Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,110
that sounds weird.”
“It doesn’t,” Kristof said. “I’d never ask you to leave the family you’ve built. I’m only asking that I be part of it.”
“You are,” she admitted. “I can’t imagine walking away from this. From you.”
“Then we’ll make it work. There’s nothing keeping me here in Russia.”
“It’s your home,” she whispered.
“My home will be wherever you and Olaf are. You are the most important thing in my life, Addy. It’s taken me too long to see that, and even longer to admit it to myself and to you.”
Addy felt the same but couldn’t voice the thoughts swirling in her head. She’d already admitted more than she’d expected. All that mattered was that he knew she wanted a future with him, however they could make it work.
And they would.
Somehow.
Kristof smiled when Addy wandered into the small kitchen wearing his shirt. Blood surged to his cock. They’d made love all night and laughed over shared memories. Too few happy moments they’d both tucked away and kept hidden.
“I can’t believe you have this place. It’s beautiful.” Addy wrapped her arms around his bare waist and rested her head against his back. “Good morning. You should’ve woken me.”
“You needed the rest. I wore you out last night,” he teased. He diced tomatoes and glanced over at the bacon cooking on the stove. “I hope you’ve worked up an appetite. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
“You cook?” Addy pulled away and snagged bits of the cheese he’d shredded earlier. “I’ll warn you now. I suck in the kitchen.”
Kristof chuckled. “I enjoy cooking for you. I’m not the best, but I’m decent. Mama taught me when I was younger.”
He’d always felt closer to her when he was in the kitchen preparing one of the few dishes he’d learned from her. Sharing that with Addy felt right. Mama would’ve loved her. So much.
“Maybe you can show me how.” She rested her hip against the counter. Warmth drifted in her gaze. “Where did all the food come from?”
“A friend of mine keeps the place stocked with a few essentials. I haven’t been out here in a long time.” He set the knife down. “No one’s been out here except for Maksim.”
“And your mysterious friend.”
“She’s eighty,” Kristof offered with a grin. “I bought this place from her after her husband died. Remaining out here wasn’t an option. Her son is one of my soldiers. It was a win-win for us all.”
Sadness sank into her face. “It’s too beautiful to give up.”
“There’s nothing I won’t gladly walk away from. This place and all the others are reminders of what I’ve done the past two decades. I finally have a chance to live my life however I choose to.”
“You deserve that.”
“And so do you.” He grasped her waist. “Have you ever thought about what life you want outside of your work?”
Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“We shared a lot of whimsical dreams as children in that camp.” He remembered them all even though some had been outlandish and impossible.
“I don’t see either of us becoming pirates or royalty anytime soon.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m happy with what I’m doing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, but the work you do doesn’t prevent you from having more.” With him.
Kristof wanted a future with Addy. Marriage. Children.
Love.
The emotion filled him so full he had no room left inside him for the ugliness of his past. She’d eviscerated all the pain and drowned out the anger and darkness. How had she crawled inside him so quickly?
Because she’d never left.
He’d always carried her within him, a reminder of what he’d once been. The man he could’ve become if his father hadn’t destroyed his life. Now that the bastard was dead, Kristof had the chance to forge his own future—one he intended to carve out with Addy.
But the unease crawling within her thinned lips and wary eyes warned him she wasn’t ready to traverse that path. Yet. He’d get her there, though. They’d both endured too much for him to back away from the possibility of having a life with her.
“I have a few properties in the US. A few others around the world,” Kristof said. “I’ll probably keep them. Maksim and I worked hard to secure them, hide their existence from Father and our other enemies.”
“You have other enemies?”
“None who will be a problem.” He moved away from her and pulled the potatoes from the pan. Picking up the eggs he’d prepared earlier, he poured them into the skillet. He hadn’t