Page 120 of Shadows of Obsession

Surprisingly, the calmest was Maksim, who told Anuska before leaving that he liked the jam cookies she'd made earlier.

Roman still isn't speaking to her, but the mere fact that she's still in the house and cooking is a sign he's not that angry. Two days ago, Anuska couldn't reach some glasses, and he got them down for her.

I’ve tried to talk to him about not torturing her anymore, but he always tells me the same thing. "I need time to look at her and not see Maksim's face when we learned everything he went through."

And I understand him. Maksim is the kind of person who literally wears all his battles on his body.

There was a moment of humor when Anuska showed Roman and Maksim a copy of their birth record that she'd kept all these years. Roman enjoyed rubbing it in Maksim's face that he's the older brother. "Only by two minutes!" Max shouted back.

He and Julia have officially moved to Chicago. In Russia, they left trusted people to handle the logistical part of the inheritance. From what I've caught in various discussions, they've started dismantling the human trafficking circles.

It's not something that can be stopped tomorrow, but with each passing day, dozens of children are spared from going through what Maksim did.

Julia and I have started planning shelters for all the kids we can save. There are so many children without families because, as I learned, that monster recruited them like he did Maksim, directly from orphanages.

So during this time, I’ve been dividing myself between my work on the health monitoring application and trying to establish an efficient system to help each victim return to a normal life.

I'm in the middle of searching for locations when arms wrap around me, and I sink into Roman's chest.

"Love, you've been at this laptop for hours without getting up," he tells me while kissing my neck.

"I'm looking for a location for a school. Julia suggested we set up a space where children who want to continue their studiescan do so," I tell him enthusiastically, happy we can somehow contribute to improving the situation.

"Hmm. We have several locations in our real estate portfolio. I'll tell Felix to send them to you so you can choose the ones that seem most suitable," he tells me without taking his nose from my neck.

I close my eyes and enjoy his presence.

"Peonies?" he asks, and it takes me a few moments to understand what he's talking about.

"How do you always guess?" I ask because he always notices when I wear the same perfume and apparently now recognizes even the perfume notes.

"I could recognize you out of a thousand with my eyes closed, just based on your smell," he answers, and my heart does that leap like it does every time he says something like this.

"And if someone else wears the same perfume I wear?" I ask just to play along.

"I'd still recognize you because you have a specific smell," he tells me and looks at me earnestly.

"Oh, yeah? And what exactly do I smell like?" I ask in an amused tone.

"You smell like mine."

His mouth comes down to steal a kiss, and I forget what we were talking about when he catches my lower lip between his teeth.

His eyes lighten in shade and are almost transparent gray.

"I love you," he whispers, and my breath catches in my lungs.

I haven't pressured him to say the words back, because I don't need them. I feel every day that he loves me, and if I had to live without ever hearing them, I would have been just as happy.

"Say it again," I whisper, looking directly into his eyes.

"I've loved you from the first moment that sassy mouth of yours told me to choke on my date," he tells me, and I burst out laughing because I didn't think he'd heard me when I said that.

"Oh God. You heard that?" I ask, already feeling the blush settling in my cheeks.

"Of course. That's what drew me to you. You were terrified of that man who was hitting on you, but when it came to me, even though you sensed I wasn't a normal person, you still talked back and held your chin high."

Okay. Again my heart goes wild.

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