The Mafia Don's Daughter

Chapter Seven

"What was Olivia talking about?"

Apparently, Avery wasn't in the shower after all. Elliot turned away from the front door to look at her. "What do you mean?" He prayed that she hadn't heard the entire conversation.

"I heard Olivia talking about my cousin, Nikolas..."

Elliot relaxed. So, she hadn't heard his partner's lecture. "Have you ever heard of something called the Ice Princess?" He folded his arms over his chest. "And do you know any reason why your cousin would lie to the police?"

"No," Avery slowly shook her head. "I've never heard of the Ice Princess. And I honestly don't know Nickolas that well. My mom always kept us as far away from her side of the family as possible. She says the entire Cassadine family is unstable and filled with bad blood. You can try asking my mom's ex-husband, Jasper Jacks. He's still a family friend and has known my mom longer than anyone else."

Elliot believed her. He nodded his head and moved to go and find his phone to call Liv but Avery's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"What did Olivia mean when she said that you weren't allowed to get involved with a witness or victim? Are you attracted to me?"

He slowly turned to face her. "I think it's a little more than attraction at this point." He told her bluntly. There was no point in trying to deny what she heard. Elliot Stabler was a lot of things but a liar wasn't one of them. If you asked him an honest question, you got an honest answer.

She bit her lip and appeared to be thinking about something. There was a faint blush on her cheeks; the only sounds in the room came from the playpen where Sadie was happily babbling away to a stuffed frog.

"I can call Liv and have another detective assigned to protect you." He offered although he didn't want to.

"No," She said quickly, shaking her head. "I want you to stay. I feel safer with you here. I don't want anyone else. I trust you."

More proof that what he was feeling for her went beyond mere attraction was the fact that he was honored and deeply touched that Avery had faith in him...at least to keep her safe.

She stepped closer. There now couldn't have been more than a foot separating them. "My emotions are all so mixed up right now." She continued to speak, softly and slowly. "I don't know if I want to cry or scream half of the time." Hearing the pain in her voice, all he wanted to was take her in his arms and hold her like he had the night before. "I do know that you make me feel really safe and that I liked it, probably more than I should have when you held me last night. I know that I'd really like to do it again. I can't promise you anything beyond that at this point. Once I know what's happened to my family and my emotions have had time to settle, I'd like to try for more but...could that be enough for right now?" She looked at him hopefully.

It was enough. It was way more than he could have ever hoped for so it was more than enough. It was perfect. He reached out for her and gently pulled her into his arms, "Of course it is, sweetheart." He told her, laying a kiss on her temple. "I'll hold you for now and when you're ready for more, you just let me know. I'll be right here waiting."