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I kiss her cheek. “I think truly loving each other means accepting the past, giving each other space to heal, and being willing to support one another, no matter what."
Our love has been tested by both our personal demons and the forces outside of us. But what matters now is that we respect each other and are committed to finding solutions, to compromising, to finding peace.
Footsteps sound outside the door. Isabella and Lev have arrived.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Renata
"Are you all right?"Isabella asks me.
"I'm fine. So is Ollie. What about you?"
"I'm good,” she repeats, brushing it off. She walks into the room and takes a seat across from us. “Ollie, my apologies. I was the one who encouraged Renata to bait Carlos. I knew that you would never allow it, so I made it happen."
He clenches his jaw and glares at her, obviously not super happy about the situation, but what is he going to do about it now?
"Is it always going to be like this? I’m not sure if I’m happy about the fact that you're constantly going to be doing this. Are you going to be interfering all the time between me and my wife?" Ollie asks
"No," she says quietly. "It isn’t like that.”
These two have always been this way and always will be. He's protective, and she's headstrong.
“Listen. I know you have to get shit done, but I also don't want you going behind my back, Isabella. How would you feel if I did that with your brother? With your husband?"
"If you told me the truth, I would've done my best."
Lev snorts. "You would’ve allowed Renata to be bait for Carlos?" he says. "Bullshit, Ollie. You would’ve made her stay right by your side, and the next thing we know, six months from now, Carlos would still be at large.”
"Glad one of you can be so lax about all this," Ollie snaps.
Something’s shifted in me. His protectiveness and sternness are kind of… cute.
Cute?What's wrong with me?
I take a moment to appreciate how good it is to be held like this. I haven’t had many moments in my life where I felt completely safe. I inhale his clean, strong, dependable scent. Lev is right. He would never have allowed me to be hurt by Carlos. And I love that about him.
"You two are the people I love most in this world," I say, and to my credit, my voice doesn’t even waver. "You're going to have to bury the hatchet or whatever the fuck you need to do so that you get along. Isabella did what she thought she had to, Ollie. So did I. Going forward, we need to make it a rule that we will be as transparent with each other as possible, and when that's not possible, we trust each other's decisions."
Ollie half smiles. “Sounds about right to me. That’s what my brothers and I have to do.”
“Exactly."
Isabella and Ollie are still kind of glaring at each other, and it finally dawns on me that maybe they’re so at odds with each otherbecausethey both love me.
She’s as concerned about me as he is, and they can’t agree on what they need to do. Well, who would’ve known? I'm a little honored. I've never had this many people love me.
Lev looks at me seriously. It’s funny how he isn’t related to Ollie by blood, but they look a bit alike. Maybe it’s the Russian blood and alpha male thing.
“Renata," Lev says carefully. "We need to discuss what happened with your brother, what we will do with his body, and what happens next. Are you all right with having that discussion now?”
I thought maybe I was, but I feel my eyes widen in horror, my heart pounds, and my palms feel sweaty. I guess my instincts have answered for me. “No, I’m not alright with that,” I say honestly. "I would much prefer you guys have that discussion without me. Thank you."
"Of course she’s not okay with it!" Ollie snaps at Lev. “What the fuck is the matter with you? That was her brother, you asshole!"
I place a hand on his chest to calm him down. "It's all right," I say. King Arthur looks at me with his little teddy bear face and licks my finger. I scratch his ears, and he lets out a deep sigh, lies down, and promptly falls asleep in my lap. My heartbeat slows. He might be the best gift anyone’s ever given me.
“Ollie, it’s okay. He asked, and I answered. But thank you."
