Page 51

She’s never ever asked me for a material thing. Not a purse or shoes or cash.

Women do that, don’t they? They want things in exchange for putting out, in exchange for being pretty arm candy.

Heat burns my cheeks as I imagine what my sister would do if she caught a whiff of that line of thinking.

It’s just… in my world, Erin’s fresh and new and a breath of air I didn’t know I needed. She’s exciting, yes. I get fucking hard when she smiles in a certain way. Or when she’s naked or in my shirt. Her kisses set me on fire. But she also gives me something else, something that isn’t for sale or that costs.

No, that’s not right. It costs. But it’s a payment of myself, because she’s offered me her.

Or she did.

My phone buzzes. “Fucking Stefina,” I mutter, looking at the screen.

Tomorrow afternoon we’re looking at ideas for you and your groomsmen. My father’s best?—

Nope. I toss the fucking thing on the desk.

Not finishing that. It makes my head pound, this never-ending planning.

“You’ve got a lot of time to work out how to get free of this,” I mutter as my head starts to pound.

I go down to the kitchen to get some water, but Magda thrusts a bottle at me and shoves me out.

There’s a pot simmering on the stove and groceries everywhere, so she’s prepping some meals. By the looks of some of the pasta shapes, there are going to be packages in the fridge and freezer for easy meals and snacks for Sasha.

She cooks daily, but the Sasha prep seems to give her pleasure. If he’s hungry, she can heat something up, or we can.

And that makes a spot just behind my ribs warm.

But the pounding in my head increases, so I unscrew the bottle and take a few sips before heading to the downstairs bathroom for some painkillers.

I pop a couple, washing them down with some mouthfuls of water, and then I stomp back up to my study.

There’s a lot of work and I miss sex and I miss Erin even more. The house seems empty with my sister, Erin, and Sasha out on a playdate with Micah Herrod. I’ve got a report on the kid and the kid’s parents, the in-laws, second cousins. I know what the father does for a living and how many parking tickets both parents have gotten.

My son met a kid in the park and I’ve now vetted the kid and the family. And still… Pavel’s on that one with his handpicked crew.

Playdates. Fuck.

I rub my temples and open up my emails right as my phone buzzes again. I pick it up and my heart hammers as I see who it’s from.

The hospital.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Yegorov?”

“Yes? How’s Ilya?”

The air’s caught in my throat.

“He’s awake, so I thought you should know the good news.”

I hang up, pleased as fucking punch that something’s going my way. Fuck work. I head to the hospital and storm into Ilya’s room.

“Finally,” I say, “you decide to stop being lazy.”

“Yeah,” he says with a small grin, looking good for a guywho only recently was at fucking death’s door. “What can I say? I got bored.”