Page 128 of Scarred Ruin

“Not really,” he mimicked. “That’s supposed to make me feel any better?”

Seeing his expression had me shaking my head. “Think of it this way. You’ll have an opportunity to finally go out on that date with Hope.”

“Very funny.”

“Very accurate. Just go for it, Sergei. You’re not getting any younger.”

“You’re one to talk. You have gray hair at both temples.”

My cue to let him know there might be a few changes in the works. “I’m going to share something with you that I do not want spread to anyone. Including my brother.”

“Alright, I won’t, but I have a very bad feeling about this.”

“You have a bad feeling about almost everything. This trip is special to me. I’m thinking about asking Isabel to marry me.”

“What?” He placed his hand over his heart and acted as if he was choking. “You’re kidding me.”

“No, I am not. Yesli muzhchine poschastlivilos’ polyubit’ bol’she odnogo raza—on poistine blagoslovlen. Yesli zhe on pozvolyayet yey uyti, to on glupets i zasluzhivayet lish’ zhizni, polnoy odinochestva.”

He studied me for a few seconds before translating in English. As if I needed to have him repeat it. “If a man is lucky enough to love more than once, he is truly blessed. If he allows her to escape, he is a fool and deserves only a life full of loneliness. Profound, my friend.”

“Just something I’ve been thinking about.”

He offered me his hand. “Then allow me to be the first to offer my congratulations. I truly believed you would live your life completely alone, locked in misery. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile.”

I used force when clasping his hand like brothers or best friends did. “Now you know why the trip.”

“Do you have a ring?”

“I do.”

“Which you’ve been holding onto for a while now.”

I grinned and pulled my hand free. Just thinking about how I felt about Isabel created desire. “A little while. I just needed time to ensure what I was doing was the right thing for all three of us.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re going to be very happy.”

“Yes, I do as well. Isabel reminded me that business is important, but so are taking a deep breath and a walk on the ocean’s shore. Mina will turn six in two weeks. Soon after that, she’ll be ten. Then eighteen.”

“Now I feel old.” We both laughed. “Incidentally, Isabel cornered me about having a birthday party for Mina. Since I already knew how you’d feel about that, I punted the subject, but I can guarantee you she’ll bring it up on the trip.”

“I assure you, my friend, that I’ve already heard about having a lavish party. If I consider allowing that to occur, the event will be small. Not at the house. There are too many ways to penetrate our security.”

He narrowed his eyes as he studied me. “After all that pontificating you just did, you are still worried about what happened with the shipment.”

“I’ve learned to be extra cautious. Nothing more. As I was saying. If I agree to a party, we’ll have it at one of Mina’s favorite restaurants with a few friends from school arriving late for birthday cake only. I can’t imagine dinner with a half dozen screaming six-year-olds. I’d go mad.”

He cocked his head. “You’ve already decided on the restaurant. Haven’t you?”

“Maybe I have. As you said, Isabel will not allow me to keep my daughter from enjoying her birthday as I’ve done for five years.”

“What do I need to do?”

“I’ll send you the name of the restaurant I have in mind. My assistant is handling booking and talking with Mina’s teacher. Just make certain the restaurant owners know they will be paid very well to keep other customers away that night.”

“And so it begins?”

“What are you talking about?”