Page 34 of Daniil
I sigh.
My oath to my country—and family—is the ever-present elephant in the room.
“The chances of that happening are almost none,” I say.
“You don’t know that.And it did happen.Just not to you.The thing is, it happened to me, and I’m not even one of you.It was a choice between Lennox and Casey.I made the choice I made because Lennox basically forced me to, but if it had been up to me, I would have given Casey the bulletproof vest and extra ammo and told her to hoof it to the exit while I stayed with Lennox and did my best to make sure no one got past us.That would have been my choice—but I wasn’t given one.And in the moment, I did what Lennox asked of me.”
“Your plan isn’t a bad one,” I admit grudgingly.“But we’re trained to?—”
“To protect the royal family at all costs.Yup.I got that.”
This conversation isn’t going to get us anywhere, so I opt to divert.
“I think I’m going to get some sleep, but tell me your schedule for the next few days.”
She hesitates, as if trying to decide whether or not she wants to answer, and then shrugs.“I’m going to get up and run, like I do most days.Then?—”
“What time?”
“Uh…I’m usually up when Micah wakes, around seven.We get dressed, have breakfast, and then I put him in the jogging stroller.Eventually it’ll probably get too hot but that’s the schedule until it does.”
“I’ll be here at seven thirty,” I say promptly.“All right?”
Another hesitation.It drives me nuts, but I wait her out, letting her sort it out in her mind.
“All right.See you then.”She gets to her feet, walking me to the door.
“Today was… amazing,” I say earnestly.“I loved spending time with…both of you.”
“It was nice having help,” is all she says.
“See you tomorrow, Courtney.”I lean over and press a gentle kiss on her forehead.I step outside and wait for her to lock the door behind me before I get into the SUV and head back to my hotel.Going back and forth is going to get old quick, but for now, I’m going to keep things simple.
I also need to be up early so I can call Erik and tell him what’s going on—and ask for an indeterminate amount of time off.
That’s probably going to go over about as well as me suggesting to Courtney that she move to Limaj.
And I truly have no idea what the hell I’m doing.
Chapter14
Courtney
The next coupleof days are weird.Daniil has inserted himself into our lives like he’s always been here, and while part of me wants to set some boundaries, it’s nice to have help.Real support.Landon is great, both as a brother and an uncle, but I think he would have headed back to L.A.already if Daniil hadn’t shown up.He’s protective of me, and I appreciate it, but it’s hard to manage the two of them.
Meanwhile, Daniil has stepped up as Micah’s dad in every way imaginable.He feeds him, changes him, plays with him, and puts him to sleep.Even Landon is starting to accept him into the fold without question.
Micah seems to already love him, babbling excitedly as soon as he shows up each morning.Marcus has come around a few times, and Micah likes him too.Go figure.
I’m the only one who’s struggling.
Landon thinks it’s only fair I give him a chance, but I don’t know what the end game is.There’s no universe where I move to Limaj, and short of Daniil abandoning his duties as both a member of Parliament and a Royal Protector, he can’t be here.So, what’s the point?
The point, of course, is Micah having a father.
That part is obvious and…easy.
It’s everything else that’s fucked up.
