Page 13 of Dimitri

“My papa is going to love you. His name is Arturo. I was smiling because our father is no doubt going to end up having to decide to sell his law firm. Papa is going to insist on moving here once he realizes his grandchildren are going to all be in this location. There is no way that he’s going to stay in Madrid without complaining daily to our father.”

“I will move there. We do not need to remain here if that is where makes the most sense. I am not that tied to the council.”

I shook my head. “No. You can fly here whenever you wish. You won’t be able to do that in Madrid. There are too many people. Even if you don’t want to stay with the council, we can remain in this area. There is nothing that says children must stay near their parents, is there?”

Dimitri grinned while shaking his head. “Nyet. I have not lived near my parents for several decades. We visit often, but that is the extent.”

I tilted my head. “Are you not close to them?”

Dimitri shrugged. “I have five siblings. We are scattered far. Most are in Russia, but one lives in Australia, and another lives in Canada. They truly are all over.”

“Five? So you are number what of six?”

“Four. First is Andrey. He is a dragon. Then Alexander. Also a dragon. Beatrice is a fox shifter, then there is me. The two youngest are twins: Kira and Pyotr. They are both fox shifters.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “That is a large family. I’m not sure I want quite that many, but I would love at least three, possibly four. I don’t think I’ll have twins, but I know it can happen if a warlock is mated to a shifter.” I shrugged. I would imagine the possibility would be a bit higher since he already had twins in his family, but I was the carrier, and we didn’t have twins in ours that I could recall.

“I am happy with one. If you wish for more, I doubt that will be an issue.” Dimitri took my hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb again. “I do not mind if you wish to not work. I, too, have funds. Lots of them. Neither of us has to work ever again. I think that is most likely the case with most paranormals once they reach our age?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I work because it gives me something to do. I don’t necessarily need to. And for a while now, even before Sebastian found Drew, I was starting to feel as if I wanted to find something else. It can be difficult when you work for your family law firm though. There are certain expectations of you, and they can make things awkward if you start hinting that you wish to leave. Sebastian didn’t have any pushback because he was joining the council.”

“Your parents cannot keep us apart. It is not allowed.”

I snorted. “Trust me when I say there is no chance my father will win against Papa if he so much as makes a complaint. Papa is all about family, and really, so is Father. But we are in the middle of a really large case at the moment, and I’m feeling a bit guilty already about leaving it all to Lorenzo. He will have to pick up what I will no longer be doing.”

Dimitri nodded slowly. “Hear me out?” I nodded in return. “You are a warlock. Is it not possible for you to go to Spain during the day and then return here after work?”

I grinned. “I could. I do not wish for that to be expected of me though. It’s possible I can do it for a few weeks until things are more settled. But Madrid is eight hours ahead of us. I would have to leave you in the middle of the night unless I waited until lunchtime to go into the office. That might be a possibility. But I’m curious if your dragon would be all right with me so far away?” Wouldn’t he be possessive? I thought dragon alphas were supposed to be super possessive and protective of their mates and didn’t like for them to be far from them.

“I will be, yes. But it will only be for a short time? You will have a fertile period, no?” I nodded. That was another thing I wasn’t really expecting. Well, not to be the one experiencing it. I had thought I would be helping an omega or carrier through it. “You will discover that I am most certainly protective as well as possessive. But I do not see an issue with you being at work for a short time. Will my dragon have problems if you are gone for long? Most likely. But if I remain an enforcer, we will eventually be separated while I am on assignments.”

That was true. But Sebastian had said their assignments weren’t that long. The longest had only been a few weeks.

“What are you thinking?”

“About Sebastian, actually. He has been on assignments before. I don’t think he’s been on any since his daughter was born though. He’s been busy, and we don’t talk nearly as often as we used to.”

“Does that upset you?”

I shrugged. “It is simply how life is. He is busy now. He has Drew and Flora. They both take up his time now, and Lorenzo and I only have work and each other when we aren’t working. Sometimes we will spend our evenings together trying to relax;others, we are doing our own thing. We are all at different stages in our lives. That’s how things work. Same with you and your siblings?”

Dimitri nodded. “Ja. I am not as close to any of mine as you seem to be though. We all love one another a great deal, but we do not talk every day. We are happy with once a month.”

I chuckled. “I can understand that. Sebastian moving here was a change to start with. Once he met Drew, that was another. Then Flora arrived.” Every event in his life pulled him away a bit. Did that mean we weren’t as close? No. It simply meant he had other things that took his time. He still found time to talk to us, but it was understandable that he didn’t talk to us every day. “Sebastian makes sure he reaches out every couple of weeks, but it’s not always a long phone conversation. Sometimes it’s just a text. Lately, it’s pictures of Flora. Those really make Papa happy.” I couldn’t help but wonder how Papa would react to my own child. Granted, I didn’t have one yet, and I’d not yet been claimed, but I didn’t see that as being too far in the future.

“What do you see happening between us?” Dimitri asked suddenly.

I thought about it a moment before I grinned. “Well, you said you are over three hundred.”

He nodded. “Just barely, but yes. What does my age have to do with it? I am not too old for a mate if that is what you are concerned about.”

I chuckled while shaking my head. “Not at all. But I would say that you have waited long enough for your mate. You’re here, I’m here, and I really don’t intend on returning to Spain. I will get my things, sure, but I like the idea of being near my brother and his family. Also being near your grandfathers. And you said you could fly here.” Dimitri nodded. “Then I would say that when you are ready, we will figure out how to find our way to the bedroom and see where that takes us.”

I had never really thought about it before, but after I said those words, I saw Dimitri’s gaze darken.

“We should date.”

That wasn’t what I was expecting. Not after the way he had been looking at me just seconds before. “Sure. If that is what you need or want. I don’t need it though.”

---