Page 34 of Scarlet Promise (Yegorov Bratva #4)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

ILYA

I race toward the doors of the hospital, like the world’s crashing down.

Inside this building, it is.

Alina is here.

I failed her.

Failed to keep her safe, failed to keep her happy. Failed. I should have worked harder to fix things with Demyan.

Shoulda. Woulda. Coulda.

The mantra’s there. In my damned head.

I’m close to saying I should never have touched her, never have told her about the stipulations of the fucking will, and never, ever have said yes.

But I can’t.

Because I’m a selfish prick.

And, if I didn’t, there wouldn’t be a baby.

Erin’s texts and her voice storm inside my mind, within that swirl of blame and self-recriminations.

Erin claims she’s fine, that this is an overly cautious doctor acting as such because of who Demyan is, and they just want to keep an eye on her.

She also told me Albert’s fine. If I didn’t think they’d refuse to let Albert in here, and if I didn’t think Albert would panic, I’d have gone and got him or had him delivered.

But right now, I need eyes on my woman and the words in my heart out in the air for her.

I look at the front doors of the hospital. I hate this fucking place. Where my men were taken. Where I was shot. Where Erin got kidnapped.

And—

“Ilya.”

I stop. Stone-cold stop.

And turn.

Demyan’s outside, in the corner. I didn’t even look, and now… Fuck. I don’t want to fight him, but if he tries to stop me from seeing Alina, I’ll go through both him and an army.

“Out of my way,” I growl.

He holds out his hands. “Not in your way. But I am waiting for you.”

My heart squeezes so tight that I can’t breathe. Panic distills down into a laser so bright and painful that my feet stumble.

“Alina? How is she?”

“She’s fine. She’s good,” he says.

He turns and goes inside.

I follow but sag against the wall, not even trying to make it to the waiting room. I’m not about to wait.

“What happened? Why is she here?” I look at him, search his face. “Erin was too anxious to tell me she was okay rather than tell me what happened.”

Demyan’s eyes narrow a little. “And you were too panicked and concerned for my sister to bother asking more.”

“Something like that.”

A muscle in his jaw works. “We were arguing about you, and she stepped on one of Sasha’s toys on the stairs and went flying.”

“What—”

“I caught her.” He points to his head and gives a half-sheepish smile. “She’s going to be fine. Both her and the baby.”

“She told you about the pregnancy?”

Demyan nods. “She needs less stress, more rest, and yeah, she told me. I think you’ll make a good father.”

“You do?” The compliment comes out of nowhere, and it’s all I’ve really got.

Anything pithy’s gone on vacation.

Demyan sighs and motions to the waiting room chairs. It’s the private wing of the hospital, which Demyan basically owns. The waiting area is lush.

But I don’t want to sit.

I shake my head. “This is nice, Demyan, but I?—”

“Orders from Alina are clear. Neither of us is to appear until we’ve sorted our shit. And by that, I’m pretty fucking sure she means me.”

“So you think I’ll be a good father?” I ask, switching to Russian.

“I do.” He motions again, and I sit in one of the seats.

He takes another.

I wait.

“You know I love her like both a sister and my kid. Speaking of kids, Sasha should have picked up his toy, but if she hadn’t been in such a hurry to get away from me, it wouldn’t have happened. And if I didn’t move fast enough, or didn’t catch her, then…”

He shakes his head, his shoulders bunching.

“Then,” he continues, “she might have lost the baby. Or worse, I might have lost her.”

His words floor me.

He saved her, but we came close to losing her.

I’m fucking both hot and cold inside.

“It’s a big fucking wake-up call,” he mutters.

“Okay,” I say. “But what does that mean for us? Where do we go from here?”

Demyan shrugs. “I don’t know. Our relationship doesn’t just go back to how it was.”

That hurts.

But his words are a start.

I guess I get it. In his eyes, I took his sister?—

“There’s a lot to rebuild, I know. And I also know it’s going to take time,” Demyan says. “But I’m willing to put in the effort if you are.”

I could kick pride to the ground and sweep these things under the rug, but I know Demyan. He needs to show me he’s putting in the work. The effort.

It touches me. But the only person to assuage him is him.

So I just nod.

He breathes out in relief.

Then he looks at me. “I had an interesting talk with Pavel. He’s got a contact in Santo’s organization. Did you really tell Santo to leave me out of this takedown plan?”

I frown. “Of course I did.”

“It takes courage to stand up to someone like Santo,” he mutters. “Maybe you’re not a lost cause as a leader, after all.”

“It’s more I worked with him and pointed out you were not to be involved. Santo’s getting a good deal. But if you were collateral, he’d get nothing. So, you know. It works.” I stand. “I’d really like to see Alina now.”

Demyan nods, standing too. But as I take a step, he says, “There’s one more thing.”

“Which is?”

He keeps his face blank and emotionless, but I can see the cost of what he’s going to say in his eyes.

“Alina’s my baby sister. If you do anything to hurt her, I’ll make sure you pay.”

Oh da , that cost him. That was Demyan-speak for “welcome to the family.”

“Don’t worry,” I assure him. “If I ever hurt Alina, I’ll surrender on a sword myself.”

We walk down the hall and into the private room where my malyshka’s hooked up to machines, but she still looks like her gorgeous self. Her entire face lights up at the sight of us, her gaze lingering on me.

As I go to her, my phone buzzes, and I take her hand as I pull out the phone. “Fuck, it’s Santo.”

I answer.

“I need to see you now,” he says. “We have things to discuss.”

“Got it.” I hang up and kiss my girl, stroking her soft cheek. “Are you okay, malyshka ?”

“Are you?”

“Me? Good. And so is Albert. I have reports and…” I pull up a text that Erin sent and open the photo. “See?”

She takes my phone and squeals. “Albert and Sasha and Nadya!”

I lean in and kiss her, pushing her lips apart with my tongue so I can dance and flirt with hers for a too-brief moment.

She’s still sweet and moreish on my tongue, promising me all kinds of dirty things.

But I end the kiss before Demyan lynches me.

He’s staring as I straighten up, but all he does is nod at the phone in Alina’s hand. “Everything okay?”

“Not sure,” I say, frowning. “Santo wants to see me.”

“Tell me about the arrangement you have with Santo,” he says in Russian.

“His men are helping me out, and he’ll help with the takedown for his own reasons as much as my own,” I say. “He wants some things, so…”

“What does he get in exchange, Ilya?” he asks.

I swallow because he’s not going to like this at all.

Alina slips her hand into mine, holding my phone with the Albert picture in her other. She squeezes my fingers.

“Territory,” I say, finally. “Some of my business.”

“ Chtob tebe deti v’sup srali ,” Demyan curses.

Then he motions me outside the room. With a sigh, I let go of her hand and follow.

“Like hell he will,” Demyan says. “Listen, spend a few minutes with my sister, and then we’ll go and sort Santo out. Maybe get rid of Simonov at the same time.”

“How is that even possible?” I ask him.

Demyan smiles coldly. “You’ll see soon enough.”

I trust Demyan in this. And no matter what thoughts have flitted through my head, I know I always have.

He’s given me his blessing with Alina—as much as Demyan will out loud—and in Demyan style, I know we’re back on track.

But regardless, there’s still one big issue I need taken care of.

“And Melor?” I ask. “I need him taken out. I need him found. We’ve tracked down a burner, but we don’t know his location. I have access to his accounts?—”

“Then cut them off.”

“If we do that, we risk losing any way to track him if he’s gone underground.”

His smile grows slowly. “I’ve missed this. That thing that adds balance.”

“And I’ve missed your laser focus and masterful sledgehammer.”

We both look away.

“Go spend a few minutes with my sister. I’ll call my wife and get back in her good books…” This time, his smile is fast and private. “Erin might not look like she can handle more than a stiff breeze, but she’s formidable.”

“Like your sister.”

He eyes me. “Yes, but she’s of Yegorov blood. Erin is American.”

I pat his shoulder and grin as I walk back into the room to my woman.

She looks at me. “What’s so funny?”

“Your brother. He’s proud his American wife could give good Russian stock a run for its money.”

She giggles and takes my hand, kissing it. “It’s true.”

“I love you, malyshka ,” I say, coming in to kiss her deep.

Christ, I could lose myself in her and never need to breathe. She’s divine. I break the kiss but don’t straighten.

“I love you, Ilya.”

My heart swells to bursting.

“I wish I could climb in there with you,” I murmur, tracing the curve of her throat with my finger. “Are you sure you and the baby are okay?”

She rolls her eyes. “We’re fine, me and our dividing cells.”

“I bet it’s the cutest bunch of dividing cells on the planet.”

“Obviously,” she says.

I frame her face with my hands and drop kisses on her cheeks, her forehead, her chin, her lips. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier. Forgive me.”

“You can make up for it when we’re home. They’ll let me out tomorrow, and Albert and I are coming home to you, okay?”

I nod, hoping I can hold up the promise. If we don’t get this done and my place isn’t safe in all the ways it needs to be, then she’ll be back at Demyan’s.

But I’m not about to say that. “Okay.”

Now I’m even more determined to get this done.

With Demyan coming around to the new reality of our lives, I want nothing more than to wipe Melor off the face of the earth and take care of Simonov and perhaps his entire operation.

The sooner all that’s gone, the sooner I can focus on what’s important: Alina and our baby.

She glances at the door, and I do, too. Demyan is there, on his phone.

Alina looks back at me. “So you two worked things out? That wasn’t an act, right? It didn’t feel like an act.”

“Demyan promised me pain and death if I ever hurt you. So, no act, and things worked out.”

She shudders but smiles. “Thank goodness.”

“Demyan’s actually going to help me take care of a few things?—”

“With Santo?”

“With Santo’s help.” I kiss her again and straighten up, taking my phone from her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Hurry?”

“I will,” I promise.

And I hope it’s one I can keep.