Azaria’s Reviews > The War > Status Update

Cassie throws her arms around me and gives me a wet kiss. “Konstantin Silvanov, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much. Thank you.” She hugs me, and she’s all warm, and glowing, and happy.
She’s my sunshine, and I’m never letting her go.

It’s a core of steel I don’t know if Cassie has. I think Cassie is soft. Vulnerable to the harshness of the world. That’s okay, though, because I’ll be her steel.
I once told her, hard protects soft.Now I’m going to prove it to her every day.

“I love you, Cassie Sunshine,” he says to me.
“I love you too, sir.” I reply with a smile.
He kisses my neck and holds me tight.
I close my eyes and start to drift. Safe in the harbor that is his arms.

“Relieved. If I have kids the only person I want to have them with is you.” He says this so casually. He doesn’t take his eyes from the road to even glance at me, but it’s a huge thing for him to say. I look out the window to hide my giddy grin. Konstantin is thinking about us so seriously, he’s thought about the possibility of kids. It isn’t something I want right now. Not for a good few years.

I go to her, take her face in my hands, tip her chin up and kiss her. I ignore the whoops and catcalls from the men. When I let her go, she’s red but beaming. She likes me showing her affection in front of others, I realize. I make a note to do it more often.

“What if one of your men comes in?”
“Then he’ll see how hot you are, and he’ll be jealous as hell.”
....
“He’ll want you,” Konstantin says. “But he won’t get to touch any part of you because that’s a death penalty so far as I’m concerned.”
His hand slips between my legs, and he strokes me there. “So all he’ll be able to see is how hot you are. How amazing this body is. He’ll want you, but he can’t have you.”

“No, baby. I’m not.” He kisses me. “I promise.” We get dressed, and I follow him to the door, which he unlocks. I shoot him a surprised glance, and he laughs. “What? You think I’m going to let any other man see what’s mine?” “But you said…” “Took a guess that it would get you hot, and it did. My little exhibitionist.” He kisses me once, swift and hard, then he swats my ass. “Fantasy only, jailbait. You got that?"

“If you leave something behind, it doesn’t hurt if you’ve got something brighter to move toward. I’ve got you to move toward.”

“I love you, sunshine-jailbait. I’ll let you go if that’s what you want, and I’ll do that because I love you. It’s not what I want, though.”

“Oh no, sunshine. My come to Jesus moment came before your attack.”
It did? “When?”
“When I saw you looking at the sculptures with such awe, it hit me how much I wanted to show you the world. How much I wanted you with me when I went to Rome or to Moscow. I was thinking all those things and watching you, and it hit me. I’ve been a fucking coward.” He spits the words out. “I knew in that moment, I loved you"