Never Tear Us Apart - Complete

Chapter Forty-three

"Hello kiz! How are you feeling?"

Abe arrived at the Belikov household right at 1 pm, scooping me up into a big hug.

"I was worried about you yesterday," he continued, giving my Russian God the evil eye.

Doh! It looks like the Belikovs weren't the only ones to hear me shouting at Dimitri last night! Abe led me over to one side of the living room, using the distraction of Pavel distributing the weekly gifts to get me alone.

"Rose if he doesn't treat you right, you let me know, ok?"

"We're fine, Baba," I said with a sigh.

"I mean it, Rose," Abe stressed, looking at me carefully. "You don't need to do anything you don't want to do. I heard you tell him you weren't in the mood for a threesome... Has he tried to coerce you into sexual acts you're not comfortable with?!"

I looked at my father in shock before erupting in laughter. Poor Abe was so embarrassed to ask, but I was equally as mortified.

"Baba it's nothing like that! He's never... I mean I've never..." I stopped as I was laughing too hard to continue. "Don't worry about that aspect of things. We've never had a threesome or anything like that. He's very respectful of me. I was just being dramatic to make a point."

Abe searched my face carefully.

"As long as you're sure...?"

"I'm sure. I got upset that a girl was flirting with him."

"Did he reciprocate?"

"No. But I still got upset."

"I can have him dealt with if he upsets you. Just say the word..."

"Baba! He's the man I love! I don't want him 'dealt with!'" I growled. "I might have overreacted a little bit. It's fine, he's fine, and we're fine."

"You'd tell me if you weren't happy?" he pressed.

"You'll be the first to know," I promised, rolling my eyes, and dragging him by the arm back to where the rest of the family stood.

We moved as a group into the living room where Babushka joined us, hobbling out of her bedroom. Abe presented her with a huge bunch of flowers, and an even more enormous cheese and a salami.

"You risked your life to help my little girl," he said emotionally. "It is a debt I can never repay."

"She's part of our family, too," Yeva said almost competitively. "But she needs to be armed. Paul?" she said beckoning the young man forward. "Get me the wooden box on my dressing table," she ordered.

Paul dutifully appeared with a simple timber box. She took it from him and passed it to me. I opened it, unsurprised to see a single silver stake lying in the plush purple velvet. The other of the pair was still upstairs in Dimitri's room.

"They're yours now. I don't like the idea of you out there without a weapon," Yeva said stroking my cheek affectionately. "They're freshly charmed. I have them redone every year."

"Thank you Babushka," I replied, understanding the significance of the gift and knowing better than to argue with her about it. "I'll carry them with pride."

She smiled and then shooed us all across to the table for lunch. Viktoria had returned to St. Basil's, so there was twelve of us. Olena said a long prayer, thanking God for keeping Yeva and me safe, then we dug in.

"So you'll need another molnija," Pavel remarked casually, referring to the Strigoi I'd killed last night.

"Shit! I forgot to call it into the Alchemists," I gasped, realizing I'd just left the dead Strigoi in the middle of the road.