Page 45 of Beautiful Trauma
“Because you didn’t want to be thinking that your little sister was getting busy with our potential enemy?”
“There was that as well as worrying about if you were discovered, would I be able to get to you in time. I couldn’t bear the thought of you being hurt.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it like that.”
Dima jerked his hand through his blond hair. Remorse flooded his expression. “It just seems like everything has changed between us since I got back.”
I didn’t want to argue that the only thing that had changed was that he didn’t hold the same disgust for Father and his world as he once had.
Like I did.
But I was afraid that if I vocalized it, I might lose even more of him.
Instead, I found a form of the truth. “You have more responsibility and more stress.” With a smile, I added, “That means less patience for my bullshit.”
Dima snorted. “You do have a gift for that.”
I bowed slightly. “Thank you.”
He grinned. “Always a smartass.”
“That, brother dearest, will never change.”
After sniffing the air appreciatively, he asked, “Is that Pelani?”
“Yes. It is.”
“YourPelani?”
I laughed. “Yeah. I had a craving, and no one makes it like I do.”
A shadow passed over Dima’s face. “Like Mama’s.”
“Right.”
The smothering weight of grief hung all around us. With my emotions already jangled about Kellan, I couldn’t bear anything else. “Can you stay for dinner?”
The darkness in Dima’s eyes faded. “If you don’t mind if I eat and run since I have a meeting at eight?”
I smiled. “That will be fine.”
As I started to go to the kitchen, Dima fell in step behind me. “You’ve done a lot with the place while I was gone.”
“Annika did it for me.”
While she was known more for doing the interior design for clubs, my older sister had offered her talents for my new apartment.
“Really?”
With a laugh, I asked, “Is that so surprising?”
He shrugged. “I just know you’re not a fan.”
I grabbed a bottle of wine out of the fridge. “Maturing is realizing she was never the problem. Father and Faina were.”
While I expected him not to respond, he surprised me by replying, “Yes, they were.”
In almost a whisper, I added, “Theyare.”
