Page 35 of Ruthless Rustanovs

“MAMA, Mama!” Aaron ran out of Steve’s yellow five-story apartment building to meet her with her brother close behind.

It seemed to Eva Aaron must have grown a couple of inches since the beginning of summer when she’d seen him last. If he kept going at this rate, he’d be up to her shoulders by his next birthday.

That is, if he made it to his next birthday.

She only hoped she could get him out of Italy before Alexei or his uncle found them.

Eva fell to her knees on the sidewalk to accept her son’s hug. He wrapped his long gangly arms around her neck.

“Oh, sweetness, sweetness,” she said. “I missed you so much.”

“What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to fly back to Texas next weekend.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too,” her brother said, appearing behind Aaron.

Eva threw her brother an apologetic look over Aaron’s shoulder. “Sorry, it was a last-minute decision to come to Italy. I would have called but I only had time to look up your address in the airport before flying out here.”

Steve looked more than a little suspicious. “Well, you got here at the right time. We were about to eat lunch. Aaron, go inside and tell your aunt to put another plate on the table for your mother.”

“Okay, Uncle Steve.” Aaron quickly pulled out of the hug and ran back inside the building to do Steven’s bidding, punching a code at the door to gain entrance. She was relieved that Steve’s building had some measure of security.

“Where’s your suitcase?” he asked when Aaron was out of earshot. “You didn’t leave it in the cab, did you?”

“No, I didn’t bring one. Just myself. I was hoping Maria could loan me a few things to wear.”

Steven frowned. “You came all the way to Italy with nothing but the clothes on your back and a passport?”

“Yes,” Eva said. “Like I said, it was a last-minute decision.”

“Mmm-hmm. Does Dad know about this last-minute trip?”

She gave him a tight smile. “Not yet.”

He shook his head. “Little sister, you always seem to find new ways to get him angry with you.”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Because everything I do is designed to upset Daddy. Thank you for reminding me, my perfect big brother.”

“I’m not trying to remind you of anything!” he snapped right back. “And don’t pull that crap with me. You’re the one who showed up out of the blue.”

Eva laid a placating hand on her brother’s arm before he could go any further. “You’re right. I was out of line. It was a long flight, and I’m really tired and freaked out.”

“What’s going on, Eva? First, Dad tells me something about how Aaron’s dad is back in the picture and threatening to ruin the town. And now you’re in Italy talking about how you ‘just decided’ to take a trip.”

“I’ll explain everything later. Right now, I need to help Aaron get his bags packed and we need you to get us some fake IDs.”

“Fake IDs? What?” Steve grasped her arm, serious alarm etched across his face. “Eva, you need to tell me what’s going on right now.”

“That is precisely what I was about to say,” came a voice from behind them.

Eva turned and clapped a hand over her mouth. Standing on her brother’s front lawn in a black business suit, over five thousand miles from South Padre Island, was her ex-boyfriend, and the father of her child.

“Where is my son, Eva?” he said, his body positively vibrating with barely held rage. “Take me to him. Now.”