Page 37 of Mafia and Scars

“You don’t understand… Sofia has nightmares every night. She needs me with her! And Leon won’t take a bottle from anyone except his father or me. They’ll think I’ve abandoned them…” The words tumble out in a breathless rush, each syllable dripping with desperation.

Her face contorts with anguish, and she reaches out with shaking hands toward the social worker, pleading with every fiber of her being.

And before I know what I’m doing, I stride into the room and confront the woman. “They’ll stay with me,” I grit out.

Both heads snap to me.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” the social worker asks.

“Viktor.”

She looks to Avelina, then to me again. “Are you family?” she demands.

“I’m…a family friend. And I said that Avelina and the kids will stay with me while she recovers.”

Why the hell did I just say that?

“Is that what you want, Ms. Nosova?” she says, turning back to Avelina and giving her a distinct look of disapproval.

Avelina hasn’t once looked away from me. “I...” She lets out a breath and nods.

“Fine.” The social worker lets out a martyred sigh. “But if you’d just told me in the first place that you had someone to help care for the children, it would’ve saved me a lot of time. I’ll go get the children.” The woman stands and straightens out her floral dress before she passes me in the doorway.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Avelina says as she tries to get her tears under control.

I stuff my hands into my pockets. “I did. Geliy is an asshole. But he saved my life once. I’ll always be there for him and his family, and that includes you.”

Her mouth parts slightly before she closes it with a nod. “Thank you. I couldn’t bear for the children to be parted from me. I’ll try him just once more…”

I watch her pick up her phone with trembling hands and hit redial.

We wait. And I can tell the exact moment it goes through to voicemailbecause her shoulders slump. And if Geliy were here, I’d punch him so hard right now. For letting this sweet woman down.

She looks up at me. “He didn’t answer. It looks like you’re stuck with us. I’m sorry?—”

“Don’t apologize,” I say in a rough voice. “He’s the one who should be apologizing to you. Because if you were my girl, I’d make sure that I picked up whenever you rang me, that I was by your side whenever you needed me, and that I was there every single time you needed someone to lean on.” She may not be his girl any longer, but that tells me that he’s an even bigger idiot than I first thought.

A slight blush runs up her cheeks, but before I can say anything else, there’s a knock on the door. I swivel my gaze to a man in his late thirties. He has a clean-cut beard and dark eyes and is dressed in dark green scrubs. “Ms. Nosova?”

“Yes,” Avelina answers, a smile on her face. It’s a tired one, not the sunny one she gave me hours ago. I don’t like it. But I don’t understand why—and that bothers me.

The man looks at me, brow arched. I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize this is my cue to leave.

Clearing my throat, I give Avelina what I hope is a reassuring nod of my head. I move into the hall but only just past the door, just past anyone’s line of sight. I shouldn’t listen to this conversation. It’s private and none of my damn business. But I find myself lingering by the door.

“How are you feeling?” the doctor asks.

“Better...”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Do they know why I fainted?”

“Actually, I was hoping you and I could run through a few things to narrow down a cause for the fainting.”

“Oh...sure,” Avelina replies.

“Any history with fainting before? A medical condition?”