Page 260 of Merciless Daddy

I followed his gaze.

“That is different.”

“Obviously.”

Sal took a second piece of toast from the tray and offered it to Kiryl.

Kiryl accepted.

“You just criticized him for stealing,” I said.

“Right, so I’m helping him be more moral by offering.”

Kiryl smiled.

No careful glance at the doorway. No tension when Sal stood. No pause before he crossed the room and leaned down to kiss my cheek.

“Are you coming?” he asked.

“To Filoxenia?”

“Yes. Katerina said she needs help. She said having Tonio around again is incredibly distracting. They have that stupid hatch between their respective businesses and he keeps poking his head through.”

“Tonio doesn’t respect walls,” Sal said.

Kiryl stole a strawberry.

“She needs you. Be downstairs in ten minutes,” he said. “Or I’m leaving without you.”

He left with the toast in his mouth and the bird beneath his arm.

I watched the doorway after he disappeared.

Sal’s hand settled over mine.

“What is it?” he asked.

I tried to explain.

For years, when Kiryl entered a room, I had checked.

His face first. Then his hands. His wrists. The set of his shoulders. Whether he moved carefully. Whether somebody had taken his phone. Whether he was trying not to limp.

I had done it so automatically I believed it was love.

That morning, he had walked into my bedroom, stolen breakfast, insulted my partner, complained about work, and walked out again.

I had not checked his wrists.

Not once.

“I think we’re safe,” I said.

The words felt dangerous.

Sal did not correct me. He did not promise permanence. He only brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles.

“Most mornings,” he said.