. “Bye, beautiful boy.”

Then I walked back out of the room and went back down to my bedroom. Katya was buried so deep into the covers that I could only see the top of her dark brown hair sticking out, and I was honestly so ready to join her. After taking a quick shower and changing into a pair of comfortable sweatpants, and nothing else, I went and climbed into bed, quickly scooping her into my arms. She curled back against me and I kissed the back of her neck.

“Everything is being taken care of, beautiful. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll always protect you.”

She shifted towards me in the darkness—blackout curtains were a blessing—and I felt her arms wrap around me before her lips were on mine. One of her hands fished down between us to start to crawl under my pants, and I smiled.

I assumed we’d go right to sleep, but this worked for me too…