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“Your—”
I hold a hand up. “Enough. I don’t want to hear it. It is clear to me that not only do you not care about anyone but yourself, you don’t care about my safety or well-being. I cannot and will not allow you to endanger my child as well.”
There is so much more I want to say, but this is not the time or place to say it. I probably will never have the chance, but that’s fine. This will suffice.
“You know I have to report this to The Boss,” Dominik mutters to me once we’re out of the restaurant.
I nod and slide into the backseat. “Fine by me. I just wanna go home.”
67
DAPHNE
By the time we get back to the penthouse, I’m completely drained.
I cried most of the way here. Now, I’m just… I don’t know.
Existing.
I don’t know what I envisioned for my life in the long run. A husband, kids, successful career? Yeah, but… I also wanted my family to be there. I thought I’d be able to see my babies giggle and run to their loving grandparents, who in turn would move heaven and earth for them just to see them smile.
Maybe I wanted what I knew I could never have.
Maybe now, I’m finally accepting that this is how things are.
“I’ll be okay,” I mumble to Dom at the elevator. “I’ll text you when I’m up?”
He nods. “I’ll hold you to it.”
When Pasha first introduced me to this life of constantly being surrounded by bodyguards and security personnel, I thought it would drive me insane. I didn’t trust the team he assigned to me, and I didn’t like the feeling of having my freedoms stripped away.
Now? I couldn’t be more grateful. I can’t even drive with how big my stomach is or how swollen my feet are. After all the shit my parents and Conrad and Brittany have put me through, I feel safer knowing I’m never without protection.
And maybe being my friend isn’t in the job description, but my new guards have stepped up to that plate in little ways that add up to a whole lot more than that.
Like driving through for an ice cream, while I’m sobbing in the back seat, and ordering a triple chocolate sundae that I didn’t know I needed until Dom quietly handed it to me.
The elevator door opens on my floor. I grab my phone to text Dom that I’m in, I’m home, he can go do whatever now. I’m probably just gonna go lay down. I send the text and close the door behind me.
As soon as I do, Asya pops her head around the corner from the kitchen. “Solnyshka! I had this feeling that you might be lonely. I made us some tea…”
Her smile fades when she sees my tear-streaked face.
“Daphne, sweetheart…” She rushes over to me and pulls me into her arms. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
I don’t have the words. Only tears. They break through the dam of my self-control and I slump in her arms, sobbing all over again.
The fact that Ophelia never once held me when I cried is made all the more evident by the way Asya Chekhov does exactly that.
It only makes me cry harder.
Asya leads me to the couch. She lets me lay my head on her shoulder and stain her sleeve with my tears and smeared makeup.
After a while, I’m able to hiccup myself back together. I pull away, but she captures my face in her hands so she can wipe the tears away.
“Now, moya dochya, tell me what is the matter.”
I sniff and wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “I, ah… I had to…” I take a deep breath. I need to be able to say it. “I had to disown my parents.”
