Page 50 of The Dancer and the Grumpy Billionaire

“Gigi, I…”

“Can we go away now?”

I laugh through my own tears. “I mean, you have some recovery to do.”

“But after?”

“Yes,” I say again.

The hope I see on her face is enough to refill my battery.

“You mean it?”

I lean in close, pulling her hand to my lips. “I mean it. I am already making the arrangements. As soon as the doctors release you, we will go.”

She smiles as more tears fall down her cheeks. I reach out to wipe them away but she shakes her head, her hope so beautifully displayed that it breaks my heart. She asks me to lie with her and I laugh because I am a tall man and it is a small bed. But I manage to lie on my side, on the sliver of bed available, balancing precariously as I nuzzle her neck and try not to jostle her leg.

She seems so small to me as I try to hold her, as I take in her heavily wrapped, slightly elevated leg. There are all kinds of machines attached to her, checking heartrate, giving her air, circulating blood flow.

“Gigi, I was so worried for you. I was so worried what they would do to you. Did they hurt you?”

“Not really,” she says with a big yawn. “They threatened it and I think it was coming, you know, if my father didn’t pay up.”

“Well, he wasn’t planning on paying the ransom,” I say, my tone turning bitter. “He wasn’t, to my knowledge, doing anything at all.”

She swallows, quiet for a moment, before she says, “I should not be surprised. So how did you find me?”

“I called in a lot of favors. I know some retired special ops guys and I paid them to do some reconnaissance on your whereabouts. Your father’s people thought you were in Europe.” I let out a noise of disgust. “Totally off base.”

“Where was I?”

“Pennsylvania. I put everything I had into getting you back, Gigi. Every favor I could call in. Every deal I could make. I would have sold my soul to have you back unharmed. And Roman, too. He helped.”

She smiles softly and I can tell she is getting tired. This is a big discussion just out of surgery. She might not even remember it once she’s fully awake.

“That’s nice,” she says sleepily. “But how?”

“You should rest,” I say.

“I want…to know…” She is definitely falling asleep.

I sigh and give her a fast answer. “I had a good description of the van, so they used security camera footage and satellite tracking to find you. They staked out that farm for days, following your daily patterns. They began the op when you were closest to the tree line.”

“What about…Elena?”

“She’s fine,” I say softly, before realizing that is not entirely true. “Well, not fine. She has been through a lot of trauma andneeds some specialized care. But she is safe, and she will be well taken care of. I am paying for whatever she needs.”

Gigi’s eyes are closed again, her body settling back into sleep. I start to move off of the bed, and as I find my footing, she squeezes my hand, still entwined with hers, and she says, “My hero.”

CHAPTER 23

Galina

The warm sun streams through the windows and it feels so good that I just lie in bed, taking in the comforting feeling. The duvet is cloud-soft, the mattress even softer. I love this bed more than I have ever loved a bed in my life.

With a groan, I force myself to move, pushing up, reaching for my wheeled scooter, and wheeling myself to the bathroom. I pull my now-shorter, now-blonder hair back in a headband, wash my face, and take care of all my routine, morning business.

Wheeling myself out into the hallway, I still marvel as I enter the breezy, open living space. It never gets old, waking up in a place like this. Beyond the comfortable living room lies a wide, open wall. And beyond that, a pool deck drenched in sunlight, an infinity pool and the great, blue ocean that seems to span the stretch of forever.

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