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Niko looks away and beginswhistling.
I roll my eyes, then take the gun still in my wife’s hand that’s pointing to the ceiling. She moans, then abruptly pulls away and wipes at her lip. “Oh, Niko!”
Parker curls over her and kisses her temple. “Apparently, he knows, baby girl. It’s all good. Turns out he’s wondering if Raven has room for a fourth.”
She tips her head back and laughs. “Oh Niko, they would end you. Jonas, especially. You know, Parker has a sister, Rory, she-”
“My sister needs to focus onschool, not boys.”
“I’m a man.”
“She’s barely in her twenties. You’re practically a grandfather.”
“I’m barely thirty-four,” he argues.
Sabrina shakes her head. “It’s fine. I think Kallum would like her. Can he sign?”
“I can sign.” Niko replies, and we all stare at him with mouths agape. Aquamarine eyes crawl over us, and his brow rises. “What? I learned in case Raven ever wants a fourth.”
Sabrina puts a hand on his shoulder. “You might be waiting a very long time, Niko.”
Niko sighs. “Just put in a good word for me.”
Her lips form a thin line, and she replies with a “Mmhmm. You bet.”
We put away all the guns after making sure each one has the safety on, empty the magazines, and put the ammo back in their designated boxes. Parker catches up to me. “I think she had a lot of fun.”
“I almost shot Bianchi when he raised his voice at her.”
“She waswaving the gun around, Maks. With the safetyoff. I would’ve yelled at her, too.”
“I would’ve shot you, too.” I reply with an eye roll.
“Fair,” he replies with a smirk.
We make it to the mansion where we’ve been spending more time lately and eat the linguini dinner Veronica left for us. Sabrina is a little quieter than usual as she twirls the pasta in the spoon with her fork. It hasn’t escaped me that she hasn’t met my gaze since Rossi told us he’s expecting his next child with his new bride.
And I am dying to look into my wife’s beautiful eyes.
I reach under the table and put a handon her thigh. “Sabrina?”
“Hmm?” she glances at me but then looks away just as quickly, the fork now scraping the spoon.
I bite my lip, not exactly knowing how to approach this, but just like with everything else, I decide to do it head on and get it outta the way. I put my forkful of linguine down. It clatters a bit when it lands, making her wince. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’ve scarcely looked at me or talked to me since Rossi told us Samantha is expecting, and I told Rossi we weren’t planning on having children yet. You’ve been quiet all day. Present, but quiet. And now you aren’t eating. You’re always hungry, Duchess, so you need to tell me how Parker and I can make it better.”
She calmly drops the silverware onto her plate and stares down at her food. Silence passes between the three. “It’s not really somethingyoucan make better, Maksim. These are possibly irrational thoughts and something I’ll work through with Damon.”
Parker drops his silverware and leans back in his seat. His mouth twists to the side, then he scrubs his hand over his jaw, swiping it down his face and placing it on the table by his plate. “Took you years to work through what happened with Kanewhileseeing therapists, baby girl. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think this is one of those things that affects all of us if you’re going to disappear into yourself again.”
“I don’tdisappear.”
“You’re right, baby. You don’t disappear. You eat it and keep it all inside until you make yourself sick. You dissociate to the point you don’t even blink, Bri. Tears will stream down your face before you realize you’ve gone catatonic. You’ll go days without saying a word like a fucking robot on autopilot.” he argues.
She blinks. “What?”