Page 29 of Dmitri

- D

So, this was how he broke in. Last night I’d checked the front door and didn’t see a single mark on the lock or doorjamb. None of my windows had been broken, either.

Kaleb used to sneak into my bedroom back in the day. He now has a key.

Dmitri made his own entrance and left no trace of his existence behind.

One was my god. The other is a ghost.

Okay, I need to stop comparing the two of them. It’s not helping, and I need to concentrate on my work so I can get a fatter paycheck. But even as I sit down and stare at the laptop screen, my mind is already elsewhere…

“What are you doing?” I spring up from my bed and gawk at Kaleb. “If the Brenner’s find out you’re in here, they’re going to be furious!”

“So?” He slips into my bedroom like a demon.

“They’ll beat me.”

“I’ll kill them before they touch you, Dae.”

Kaleb’s disregard for authority isn’t scary, it’s inspiring. He sneaks in through my window all the time, and I never know when he’ll visit, so it’s always a terrifyingly fun surprise. But I keep my window unlocked all the time for him, just to make it easy.

Dressed in black chucks, dark jeans, and a grey hoodie, he sits on my bed and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a bracelet. “Happy birthday, babygirl.”

I gawk at the pink threads strung together with a little knife charm dangling off the end. My stomach gets a bunch of butterflies in it. “Thank you.”

His smile is spectacular as he slides it onto my wrist and makes it snug. Then he brings my hand up and kisses my palm. Kaleb does little things like this all the time. It makes me feel special.

Hemakes me feel special.

“Were you my good girl today?” he asks in a low, quiet, sexy voice.

My belly flip flops because… it always does with him.

“Yes.” Reaching under my pillow, I pull out the fat envelope of money given to me in exchange for the package I handed over this afternoon. Dropping the brick of cash into his waiting palm, I chew on my bottom lip, wondering how long it’ll take for the Brenner’s to find out about me and Kaleb and kick me out of their house. If that happens, Kaleb said I can live with him. He has the money to take care of us, obviously, but as bad as I want to pack up and move in with him now, I can’t. There’s a damn good reason for my staying as long as possible, which he understands.

“You’re incredible, Daelyn.” Kaleb cups my cheek and runs his thumb along the sore spot under my eye. I’d been in a fight with another kid in the house two days ago and it still hurts. “Did they give you any trouble?”

“No.” I lie. They scared the shit out of me, but I’m not going to tell Kaleb that. I need to be strong, so he’ll keep me. “They wanted to know where you were, though.”

His right eye twitches a little. “What did you tell them?”

“I said it was none of their business and that if they didn’t want the product, I had another buyer lined up.”

“Clever girl.” His features soften as his gaze lowers to my mouth. “You’re always looking out for me, aren’t you?”

“We look out for each other,” I whisper with hope in my tone.

“That’s right. And do you know why?” He leans in, ourmouths super close to each other now. “Because that’s what love is.”

All the butterflies in my belly crash into each other and fall to the pit of my stomach, flopping on the ground.

“You love me?” I’m too caught up in his proximity that I no longer care about the light turning on in the hallway.

“Of course, I love you. Would I be here if I didn’t?”

No. He was going to move away but talked his mom into staying here. For me.

He works hard every day and returns night after night. Tome.

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