Chapter 30 Danica
DANICA
Ilisten to the doorbell echo through the house and within seconds the door swings open. A man in pajama pants and a hastily thrown-on shirt stands in the entrance, eyes darting from Vadim to me and back again.
"Vadim," he says and pulls Vadim into a tight one-armed hug. "I'm glad you made it safely."
"Thank you for everything, Yuri," Vadim replies as we step into the entryway and Yuri shuts the door.
I'm swaying on my feet from exhaustion as the flight and the thirty-minute drive from the airport catch up with me all at once. My body feels heavy and my eyes keep trying to close on their own. It's been one hell of a day.
Yuri releases Vadim and turns his attention to me. "And this must be Danica," he says with a warm but small smile. He's tired too. The lines around his eyes speak of days of no sleep.
"Yes," Vadim says as his hand finds the small of my back. "Danica, this is my cousin Yuri."
I manage what I hope is a polite smile in spite of how utterly drained I feel. "Thank you for having us. I'm sorry it's so late."
"Don't apologize. You're welcome here anytime." Yuri steps back and gestures for us to come deeper into his home. "Inessa's sleeping upstairs. She hasn't been resting well lately with the pregnancy, so I'd prefer not to wake her if we can avoid it."
"Of course," Vadim says as we walk past an arched doorway that leads into a darkened room. It appears to be a living room, but most of the lights are off.
He leads us past a sitting room and what looks like a library before he takes us up a curved staircase to the second floor. The hallway's lined with doors and he stops at one near the end.
"This will be your room while you're staying with us," he says, opening the door and flipping on a light.
"There are fresh towels in the bathroom and I believe Inessa keeps spare toiletries in the cabinet.
Tomorrow we can arrange for anything else you might need.
Clothes, personal items, whatever you want. "
I look into the room, and it's larger than my entire home back in Belgrade was.
There's a massive bed with what looks like very expensive linens, a sitting area with comfortable chairs, and a door that presumably leads to the bathroom Yuri mentioned.
And a large fireplace anchors a whole wall, though the hearth is dark being that it's summer.
"This is too much," I say, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the generosity. I look up to Vadim who's grinning at me like it’s the first time he's brought a girl home to meet his family.
"It's nothing," Yuri says, and he sounds like he means it. "Go rest. You're family now."
Vadim's hand squeezes my waist gently, and he whispers, "Go on… Have a shower." I pause at the threshold. I don’t want to be alone here.
"We'll talk more tomorrow," Yuri says, then adds, "Vadim, if you have a few minutes before you sleep, I'd like to speak with you."
"Of course. Let me get Danica settled and I'll come find you."
Yuri nods and heads back down the hallway, leaving us alone. Vadim guides me into the room and closes the door behind us. I turn to wrap my arms around him.
"Do you have to go?" I ask, and he places a kiss on my cheek.
"Just a few minutes. I promise, then I'll be back by your side. You're safe here."
"I guess I'm going to take a shower," I say reluctantly. I have to get used to this at some point. Vadim has a whole life here. I'm the new girl who has to adjust.
"Take your time," Vadim says. "I'll go talk to Yuri and be right back."
"I'll be fine," I say, forcing a smile. "Go."
"You're beautiful," Vadim says, and he's smiling. "Back soon…"
I head into the bathroom and find that it's as impressive as the bedroom.
There's a large walk-in shower with multiple heads, heated floors that warm my bare feet, and indeed, a cabinet full of high-end toiletries.
I turn on the shower and let it heat up while I peel off the clothes I've been wearing since yesterday.
The blood on my shirt has dried to a dark brown and I shudder as I remember how it got there.
The hot water feels like heaven when I step under the spray.
I stand there for what might be five minutes or might be twenty, just letting the water wash away the grime and the tension and the memories of everything that happened.
I use some expensive shampoo that smells like lavender and scrub my skin until it's pink and clean.
When I finally turn off the water and step out, I realize I have a problem.
I don't have any clothes to put on. Everything I own is back in Belgrade in a house I'll never see again.
I dry off with one of the plush towels and wrap it around myself, then look through the cabinet hoping to find a robe or something, but I'm out of luck.
So I give up and just head back into the bedroom naked.
The bed looks incredibly inviting and I'm so tired, I don't even care about finding something to wear.
I pull back the covers and slide between the sheets.
They're cool and soft against my skin, and I let out a sigh as my body finally gets to rest properly.
I must drift off because the next thing I'm aware of is the door opening quietly. I open my eyes to see Vadim enter the room. He closes the door behind himself and starts pulling off his shirt.
"How did it go?" I ask, fighting a yawn.
"It was good." Vadim strips down to his underwear and climbs into bed beside me. "He said we can stay here as long as we need to get on our feet."
"That's generous of him." I'm too tired to be enthusiastic, but I nestle into the pillow again and feel him shaking the bed.
"Family is everything to Yuri. Always has been. Especially now with the baby coming and everything that happened with Dominic." Vadim settles against the pillows, and I shift closer to him. His arm comes around me automatically, and I rest my head on his chest.
"I love you," he says quietly. I pause and listen as a smile curls my lips. He's never said this to me before, and I don't want him to feel self-conscious about saying it. "I need you to know that. There have been a lot of things in my life that I wasn't sure about, but you're not one of them."
"I know," I say softly, and I pull his hand to my lips and kiss his knuckles. "I love you too."
"I never thought I'd get married," he whispers, kissing my shoulder. "Especially not to such an incredible woman."
"We're not really married. We signed papers, but…"
"But what?" he asks, forcing me to lie on my back and look at him. It's so dark, I can barely pick out his features, but I can tell he's smiling.
"You never proposed," I point out. "So it doesn't count."
I'm being playful, and he's picking up my vibe. He tickles my side, and I jerk and smack his shoulder. "You're right. I never asked."
"So technically, I could argue that this doesn't count."
He shifts so he's propped on one elbow, and even in the dim light from the window, I can see the intensity in his eyes. They search my face for a second, and then he cups my cheek.
"Danica, will you marry me? Because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with someone, and I can't think of a better person to spend it with than you."
"That's better," I say, unable to keep from smiling.
"Well? Are you going to answer?"
"We're already legally married. Don't I have to say yes?"
"That's not how proposals work." He tickles me again, and I wrap my arm around his shoulders.
"I'm pretty sure it is in this case. You've already locked me in."
He laughs and pulls me closer. "Just say yes so I can feel like I did this properly."
"Yes," I say, and then I kiss him. "Yes, I'll marry you. I'll be your wife. I'll spend the rest of my life with you."
"Good. Now can I stop feeling guilty about the whole forcing you into marriage thing?"
"You should still feel a little guilty about that. But I'm willing to overlook it under the circumstances." I settle back against his chest and his arms wrap around me again. "I have conditions, though."
"Of course you do. What are they?"
"No more dangerous jobs where people are shooting at you, nothing that could get you killed. I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life worrying every time you leave the house that you're not coming back."
"That's fair. Yuri already told me he's moving me to a different role. It'll be boring compared to what I've been doing, but it'll be safer."
"Boring sounds perfect, like exactly what we need." I pause and then add, "And no leaving me alone in scary places. If we're doing this life together, we do it together. No more sending me away while you handle the dangerous stuff."
"I was trying to protect you."
"I know. But I'd rather be scared with you than safe without you. Do you understand?"
He's quiet for a moment and then he says, "Yes. I understand. No more leaving you behind."
"Good. Then we have a deal."
He tilts my chin up and kisses me, and his hand slides down my back and I'm suddenly very aware that I'm naked under these sheets and he's only wearing underwear. The kiss continues, and I can feel his body responding to mine, but exhaustion is pulling at both of us.
"We should sleep," I murmur against his lips.
"We should," he agrees, but he kisses me again anyway.
Eventually, we do stop, settling into a more comfortable position with my back against his chest and his arm draped over my waist. His breathing slows and evens out, and I think he might have fallen asleep when he speaks again.
"Thank you," he says quietly.
"For what?"
"For saying yes. For coming to Russia with me."
"You can't get rid of me that easily." I lace my fingers through his where they rest on my stomach. "We're in this together now. For better or worse."
"That's from wedding vows."
"I know. We never actually said them properly during our first ceremony. I thought I'd throw them in now."
He chuckles softly and presses a kiss to my shoulder. "For better or worse. I like that."
"In sickness and in health."
"Till death do us part…" That saddens me a little, considering death is inevitable for everyone.
"That's a little morbid, given recent events," he mumbles around a yawn.
"True. How about till we're old and gray and annoying the hell out of each other?" I ask.
"That sounds more realistic," he mutters, and I feel my body finally starting to surrender to sleep. "I can work with that."
I close my eyes and let the combination of exhaustion and security finally drag me under.
For the first time in what feels like forever, I'm not worried about what tomorrow will bring.
I'm not scared or anxious or wondering if everything is about to fall apart.
Being in Vadim's arms is more than enough.
Russia is going to be an adventure. A new language to learn, a new city to navigate, a new life to build from scratch. But we'll figure it out. We've survived everything else that's been thrown at us. We can handle this.