Chapter 227: You Have To Come Back

Nonna was exactly where she always was at this hour....preparing dinner, moving through the kitchen with the kind of practiced efficiency that came from decades of feeding family and protecting them through the language of food.

She looked up the moment they entered, and Eve saw something flicker across her ancient eyes. Recognition. Acceptance of what was coming.

"You’re leaving soon," Nonna said. Not a question.

"Friday," Dimitri confirmed.

Nonna nodded once and returned to chopping vegetables. But her knife movements were slightly sharper now. Slightly more aggressive. "How long will you be gone?"

"Seventy-two hours minimum. Possibly longer if complications arise."

"And Eve?"

"Eve stays here. With you." Dimitri moved to his grandmother and took the knife from her hands gently. "If my father calls, if he contacts the penthouse.....you tell him I’ve gone on a business trip. To Tokyo. To handle work in Japan. You don’t know when I’ll return. You don’t know specifics. You only know what I told you."

"Your father will know you’re lying," Nonna said quietly.

"Probably," Dimitri agreed. "But he’ll understand why. And he won’t push too hard."

Nonna reached out and took Dimitri’s face in her weathered hands. She was tiny compared to him, barely reaching his chest even when he stood at his full height, but in this moment, she looked like the most powerful person in the penthouse.

"You come back," Nonna said fiercely. "You understand me? You do whatever you must do, but you come back. Because if you don’t, I will never forgive you. And neither will she."

She turned to look at Eve, and her expression was both tender and terrifying.

"Take care of him," Nonna said to Eve.

"I will," Eve whispered.

Nonna turned back to Dimitri. "And you....you take care of her. You come back and you spend the rest of your life making sure she never regrets choosing to love a devil." 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"I will," Dimitri said, and he kissed his grandmother’s forehead.

They left Nonna in the kitchen, moving through the penthouse back toward their bedroom.

Three days. She had three days.

***

Eve had changed into soft clothes....silk pants and one of his oversized shirts that smelled like him. She’d been planning to go to bed early, to conserve her energy for the emotional intensity of the next seventy-two hours.

But the moment Dimitri closed the bedroom door behind them, sleep became the last thing on her mind.

He was already undressing, removing his jacket, his tie, his shirt. Each piece of clothing that fell away revealed more of him....the broad shoulders, the defined chest, the tattoos that mapped the geography of his life.

By the time he was completely naked, Eve couldn’t breathe.

He was beautiful. Dangerous and controlled and absolutely perfect.

And in three days, he was going to walk into a facility that might kill him.

Dimitri climbed into bed and pulled her against his chest. Eve settled against him, her head in the hollow of his neck, her hand over his heart. She could feel it beating....steady, strong, alive.

For now.

"Look at me," Dimitri said softly.

Eve pulled back just enough to meet his gaze.

And whatever she saw in his eyes....the acceptance, the love, the resignation, made hers fill with tears.

"You have to come back," she said, and her voice broke on the words.

Dimitri looked down at her face, and his expression softened into something so tender it hurt to see.

He kissed her nose. "I will."

Then he started kissing her face.

Her cheekbone. Her temple. The corner of her eye where a tear was escaping. Her other cheekbone. The bridge of her nose.

Soft kisses. Reverent kisses. Kisses that felt like a man memorizing someone he was afraid he might never see again.

He moved to her neck, and the kisses changed slightly....still gentle, but with more intention now. His mouth tracing the curve where her neck met her shoulder. His teeth grazing lightly. His tongue soothing the small marks he left behind.

Eve’s breath hitched.

She could feel the shift in him, from tenderness to need. From control to barely-controlled urgency.

His hand came up under the oversized shirt she was wearing. Found bare skin. Started moving upward.

Dimitri pulled the shirt over her head carefully, like it was made of spun glass, and tossed it aside. Then he just looked at her with an intensity that made her feel like the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

"I love you," he said quietly. "I need you to know that. Need you to understand that every choice I make, every risk I take, is because I love you. Because I want to build a world where you can be safe. Where you can be happy."

"I know," Eve whispered.

"Do you? Because I need you to understand that when I’m in that facility, when everything is dark and dangerous and I’m not sure I’m going to make it out, I’m going to remember this. Remember you. Remember what I’m fighting for."

He kissed her then....slow, deep, absolutely devastating kisses that tasted like love and desperation and goodbye.

Eve kissed him back, her hands moving over his shoulders, down his back, feeling the muscles beneath scarred skin. She wanted to memorize every inch of him. Wanted to imprint the feel of him on her body so she could hold onto it when he was gone.

Dimitri’s hands weren’t idle. They moved across her skin with reverence and possession simultaneously. Tracing her spine. Cupping her breasts. Stroking her inner thighs.

When he finally entered her, it was slow. So slow. Like he had all the time in the world and wanted to spend every second of it inside her.

Eve arched beneath him, and he started to move, a rhythm that was less about pleasure and more about connection. About two people trying to fuse into one person so completely that separation would be impossible.

"Stay with me," Eve whispered against his mouth.

"Always," Dimitri said. "Even when I’m not physically here, I’m still with you. In every decision. In every moment. In every breath."

He increased the pace slightly, and the kisses became more urgent. His hands gripped her hips, held her steady as he moved inside her with controlled intensity.