Tough Love

Chapter One Hundred Thirty

Chapter One Hundred Thirty

Eli's P.O.V.

Dani has just fallen asleep, but my mind is buzzing too much to be able to sleep. I can't believe everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours. I'm staring at Dani's sleeping form; memorizing every line, curve and detail of her.

I love this woman with every fibre of my being. Trying to convey that and not seem weak isn't an easy task. I know the guys would give me a ribbing for thinking or saying such things, but Dani needs to know how much I love her.

I can't believe she said yes. I mean, I believe she loves me and trusts me as much as she can, but I never thought she'd agree so soon. I honestly thought I'd have my work cut out, trying to convince her to say yes. Seeing the progress Dani has made makes me so proud of her. Everything about her is beautiful, including her bravery. I know she doesn't think she's beautiful or brave, but she has to be one of the bravest people I know. She's definitely the most beautiful person I have ever met.

Dani is curled against my side and her left hand is resting on my chest, so I can see the new ring adorning her finger. I have to say, it looks far better than I could have imagined. Maybe that's because of the emotional attachment to the situation. It would seem that Ivankov being out of our lives and this country has sparked a change in Dani. She might not know he's far away from us, but there is definitely something different about her.

Sleep must pull me in at some point because my alarm startles me. I'm sure I only just closed my eyes. The bed feels a little empty, so I open one eye to see where Dani is. She's not next to me so I sit up and look for any sign of her. Scar is sitting at the bathroom door so I know exactly where Dani is. That dog would follow her everywhere if he could.

I whistle to grab Scar's attention and say, "Hier."

Scar trots back over to the bed, but he continues to watch the bathroom door.

I try to coax him onto the bed, "Scar, omhoog."

He does as he's told and jumps up, but he lays on Dani's side of the bed, still watching the door. My Dutch is extremely limited, and I've only got a few command words in my vocabulary, so I continue to speak to him in English.

"You love your momma, huh? I do too. She's so amazing, so strong and unbelievably brave. She probably doesn't believe that, but she is..."

Dani emerges from the bathroom, stopping my one-sided conversation with the dog. She smiles shyly at me as I whisper a good morning to her.

She quickly apologizes, "I'm sorry if I woke you up. I tried to be quiet...."

"You didn't wake me. My alarm did. Actually, I didn't even hear you get up."

"I was trying to be extra quiet."

"You were up early. Did you have a nightmare?"

She looks caught, like she wasn't going to admit that, but she nods sheepishly.

"You didn't wake me."

"No, I know you're tired. It's ok. It wasn't as bad as most."

"You can wake me whenever you need to, Dani. I might be tired, but I'll never be too tired to help you."

She nods, but doesn't make any further comment on it. Instead, she asks,"Are you going in to work?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm ok, Dani, I promise. Nothing a little sleep won't fix, but I won't be able to sleep while you're at work. I'll just be wondering what's going on there."

"Ok."

I know Dani well enough by now to know there's a lot she thinks but doesn't say. She's definitely better with voicing her thoughts, but sometimes I need to coax them out of her.