20. Dario
Dario
I hold Mia while she sleeps, so fucking grateful that she’s alive and in my arms, the same way I’ve fallen asleep every night since she left the hospital.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget the fear I felt when I saw that blade sink into her skin, or the way she’d looked—covered in blood, skin pale, beautiful hazel eyes that she could barely keep open, and the shaky sound of her voice when she’d confessed that I’m her sun.
God, my stubborn girl so easily shatters my heart into a million pieces only to put it back together again with her fingerprints deeply embedded all over the damn thing.
There’s not a part of me that hasn’t been touched by her, not a single part of me that doesn’t beat or breathe or ache for her every second of every day.
She’s in me so deeply that I can no longer tell where I end and she begins, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Burying my nose in her neck, I breathe in the sweet, familiar scent of her skin and feel my body relax.
I know I’ll never be able to lock her inside where she’ll be safe.
I’m going to be forced to step aside and watch her willingly walk into dangerous situations, and the very thought of it makes my chest ache and my arms tighten around her .
Loving her is so goddamn easy, but being with her is going to be so fucking hard. I knew that going into this. I knew she’d never be content to stay at home. She wants more, she needs more, and I love her too much to force her into a role that would only make her miserable and resent me.
Unable to sleep and not wanting to wake her with my tossing and turning, I slip out of bed and throw on a pair of joggers before making my way downstairs.
It’s late, and the house is quiet, but when I pass through the living room, I see the outline of a man sitting in a chair, and I instantly recognize the imposing figure as Lev, my very-soon-to-be father-in-law.
He hears me step out, turning his head to watch as I walk over, and I may not get a warm, welcoming smile, but he’s not reaching for a weapon or threatening to throw the glass he’s holding at my head, so I count it as a win and take the chair next to him.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I ask him.
He grunts and takes a drink. I catch a whiff of whiskey, and when I see the bottle on the table, I reach over and grab it. Taking a drink directly from the thing, I let it sit on my tongue before swallowing it down and savoring the burn it leaves in its wake.
“I keep thinking about how close we came to losing her,” he finally says.
I take another drink. “Me too. It’s all I can fucking think about.” We’re both quiet for a second before I say, “I’ve never seen anything like it, Lev. She’s so goddamn fearless. She didn’t even hesitate before coming between me and the knife.”
“She’s like her mom,” he says, and I can hear the pride in his voice. “Jolene would’ve done the same thing. I taught her how to fight.” He huffs out a laugh. “I know exactly how those lessons ended, so I really should’ve seen this coming. Vitaly is never going to let me hear the end of this.”
We both take a drink, and when he empties his glass, I reach over and refill it.
“I can’t apologize for falling in love with her. There was no stopping it, but I swear to you, Lev, I love your daughter. With everything I have, I love her, and I will be faithful to her and love her for the rest of my life. She’s it for me.”
“She better be. I don’t care how old I get, if you ever hurt her, I will hunt you down and kill you, and if for some reason I can’t do it, Sasha will.”
“Don’t worry. He made that very clear when he first found out about us.”
“He’s a good brother,” Lev says.
“He is,” I agree, because as fucked in the head as he is, I breathe easier knowing he’s always going to be an extra set of eyes on Mia.
After I take another drink, I say, “I’m not crazy about her joining the Bratva, but I’m not going to try and stop her.”
Lev’s soft laugh fills the space between us. “That’s funny if you ever thought you had a chance at stopping Mia from doing something she wants. I guess she’ll set you straight on that one soon enough.”
“Yeah, I’m slowly learning. What are you going to have her do?”
Lev turns his head to look at me. The outside lights are off, but the moon is bright enough for me to see the piercings, the tight line of his lips, and the pale blue eyes when he says, “That’s Bratva business, Dario. You know that.”
“You know I can’t accept that answer. Stepping aside so she can do this is one thing, but being completely in the dark is another. That’s not going to work for me.”
“No?”
I hear the amusement in his voice and choose to ignore it when I say, “We need to work something out, come to an agreement of some kind.”
He takes another drink, making me wait several minutes before he finally says, “I’ll talk to the others, see what we can come up with.”
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t say it would lead to anything,” he warns, “but I’ll try.”
“I want to marry her soon. I don’t want to wait, and I’d like your blessing.”
Instead of answering me, he asks, “Did you really get a vasectomy? ”
“Sandro can’t keep his fucking mouth shut,” I mutter.
“Yeah, I have a brother like that,” Lev says, and we both know he’s talking about Vitaly. “Is it true?”
“It is.”
“I thought the doctor said she couldn’t get pregnant,” he says, and I hear the pain in his words, knowing it still hurts him to think about it.
“He said the chances were slim, not impossible, but that there was no way Mia could carry a baby. It’s too dangerous, so I did what needed to be done to make sure it never happens.”
I see him nod from the corner of my eye before he takes another long drink. “Thank you,” he finally says. “Thank you for sparing her that kind of pain.”
“I would do anything for her,” I tell him, meaning every single word.
Turning to face me, he says, “I’ve learned a lot from running this Bratva with my brothers and now my son and nephews, but raising daughters has proven to be more challenging than anything else.
My first instinct is to beat the living shit out of you for daring to put your hands, your much older hands on my baby girl, but I can’t do that because Mia loves you, and to hurt you is to hurt her, which is something I’m incapable of doing. ”
I don’t say anything, so he sighs and says, “I’m not getting any younger. I have a wife that I love who continues to amaze me and knock me on my ass, three kids and two grandkids and they’re everything to me. Life is too fucking short, Dario, and I’m not going to let this destroy my family.”
“I don’t want to destroy anything,” I tell him. “You and I both know that no one was ever going to be good enough in your eyes to marry Mia. At least now you’re getting a guy who’s pretty decent with a knife and familiar with the lifestyle she was raised in. I can keep her safe.”
I swear I see the glint of his piercing as he raises a brow at me.
“That was a one-time thing,” I say, unable to hide the anger in my voice at the fuck-up I made that nearly cost me everything. “It will never fucking happen again. ”
He nods and says, “I fucked up once too, and Jolene paid the price for it. I’ll never forget seeing her after her brother had beaten the shit out of her.”
His body visibly tenses, and it takes him a second before he can speak again, but when he does, it feels a lot like an olive branch.
“I felt the same way you do now, and it’s that fear, that determination to never see the woman you love bleed again that will ensure my daughter’s safety.
” He holds his hand out to me and says, “You have my blessing, Dario, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy that I have no more daughters for you Alessi bastards to steal. ”
I smile and shake his hand. “Thanks, Lev.”
“I need you to promise me one thing, though.”
“What?”
He looks out at the Ionian Sea that’s barely visible in the moonlight. “I know it’s gorgeous here, but I’m begging you to not move my daughter here permanently. I don’t think I could stand being that far away from her.”
“She’d never agree to it anyway. She’s too fucking eager to start working for you.
” I breathe in the salty sea air and tell him, “I would never keep her from you. We’ll probably travel here as much as possible, but you and Jolene are welcome to stay here anytime you want, for as long as you want. Our family home is yours now, too.”
“Jolene will be thrilled to hear that.” He gives a soft laugh and takes another drink. “I honestly don’t know how I’m going to get her ass back on the plane.”
I grin and take another drink until I hear a soft growl and all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Jesus,” I whisper and then raise my voice so Sasha can hear me. “Is he about to rip my throat out? Should I prepare myself for that?”
I hear Sasha’s deep laugh before I see Chort step out from the darkness. That dog is just as unhinged as his owner, but unlike Sasha, the Doberman doesn’t know or give a fuck about the rules.
“No leash?” I ask. “Really? ”
Sasha grins and pets his dog’s head. “He’s doing a lot better, and I keep him well fed.”
I eye the sleek, powerful build of the Doberman and the flash of teeth when he licks his lips and looks up at Sasha.
“Something tells me an empty stomach isn’t what drives your dog. I recognize bloodlust when I see it,” I tell him.
All my words do is pull a proud grin from Sasha as he gives his dog another scratch behind his ears. When he takes the chair opposite us, he points at the ground, and Chort immediately lays down at his feet. Sasha quirks a brow at me. “You see that shit?”
I can’t help but laugh while Lev says, “Impressive.” And even though he watched the dog while Sasha was over here, he still makes no attempt to reach out and pet the thing.