Chapter 19

That thought stayed with me for most of the day, and at night, when we left the house to go to a bonfire party at the back of the complex where the Wildfire lived, I found myself in silence, watching the flames rise and turn into sparks that seemed to almost want to touch the sky.

Ilya was with the men, drinking a beer, and I hadn’t grabbed a single bottle for myself, just a marshmallow, which I didn’t have the courage to roast in the fire because I was still a bit shy.

Probably noticing this, Gillian approached, sitting beside me, accompanied by Jordana. The younger woman handed me a beer bottle, and I hesitated a little before taking it.

"Don't be silly, girl! You're among friends, close to home. A man that size to carry you in case you get a little drunk. Just have fun. God knows how much you deserve it."

She had a point.

So, I took the drink and toasted with them, clinking bottles together. I took a sip, and the bitterness burned down my throat, but it was nice and cold. It wasn’t exactly summer, but after the freezing days in Moscow, I was even wearing a light jacket.

Jordana took the skewer from my hand and brought it to the fire while Gillian struck up a conversation.

"So... do you have any plans? Anything you want to do now that you have your freedom?"

The day Ilya and I had lunch at her house, we told our story to Joshua and Gillian, just as we had with the others. Hunter had undoubtedly known everything from the beginning, and I thought it was only fair to share because I was an outsider.

People listened to my story without making a fuss, without showing pity—which was exactly what I didn’t want—and that was how Gillian was bringing it up now.

Jordana returned before I could answer. I thanked her, and she sat down beside us.

"You know, I haven’t thought about anything yet? Everything happened so fast..." I replied, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I felt shy because I still wasn’t used to dealing with so many people.

"We have lots of activities here. I’m in charge of many of them," Jordana said in a motherly tone.

Well, she had a son over thirty years old, despite not looking like it. She could very well be my mother. Thinking about that made my chest tighten. I hadn’t thought about her in a long time because I had tried to protect myself from so many feelings.

Among these people and all this feeling of home, I would end up suffering from the absence.

"I’d love to help," I replied in a soft voice, still afraid of being a bother.

"We have several activities, but we mainly need someone in our daycare. Someone to take care of the little ones."

"I love children!" I exclaimed, very excited. "My God, I—"

"The salary isn’t much, but—"

"I’ll even get paid to take care of them?" Both of them laughed at the way I said it.

"Of course. Here, everyone earns a salary for the activities they provide. Ilya will also work with Hunter."

"Doing what?"

Jordana and Gillian exchanged glances, and I understood that he would be doing something unconventional.

"Hunter is a... mercenary," Gillian explained. "Caleb doesn’t like it much because he believes he’ll end up getting into big trouble one day, but the guy is good at what he does."

"Do you think Ilya might be in danger if he works with him?"

Jordana smiled.

"Your Ilya knows how to take care of himself, dear."

"Mine? He’s not mine. Definitely not!" I stated, taking another sip of beer, hoping it would help the lump in my throat go down more easily.

"Well... he looks at you in a way that..." Gillian fanned herself and took a sip from her own bottle. "Wow! When Josh looks at me like that, we drop the kids off at someone’s house and spend the entire night in bed."

"You think so?" I widened my eyes.

"Woman, I’m sure of it! He’s probably holding back because your situation is complicated... but you know what?" Gillian stood up and extended her hand to me. "Let’s give him a little push."

She helped me up and went to the speaker, changing the song that was playing. Before, it had been some old, classic rock, but she chose a very sensual reggaeton instead.

"Let’s put something more Latin to welcome our señorita here!" she announced loudly and led me to an open space, starting to move to the rhythm of the music.

Joshua was the first to let out a howl of encouragement, clapping and shouting, "My wife is so hot!" clearly head over heels for her.

I stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do, but when other women joined in to dance with us, including Jordana, I started to loosen up.

And when I looked at Ilya... I understood what Gill had meant.

He was devouring me with his eyes, and I had barely even started moving.

Well... maybe I could tease him just a little...