Page 42 of Twilight Tears
I can’t stop myself from smiling. “I think Yakov and Gregory are in a love affair of their own now. Even if things go south and I end up leaving the mansion, I don’t think I’d ever convince Gregory to come with me. He’s Yakov’s cat as much as he’s mine now.”
At one point, that would have bothered me. Now, it feels right. We’re going to be one big, happy family.
We lie back in the deck chairs, licking ice cream as it drips down the sides of our cones, while Kayla catches me up on her life.
“… Being head of a project this big was my career goal out of college, but now, it’s a big fucking mess. I’m doing my job well, but my job now depends on twenty other people doing their job well. And no offense, but the people I work with are a bunch of fuck-ups. Especially Gary.”
“Gary is the guy who keeps his office dark all the time because of migraines, right?”
She snorts. “Yeah. As if working in the dark in front of a bright computer screen is any better. Also, he does not have migraines. At least not as often as he claims. He left work one day with a supposed ‘migraine,’ but Janie saw him grabbing lunch at the taco place across the street with a blonde in a minidress an hour later.”
“Across the street?” I whistle. “The audacity of men.”
“Astounding,” Kayla agrees.
“Speaking of Janie, how is she doing?”
“Good. She just transferred to the marketing department, so I never see her at work anymore. But I went to her house last week for a pool party.”
“I didn’t know the pool was finished. She’s been talking about it for a year.”
It’s actually all Janie could talk about. She would go on and on for hours about the struggles of keeping a contractor and the price of concrete work. As someone living in a one-bedroom apartment with a two-foot-wide balcony, I could not relate.
“It was a horror story that Janie would love to fill you in on at extreme length” Kayla says, giving me a withering look. “But they just finished it last month. We’ve been over there a few times to swim and drink. Mostly drink, honestly.”
Kayla goes on like that, rattling off weeks’ worth of hang outs and gossip I’ve missed. It’s fun to talk with her, but I can’t ignore the pang in my heart.
I miss them.
Really, I miss when my life was simple. When I knew what I was doing every day and every person in my life fit into a neat little box with a tidy label.
Now, everything in my life feels like it’s exploding out of the seams. I have complex feelings for a mysterious man who sets my mind and body on fire in a way I’ve never felt before.
I miss my old life, but that doesn’t mean I want to go back there. It doesn’t mean I want to give up Yakov or the life I’ve built here with him—the baby I’ve created with him.
Kayla’s laugh dips into a sigh. “You’ve missed a lot, Loon.”
“I have,” I agree.
But if I could go back and do it all again, I’d choose this life every single time.
20
YAKOV
Gregory is stalking after a bird that landed on the edge of the hibiscus planter. He’s crouched down, shoulders low and tail flat on the ground. Luna and Kayla are laughing, arguing whether they should scare the bird off to save it or let Gregory take his shot.
The late afternoon light cuts across the patio and through my office window. I’ve been in here for a few hours and I’m running out of tasks. I didn’t have much to do in the first place. I just want to give the two women time to catch up.
I would have used the free time to visit Nik instead of stare at a cat through my window, but Mariya is with him now. She told me she wanted some alone time with him. After what the doctor said about how hearing the people he loves talk to him could help, I figured it was a good idea to get her in to see him more often.
Isay escorted her and took two extra guards with him. He still hasn’t heard any rumblings from the Gustev Bratva. He swears he’s keeping his ear to the ground, and I believe he’s telling me the truth; I just don’t believe for even a second that he’s right.
After everything that has happened, I’m not taking any chances.
I’m still watching Gregory wiggle his hips back and forth while he tries to muster the courage to pounce when my phone rings. I assume it’s Isay calling to update me on how things are going, so I don’t even look at the screen before I answer.
“Hello?”