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It’s the ammunition I’ll need to go after, Sergio, and take him down for good. I’m not starry-eyed. Ilya’s framing it all in fairy-tale terms. Things will be messier and nothing’s set in stone until it is.

But if Vince plays straight, in exchange for his help, the man will be given control of Niko’s operations, all of them, as well as some of Sergio’s territory once he’s taken down. That we can split.

Things are finally looking good.

Chapter Twenty-Three

ERIN

Kara grins.“I for one can’t wait to see Sasha in those outfits. Which one for the wedding? My vote is the little blue tux!”

I shouldn’t have bought it, the color is azure and makes his blue eyes glow. And he’s so fucking adorable in it I almost lost my shit and cried about three rivers then and there. But he saved me by asking what we’re getting the baby to wear.

The girls just fell apart laughing.

“I’m not sure a tux is okay for a beach.”

“Tell Demyan I made you get it.” Alina nods at Sasha as we go to the next shop, one Kara picked, which has swimwear and lounge gear.

It’s a fun day and we seem to buy out half the stores on Chicago’s Gold Coast, with pretty dresses and even two outfits for the girls, who’ll be my bridesmaids. I let them choose and they color coordinate in a lavender of differing dress cuts that flatter them both.

“What are you going to get for your dress?” Kara asks, as Alina plays with Sasha.

I shrug. “Not sure. Just something casual. Maybe this place has a nice summery dress.”

They’re all designer, after all.

“No way. We’ll get some going out things here, and maybe for you and Demyan if you have a night out… or in… but you need a real wedding dress.”

“It’s the beach. I’ll know it when I see it.”

But Kara’s having none of that. She turns to Alina. “She wants a summer dress for the ceremony.”

“No way, Erin. Demyan will want you in a real dress. Come on, there are other places.”

With a sigh, I wait as she pays for the purchases and we head out, one of the guards taking the purchases to the car. There’s one with us constantly that I can see but I’m betting there are more, knowing Demyan.

But I’m not about to let that bother me. He’s not doing it to watch and make sure I don’t run. He’s doing it to protect me and his sister and Sasha. And Kara. Anyone with us, he’ll protect.

I don’t want some elaborate wedding dress and I push Sasha in his stroller, listening as the girls banter about the trip and the wedding. Kara travels but she seems to be looking forward to this like it’s something special. And Alina sounds just as excited.

We pass some fancy shops and I catch sight of a wedding dress shop, some wild and fairy-tale thing in the window, but what snags my attention is the other side of the window, sleek and sophisticated, and next to that a dress that’s simple and romantic.

“Do you want to go in here?”

Kara’s already half in the door and Alina stops, looking at it. “This is where I got my dress,” she says, hesitating, then she breathes in and takes the stroller and maneuvers it in.

Horror hits me and I rush in, too.

Oh God. She lost Max on their wedding day, and that was only a recent thing. She’s been doing so well with her grief I… I don’t even have an excuse for my faux pas.

Here I am, dragging her not just out to shop for wedding dresses for me, but at the same shop?

I hurry to her, hugging her. “Alina, I’m so insensitive. I didn’t think. I’m sorry. We can leave. There’s a nice little restaurant back up the road. I’ll just pick something up in the next few days. We’ve done enough.”

“Erin.” She eases out of the hug as Kara runs her gaze over us and then takes Sasha’s stroller to look at some jewelry, knowing sparkles will distract him.

“I should have thought, Alina.”