Page 38 of Romi

Settling back down behind Sonia and letting myself drift off again as she snuggled into me, I just prayed I was right, and he would help. If I was wrong about him and couldn’t get him onside, then I wouldn’t be able to get anyone onside. That was a concern, but I refused to give it any more thought. I had to believe I was right and that talking to Uncle Maxim was the right thing to do.

Uncle Maxim was Plan A. I hoped there would be no need for any others.

A few hours later, my phone rang, jolting me awake.

Shit. It was Miki.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?” he asked.

“At my flat!” I told him, worrying for a second, that he knew Sonia wasn’t home.

“Get back here; we need to head to Glowacki’s, then there’ll be stuff I need you and Vlad to do. Expect to be busy over the next few days!” he barked, and I sighed with relief.

“Be there in an hour,” I replied before he hung up.

Sonia stirred next to me, and I knew she’d heard.

“Hey!” I smiled at her sleepy face.

“Hey yourself!” she said, smiling back before leaning in and kissing me.

Allowing myself a few more seconds of indulgence, I deepened the kiss. I really wanted to continue from where we’d left off last night and add some more new skills to her repertoire, but unfortunately, I needed to go. We needed to go. I groaned and pulled away while I still could.

“I would love to continue this, but you heard the boss, gotta go!” I said, wishing it weren’t the case.

“I’ll grab a quick shower, and then you can get in. When we leave, you can follow me home; we need to sneak you back in,” I told her before heading for the bathroom.

After quickly showering, I returned to the bedroom to get dressed. I tried not to look at her directly as she lounged in my bed; otherwise, my desire for her would likely loosen my resolve to leave in the next half hour. I didn’t want Miki to get suspicious as to why I was late getting back. We were not ready to deal with anyone finding out about us yet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sonia staring at my semi-naked body, wrapped in only a towel. It took all of my strength not to preen before her like a peacock trying to impress his mate. I loved her eyes on me, and so did my cock, and I bit back a groan as I willed him to behave.

Her eyes roamed my body with unveiled desire as I pulled on my jeans. Her head tilted for a better look, and her gaze landed on the blank scroll tattoo on my hip.

I’d gotten it last year. Nobody knew why it was blank, as I refused to tell them, but anyone who saw it would find out eventually. One day. For now, it was my secret. Nobody knew this about me, but I longed for a wife and family, and the blank scroll was there waiting to be filled with their names. I’d first got it after seeing Sonia as more than my little cousin, and even though I had always denied it to myself, I knew when I got it that hers was the name I wanted at the top linked with mine. I quickly pulled on a T-shirt, covering it up.

She looked like she was about to say something, but we were in a hurry to get back to the Estate, so I urged her to move. I would tell her all about it one day soon, but today wasn’t the day.

“Up, lazy! I’m going to make us some breakfast while you shower!” I said, kissing her before hurrying out of the room.

Sonia didn’t take long, and the breakfast was made by the time she came downstairs.

“You can cook?” she asked in awe.

“I’ve been learning,” I chuckled.

Nonna had been helping me learn, and while there were only a few things I currently knew how to do, I enjoyed cooking. That was another thing few people knew about me.

“There’s not much in my repertoire yet, though, but I do a mean breakfast, for now at least!”

“It looks great!” she said, grinning at me before tucking in.

She ate everything. I loved that about her. I took care of myself, but I liked my food, loved eating, and was glad that food was something we could enjoy together.

We finished quickly, then tidied up and loaded the dishwasher together before leaving. The small slice of domesticity felt good. I couldn’t wait for it to become a daily occurrence.

As we headed for the door, I pulled her close.