Alexei sat in the back booth, his reserved spot in the restaurant. It helped that he owned a part of it. One of his many wise investments that was paying off in spades.

“Any news?” he asked hopefully.

“Nothing. I don’t know what to think. And we can do nothing from here.” The waiter appeared out of nowhere and slid a tumbler in front of me as well as a plate of pasta. I stared down at the plate and then back up at Alexei.

“I told him you were coming,” he said, digging into his own plate. “Should I go over there?”

“I don’t know how you can eat at a time like this. No, you shouldn’t go over there. It would only raise Sergei’s suspicions. We have to keep going like everything is normal.”

“But everything isn’t normal since her last letter saying she was coming. There hasn’t been a peep from her.”

“I take that as good news. If something had happened, Sergei would be gloating over getting her back in her cage or worse, driving us out into the wilderness and forcing us to dig our own graves.”

Worry had a permanent home in my chest for as long as I could remember. But when it came to Elena, no news was good news. Alexei went back to his pasta.

“How’s Dahlia?” he asked, wiping his mouth.

“She’s fine.”

“No surprises from Sergei there? No issues so far?”

“No, but we’re almost finished. I don’t know what to do about her.”

“I know what you want to do about her.”

“I do too, but when have I ever been able to do what I want? This life is too much for her. It’s too dangerous for her. And I will put her at risk. Am putting her at risk. So far I’ve been able to slip into the shop without anyone noticing. No movement from the guys Luca saw.”

“Do you honestly think you can walk away from her?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“There’s always a choice, Ivan. Always.”

“How many more of the families do you need to hear from?” Alexei had been working in the background, shoring things up for when the inevitable happened.

“Almost there. We have more than half of all our men full on board. I’d say all but a quarter will have no issues with the transition. For the families, a lot are old school. It’s taking longer than I would have liked.”

I drummed my fingers on the table while Alexei worked on setting a new speed-eating record. Scrolling through a message from Luca, I checked the time. After eleven already; I needed to get out of there. Dahlia would be at the shop on her own soon, and I didn’t like that idea. I didn’t like the idea of being away from her at all.

The latest report from Luca worried me even more. For some reason my uncle had decided to put a patrol on Dahlia’s shop day and night. I didn’t know if this meant he knew I was going there, or if he was having her watched for a separate plan.

Her spotlight in the paper came creeping back. It would be fitting if the same thing that had brought me back to her ripped her away from me. If he didn’t have the leverage of Elena anymore, perhaps he thought that getting to Dahlia would be a good way to keep me in line.

When I stepped onto the block where the shop was, I spotted them immediately. Luca’s guys were at one corner, and Sergei’s guys were on the other end of the block. I wouldn’t have known Luca’s were there if I hadn’t already seen them. They were out of the car, blending in with the crowds, sitting at one of the late-night hipster restaurants that were still open.

Sergei’s guy sat in his car playing on his phone. Thank God for the incompetence Sergei seemed to reward in his guys. Once I took over, this sort of thing would end. Hopefully once that happened, there wouldn’t be any more need for scouts, lookouts and enforcers. Doing things on the up-and-up had its advantages. Not needing to watch your back constantly for fear of bodily harm was one of them.

I went to the alley behind the shop and banged on the back door. Dahlia cautiously opened it, her eyebrows furrowed as she peered out to see who was there. Her face relaxed, and she smiled when she spotted me. It made me happier than I’d thought possible to see the look of relief and happiness wash over her face and the way her eyes twinkled as she stood with her body wedged between the door and the frame.

“What are you doing coming back here?” She opened the door fully to let me in. I slid past her and closed the door behind me.

“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t followed. I wanted to make sure no one saw me coming inside.”

Her eyes got wide, and she bit her bottom lip.

“But you’ve been coming in the front door since our first session. You didn’t think about that before? Did you see someone out there?” Her voice ratcheted up a few octaves. She walked toward the front door, but I grabbed her elbow to keep her back here with me.

“No, but sometimes you just get a feeling. No one has been following me. I’ve been sure of that. I would never put you in jeopardy like that.” I was putting her in jeopardy every single minute I was in the shop, but what could I say? Dahlia, I’m a selfish asshole who couldn’t stay away from you for another day, so I decided to come to your shop, knowing that I was putting you in danger by breathing in your vicinity. No, I just had to stick with making sure no one knew I was here and have Luca step up his help.

Her shoulders relaxed, and she walked over to her station, picking her camera up off the counter.

“I thought about what you said about my pictures,” she said, gesturing to the wall covered with photos behind her. “And I decided to start taking portraits again. I took some of my clients today. Do you want to see them?”

“Of course. Show me.”

She walked over to me with cautious steps and her camera out in front of her. She flicked it on, and the screen lit up, just like her eyes did as she made it to the first picture. It was a watercolor, which seemed to be one of her most requested styles. Every single one of them was beautiful, even more beautiful with her photography. Any doubts I had about the letter burning a hole in my pocket were washed away as I saw how her face lit up. She scrolled through all the pictures she’d taken over the past few hours.

“The lighting in here isn’t the best, but I think they turned out okay.” She turned the camera off and set it down.

“I think they turned out more than okay. Did you think about what I said about showing other people your photography?”

She shook her head, and the dark wisps of hair that hadn’t been tucked into her bun danced around her face as she did it. I was mesmerized by her. Something as simple as shaking her head made me want to knock everything off the counter behind her and drum it into her how good we’d been together. No woman held a candle to her.

“Why would I show it to anyone other than my clients? I just put them up here in the shop, and I give them to whoever I tattoo. That’s good enough for me.” She stepped over to her station and started getting herself ready, snapping on her black latex gloves and mixing the colors she would be using tonight.

“I think you might be surprised by just how well received your pictures are.”

She raised her eyebrow and kept doing what she was doing, pretending I hadn’t said anything.

“You ready?”

I tugged my shirt up and over my head and took my position in her chair. The one place where pain melded with pleasure in a way I’d never experienced before.

I’d gotten used to the needle jabs and the hum of the tattoo gun. It was almost comforting at this point. Maybe it was because I associated it with Dahlia. With spending time with her and getting to know her again. She was a lot different from the wild eighteen-year-old I’d met ten years ago. But I liked this Dahlia even better.

She was a woman, and she knew what she wanted. Under all her hesitancy, all her pushing back, there was a hint of another emotion. One I was almost afraid to believe still existed. I hoped it wasn’t me painting a picture of something that wasn’t really there. Maybe she didn’t really want me? How could I ever give up on trying to win her love?

I took out the envelope that had been burning a hole in my pocket since Luca handed it over. I held it out to her, waiting for her to look up.

“What’s this?”