“I should go.”
“Sit down and drink your eggnog, Anna.”
“It’s your first Christmas together and technically, you’re on your honeymoon.”
Jenna laughs. “Some honeymoon. The groom can’t even walk upstairs to the bedroom. He’s still sleeping on the sofa in the living room. Besides, Christmas is a time to spend with family and you are our family.”
Sneakers gets up from his cozy bed in front of the fire and walks over to Anna. She scratches his ears, and whispers, “I miss him, too.” Sneakers whines and lays his head on her knee.
“Anna,” Mike begins, then stops.
“It’s’ okay, Mike. I know that this is a huge break for the FBI. The head of a crime family turns states evidence? That’s a big deal. And, for whatever reason, Mikhail would only turn himself into Danny. I get it. I just wish I could talk with Danny. Once Mikhail made his announcement at the hospital, he and Danny were swooped up by men in black in the middle of the night.”
“Uh, wrong government department.” Jenna laughs. “You never answered my question. Did any of the men in black look like Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones? It’s bad enough you all conspired to keep us out of the loop, but if I missed seeing Tommy or Will, I will never forgive you.”
“Jenna, how much eggnog have you had, honey?” Mike reaches out to take her glass away, but Jenna holds it just out of his reach.
“You haven’t talked to him at all, Mike?” Anna asks. Mike shakes his head, still trying to wrestle the eggnog away from Jenna. “I was going to tell him everything. He needed to hear it from me, not some hopped up murdering, steroid-freak.”
“He’s not going to believe what Egor said. Danny loves you. He believes in you, not Egor’s lies.” Jenna polished off the eggnog and handed the glass to Mike. “Sure, I’d love another glass.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “What have we told you all along?”
“We?” Jenna cut in. “Me. I’ve told you all along, trust him. He’s a good guy and he knows you are not all those things that Egor said”
“What, a murdering, bank-hacking, old-lady money stealing thief? The problem is, I am all those things.” Anna closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. “What man in his right mind would want me.”
“Me.”
Anna jumped off the sofa and stared at the man in the doorway. Sneakers wasn’t so bashful. He charged Danny and launched himself straight into his arms.
“Lucky dog,” Anna muttered.
Man and dog joyfully greeted each other with scratches behind the ear from Danny and licks to the face from Sneakers. After the initial frenzy, Danny put Sneakers down and walked over to Anna. “I told you before, but I guess I’m going to have to keep telling you. I love you. I love you today. I’ll love you tomorrow. And, I’ll love you for every tomorrow after that.”
Anna closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around her man. “I love you, too.”
“I know, but I’m glad you finally said it.” Danny leaned down to kiss her.
“Where have you been?” She asked against his lips.
“Can’t tell you. Can I kiss you now?” He didn’t wait for an answer.
* * *
When they finally came up for air, Danny realized Mike and Jenna had left them alone in the living room. He took Anna’s hand and led her to the chair she had been sitting in when he walked in. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.
“I missed you.” He realized that was probably one of the hardest things she had ever said.
“I was getting Mikhail setting into Witness Protection. The information he’s giving us will shut down his entire operation and put a serious dent in a few other crime families, as well.”
“He’s a good man. Did he tell you everything?”
“I already knew all I needed to know about you. But, if you’re asking if he told me about how you were held hostage and forced to hack into banks by his father, then, yes. He told me everything. He also told me that when you first refused to help them, they beat your father half to death. You did what you had to do to save your family.”
Danny felt the tension flow from her body and she fully relaxed against him. “I wish my parents were alive to see this.”
“They know, and they are so damn proud of you.” He paused. “There is something I need to talk to you about.”
Anna tried to sit up, but he held her in place. “It’s all good. I want you to know I’ve resigned from the FBI.”
Anna jumped up from his lap and paced by the fireplace. “Oh, no. This is because of me, isn’t it? Are you in trouble because you, what do they call it? Conspired with a criminal? Oh, Danny, I’m so sorry.”
Danny pulled her back onto his lap and laughed. “No, this has nothing to do with you. Well, it has something to do with you. It turns out, being a small-town cop is in my DNA. I talked to Jonah and he offered me a job starting after January 1.”
“Really?”
“Really!” He leaned in and kissed her again.
“So, what are you doing for the next week while you’re waiting to start your new job?” She kissed him back.
“I’ll think of something.” He kissed her deeply this time, then stopped short as Sneakers jumped on the chair with them. “Sneakers, what is in your mouth?”
Anna reached over and grabbed the mangled plastic greenery from his mouth. She held it above Danny’s head and with no more secrets between them, she kissed him under the mistletoe.
The End