Page 74 of Daniil
“Come.”He leads me over to a bar that’s set up with champagne, beer, bottled water, and the ingredients for mixed drinks.He pours me a glass of champagne and then one for himself.
“How was your flight?”Natalia asks me.“Daniil was looking forward to surprising you with that.”
“Amazing,” I say happily.“The one thing I’ve missed about the military is flying.”
“If you do it again, I’d love to go with you,” she says.“I love being in a helicopter.”
“Well, ask the boss!”I tease, nudging Daniil.“I’m ready, willing, and able.”
“I just never have any time off,” Natalia mutters, giving Daniil the side eye.
“We’re working on it,” he replies.“You knew the job before you signed on.”
“I did.And I’m fine with the long hours.It would just be nice to have scheduled time off, like Sandor and Lennox do.”
“Once Gunnar takes the oath, things will ease up,” he says.“Eighteen months ago, no one had days off, ever.”
“Glad I wasn’t here then,” Cooper quips.
“Oh, come on—life here is a lot of fun,” Natalia says, laughing.“Obviously, it can be intense sometimes, but we get to do a lot of cool things.We travel… we’ve had private concerts here in the palace, and that ski trip we went on last winter was amazing.”
“That was fun,” Cooper acknowledges.
“Nobody’s Fool and Onyx Knight have both played private concerts here,” Daniil tells me.“And of course, Casey will pull out her guitar during random family events, and that’s always epic.”Those are well-known rock bands that almost everyone has heard of.
Thatdoessound like fun.
“Skinny dipping in a private pool on a Friday night isn’t bad either,” Natalia laughs, glancing over to where Gunnar and Vivian have jumped into the pool naked.
“Are those two ever dressed?”Daniil asks, shaking his head.
“Very rarely,” Cooper says.“Are you sure you want him to take the oath?”
“Maybe he’ll scare away the bad guys by running around naked,” I interject.
Daniil and Natalia burst out laughing but Cooper looks intrigued.“Now that I would pay to see!”
We talk for a while and then they make their way over to Gunnar and Vivian.We’ve just refilled our champagne flutes when Joe and Jesper join us.
“I hear you had a nice flight,” Joe says to me.
“Did everyone know about that except me?”I demand, laughing.
“Probably not everyone,” Jesper says somberly, “since I have no idea what he’s talking about.”
“She flew a helicopter,” Joe tells him.
“I was a military pilot before I retired,” I explain.
Jesper shrugs.“The military has always baffled me.Never felt the pull, though I did my mandatory eighteen months.”
“The military is a calling for some,” I say, curious about his reaction.
“It absolutely is,” Joe says as Daniil casually slides his arm around my waist.
I wondered if it would be weird to hang out with Daniil and his ex, and I’m still not sure.Jesper is handsome and intelligent, but it feels like he’s a little on edge around me and I’m not sure why since he appears enamored with his much-older boyfriend.Joe Westfield is a legend in U.S.Marine circles, so I knew his name long before I actually met him.
For a while, I’m lost in conversation, reminiscing about random events and places we’ve all visited or experienced.And for the first time since Daniil and I met, I feel…at home.Like Daniil’s life and mine aren’t as far apart as I thought they were.
