As if they weren’t complicated enough.
But that would change everything. Even if I decided to trust him not to try to take her away from me, I was sure he’d want to be involved in her life. The moment I told him to truth, he’d go from being a man who knocked me up to a father. He’d be in our lives forever, no matter how things turned out with the case or the men who threatened me. And what about his lifestyle? Would being associated with him continue to put me and my daughter at risk? He had enemies. Enemies who would love to learn he had a child.
What was I to do?
Smoothing the wrinkles out of my shirt, I opened the door to see Alina and Alexis standing there. There was cinnamon sugar on my daughter’s cheek, and she smiled up at me. All signs of distress from what happened at the gym were gone, and I let out a long breath of relief.
I crouched in front of her. “You feel better, lovebug?”
Alexis nodded, and I picked her up.
“You must be hungry,” Alina said. “How about the two of you go back to the private room, and I’ll bring you some lunch?”
At that suggestion, my stomach growled loudly enough to be heard even over the hum of the exhaust fans running in the kitchen. Dmitri chuckled from behind me.
“Oh, I was planning to return home,” I said. “I’m sure I can eat something there.”
Realizing I’d just referred to Dmitri’s house as home, I opened my mouth to correct myself, but he cut me off.
“I want you to stay here for now. After what happened, let’s just say I’d feel better if you were with me for the time being.”
“I’m hungry,” Alexis said, and that cut off any argument I could have made.
I allowed Dmitri to guide me back into the private room of the restaurant with a hand on the small of my back again. When he did it before, I was still too rattled by the near kidnapping to think much of the contact, but this time, it made me feel warm and taken care of in a way that made my heart swell.
What was this guy doing to me?
When we reached the private dining room again, Dmitri led me to an unoccupied table in the corner. We passed Nikolay, sitting with a woman with a spray tan and too much blue eyeshadow. There were five other people in the room, all men, and they all seemed to be watching us with open curiosity.
I sat with Alexis on my lap and we’d barely settled into a chair when Alina brought out two plates of food. It seemed to be some kind of stew for me and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Alexis. She let out a happy squeal and dug into her meal, making me chuckle.
Dmitri pulled out a chair beside me, gesturing for Nikolay to join us. The woman with him tagged along. Her eyes ran over me quickly and she sneered.
I guess she’s not impressed.
She didn’t bother to say anything as she took her seat and scooted her chair closer to Nikolay. She was obviously marking her territory, and I didn’t bother to hide my eye roll. I didn’t even know this woman, but I disliked her.
Dmitri introduced her as Gina in a dismissive way that told me she didn’t matter to him. I took a little too muchsatisfaction from that for a woman who was still unsure of her own feelings.
Nikolay had a laptop with him. As I ate my stew, I learned that my bodyguard was also a computer whiz. My jaw dropped as Dmitri ordered him to hack into the computer network of Moss Logistics.
All aspects of the business were essentially frozen while the police investigated, so that meant the computer network still existed. Still, I was sure it wasn’t easy to access Mr. Moss’s system. I didn’t know much about hacking, but I could see the intense focus Nikolay had and the way his fingers flew across the keyboard. I had a feeling he was beyond skilled.
However, to make the job easier I told him what I knew. “The password is pastrami on rye 2, all one word”
“What?” Nikolay said.
“Mr. Moss could never remember anything, I figured his favorite lunch order would stick. But he even forgot that once.”
Nikolay laughed and entered the information. Within seconds, all of my boss’s folders were on the screen and he found the documents needed to blackmail Jeremy Kyle before I’d even finished my meal. I didn’t feel bad about telling Dmitri about the forged shipping documents because I knew enough about Jeremy to be sure he wasn’t a good man. The few interactions I’d had with him in the past revealed him to be a sexist asshole.
“We got it,” Nikolay said, turning the computer so that Dmitri could see the screen. “The forged shipping manifestoandproof of what was really shipped.”
Dmitri turned to me with a smile. “You have no idea how much you’ve helped me, baby.”
At the term of endearment, Gina glanced up from her phone, which she’d been staring at the whole time. I could see the shock on her face, and it made me smile. Maybe I should’ve told him not to call me that, but I felt an unexpected rush of pleasure at hearing it.
Instead, I smiled at him. “Happy to help.”
And to my own surprise, I actually meant it.