Page 112

ERIN

My stomach’s in shambles.I should be upset at the deaths of the men who died protecting us. But I’m not.

Rather, I am, but not destroyed by it like I should be. Instead, I’m thankful we’re all alive, even if we can’t get hold of Demyan. Or Ilya.

Alina hands me some tea and I cup my hands around the glass, poor little Sasha anxiously looking from me to Alina to Kara and the men I’ve never seen. Alina knows them. And Olga has managed to ease Sasha from me to try to distract him and let me be.

“I can’t get hold of him,” I whisper. “You?”

Alina shakes her head. “I’ll try again. I’m sorry, I’m not privy to everything, so I don’t know why he sent us ahead. He’s probably working. Ilya, too.”

“But his phone should be on.”

“Maybe he needs to have it off or he forgot to charge it or he left it behind.”

He wouldn’t.

Demyan’s not the type to be careless in that way. He’d have his phone.

Another jolt of nausea rocks me.

Alina says she doesn’t know why he sent us ahead. But I do.

“He’s fine. Maybe he’s doing wedding stuff. And he sent us for a treat.” Kara smiles as Alina wanders off, texting and calling on her phone.

“No. H-he sent us to keep us safe. He didn’t trust this Sergio person, Kara. And I caused it all by making him back out of the wedding with Stefina before he had a plan.”

She grabs my hand, eyes blazing, and she leans in. “You listen to me, Erin Banks. I’ve met Demyan and he did that for you, yes, but he also would have put his foot down and risked your anger if he thought this would happen.”

“What if?—”

“Don’t.” She closes her eyes. “Look, I’d tell you to think long and hard before marrying him, but you have and you’re not backing out. Plus, Erin, you’re right. He’s the father of your kids. And he’ll protect you. His life is dangerous, but I don’t think he entered into that arrangement for thrills, and I don’t think he backed out to spice things up. He seems to want more, and he sees that in you.”

“What do you mean?”

She sucks in a breath. “He’s bratva, right? Organized crime? But he goes to the park, he protects, and I think he’s smart enough to want peace within the more… questionable parts of his outfit.” Then she flashes a small smile. “That’s what Alina told me when I pushed. She says their father was hard and pushed Demyan. But Demyan wants to take it into the modern world. Run his businesses, the legal and illegal, and form partnerships that build peace rather than land and power grabs. So… I don’t know. I’m talking out my ass.”

“You’re not. I see that, too. But something’s happened. Look where we are. What if you hadn’t seen me? I’ll never forgive myself if I’ve put everyone in danger.”

Alina can’t hide the worry when she comes and sits with us, a glass of vodka in her hand. I don’t know what this place is, but I think it’s more than a safe house. She knows the people. From the car to those here. And while she said staff, there must be more to it. The place feels lived-in, high-tech. A fortress outside the city, one hard to find.

They turned the headlights off when we went through hidden gates, for crying out loud.

“I’m trying Ilya again.”

She sends a text, and then she calls.

This time his voice comes through as she turns it on speaker. “Alina? What’s wrong? I just got to your texts. I was?—”

She cuts him off and starts speaking rapid Russian to him. They talk and my frustration builds. I cast a glance at my boy, who’s getting upset again. I’m thinking he’ll behave for Olga for another five or ten minutes before we reach meltdown.

But I need to find out about Demyan.

“Is Demyan okay?” My voice shakes.

Alina holds up a hand to me. “Odnu minute,Ilya.”

“Alina?” I ask.