Page 10 of Scarlet Sins (Yegorov Bratva #2)

Chapter Eight

DEMYAN

“Hey,” I say, walking into the hospital room, my stomach sinking. “How’s he doing?”

For a moment, I don’t think she’s going to answer. Sasha’s curled up on her lap and she’s holding Ilya’s hand.

She doesn’t turn.

“I’m not sure why you ordered me to stay here.”

“Ordered?”

Erin doesn’t respond to that.

“We were on our way to lunch when you called. Your men are here. They’ve been with me since we left the mansion.

Driving me and Sasha. I’m perfectly safe and not running, so this is overkill.

Besides, it’s not like I need you to tear yourself away from your very important plans. You’re going to know where I am.”

I ignore the dig and the fact her loaded words hit like tiny bombs.

“You’re better close to me.”

“Yes, I’m better being made to stay in the place where I was taken.”

I frown as I step in and walk to the other side of the bed. I don’t know what all the damn beeping machines are, but I look at my friend. He looks like he has more color. But when I asked, all they told me was stable but critical, whatever that means.

Not dead.

That’s what it means.

Still breathing.

A fighting chance.

I swallow. “How is he?”

Erin shrugs, and Sasha looks up. “Uncle Ils is sick, Dane.”

Shit. Dane. Dino, both names give me a little thrill and it hurts to see the worry on his little face. And on hers.

“Well, he’s clearly not conscious. But,” she says, “the doctors say there’s brain activity in all the right places—I’m paraphrasing—and that he should wake up, but they have no idea when. He was in a medically induced coma but now… he’ll wake when he’s ready.”

I cock my head. “How did you get that much info out of the doctors? They barely tell me a fucking thing. They’re scared of me, but I’m not family and there are rules. So…”

She blushes and smooths back Sasha’s hair. And he snuggles in against his mom. “I told them I was his sister. Easy enough as they know I came in with both of you, but he’s the one who stuck around. Like family.”

I could take her words two ways, the family thing as a dig for me not sticking around, or just surface value.

The latter is the one I choose. And I chuckle. “I like it when you’re devious.”

She offers me a slanted look and a frown. “I’m not the devious one, Demyan.”

Okay, so she’s still pissed off about the whole wedding thing, as in deeply to the bone pissed off.

I thought it might just be surface, something she wasn’t sure how to handle, something she knew, once she got her head around it, that I would.

Then again, her dig earlier should have told me how deep her anger might go.

Fuck everything.

But I keep my face unemotional. “The hospital will inform us when Ilya wakes.” I scoop up Sasha.

“No. I want Mama.”

He’s had his damn mother all fucking night and day.

I’ll carry him to the car. Besides, this is the fucking hospital that Niko’s thugs broke into.

I’ve got it secure. Added my own security all over the place and getting in is beyond difficult.

Deliveries are left with security. All visitors double- and sometimes triple-checked and vetted.

But no one’s after Ilya. It’s Erin and my son I worry about, so if someone gets in, I’m holding my son and she can stay right by my side.

“Get your things,” I say to Erin, ignoring the two-year-old’s protests. He’s two. She’s here. He isn’t getting his way in everything. And it’s just until we get to the car. He writhes, but I tighten my hold on him so he doesn’t get free and fall.

“I’m going to take Sasha to lunch.”

My schedule is backed up today and this is making it worse, but I need to show her I care. I need… I need to make sure she’s okay.

“So we’ll all go.”

Her jaw sets. “Alone.”

“Get your things,” I say. “We’re going home.”

“If I can’t go to lunch, then I’ll stay here.”

“No—”

“I’m quite happy to stay with Ilya,” she says stiffly as I move Sasha to one hip.

“He’s unconscious, so he’ll be here when we come in for a visit tomorrow. ”

“This is my fault.”

I frown. “What is?”

Her gaze flickers to me. “Ilya getting shot. Ilya here. I’m the reason for all of this.”

“Erin. Lyubimaya .” I take her hand. “You’re not responsible. At all. They were coming for you and he was going to get in front of a bullet to protect you. The only difference with you trying to sneak off is he got shot in the stairwell rather than your room. You got that?”

“Demyan, I…”

She sighs.

Then she gets up and follows me out of the hospital room.

“Mama.” I hand Sasha to her when we reached the car and the kid just snuggled right in as though he’d just been kept from her for months.

She straps him into his car seat and hands him the mangy goat which he cuddles. His eyes close and she kisses his cheek, climbing in next to him.

I wanted to put him in my personal car, but instead, I have Pavel drive that back and I climb into the SUV opposite her, looking at my son because I need to calm the wild thoughts in my head.

I need to settle the savage need to order her to bend to my will. It’s like Sasha, I guess. Patience, love, and all the things I’m not gifted in. That’s what I need to find in me to win her over.

A small child is easy, and his understanding of the world isn’t in nuance. Black-and-white. Right and wrong. Love and hate. Trust and fear. And to him, Mama is safety and love and home. I’m getting that way because I don’t hurt him, I feed him, and I saved him and brought his mama back to him.

Yes, I kept her from him at the beginning, but that’s something I learned doesn’t work. He loves her in a way that can’t be broken.

This, him asleep, happy, knowing he’s safe on an intrinsic level, is because she’s with him.

But Erin and me? If it was sex and attraction, if it was searing hot passion, that’s something I can do. We have that chemistry. She wants more. And… And I’m not good at the more.

I guess I can try.

“It’s sweet.”

“What is?” she asks.

“How Sasha wants to be around you so much.”

She shrugs. “I’m all he had for so long, and he just had a big scare.”

“No,” I say. “It’s more than that. Your bond with him is amazing. He loves you with every fiber of his being.”

Erin smiles at me, and it’s genuine. It’s guarded, but real. “Demyan if… if you don’t think he cares for you, you’re wrong. He loves you just as much. And the more time you spend with him, the deeper the connection with Sasha will become.”

I release a shaky breath. “I hope so.” I run a hand over my face and lean forward. “I love him.”

“Anyone can see that. Your love for him isn’t the problem.”

“Fuck, Erin, I just feel so guilty about missing so much of his life. Even though I’m not to blame.”

She isn’t, either. I don’t think. Or maybe she is.

She could have tried harder, ignored the warnings of her brother and let me know.

What would she have done if I’d given her my real name or left that at the front desk?

Would she have— But what’s done is done and dwelling on it isn’t going to change it now.

Erin’s hands curl in her lap and something dark passes in her eyes. “He loves you. He’s a very loving little boy and you’re making such an impact in his life. I-I can’t undo the past. I just wonder what future there is for us to look to, Demyan.”

“He’s my son.” The words rip from me.

She shakes her head. “And you’ll be part of his life. I meant us.”

“There’s an us.”

My phone buzzes and I pull it out. Stefina’s name flashes. I go to shut it off as a text pops up and Erin reaches for the phone.

“I want to see what the other member of the us team has to say,” she says sarcastically. “You know. Your future wife.”

She takes the phone and as much as I want to stop her, that’d be worse. She looks at the text on the screen.

“Can’t wait ’til this wedding is official.” Her gaze flicks to me. “That’s your vacuous bride, not me.” She goes on. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to the wedding night, Demyan. I’ve heard the rumors of your talents in bed and how you know your way around a woman’s body…”

Erin thrusts the phone back at me. “Dot, dot, dot. Nice little lead-in, isn’t it? Are you looking forward to it, too?”

Fuck. I shove the offending phone in my pocket.

“Erin, there’s not going to be a wedding night.”

“Maybe you can give her a freebie.”

“Enough,” I snap. “There won’t be anything at all, no sex, no wedding night, no wedding. At least with me and Stefina.”

But she looks at our son and touches his chubby little cheek, then she just nods and looks out the window.

“Erin?”

She doesn’t answer .

“Don’t be childish, Erin.”

She continues to gaze out the window as if it’s the most interesting thing she’s seen.

“Erin, you’re going to have to get over this and talk to me.”

But she just doesn’t respond.

Frustration burns hot in my veins and it chokes in my throat. When we go through the security at the gates, even though it’s me, they now check, she still doesn’t look at me. And when we pull up, she unstraps Sasha, gathers him and his stuffed toy, and stomps into the mansion.

Shit. I start up the stairs after her when Magda appears and puts her hand on my arm. “Mr. Demyan, if you want her, leave her be for now. Alina is up there.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

She pulls herself up to her short height. “You didn’t see her face. If you want her, you listen to me and Miss Alina.”

I want to break things. Luckily, the meeting I’ve got is to do with a late payment, so maybe I can take out my frustrations there.

Without a word, I motion at my men and spin on my heel, heading out. At the door, I pause. I look at the guard there. “She is not to leave or this is your last day on earth. Got it.”

The man nods. “Yes, sir.”

I stay out later than I plan, drinks with allies, listening to talk, and laying plans and the beginnings of deals.

None of it’s an answer to the biggest issue I face. Marrying Stefina.

Sure, take out Sergio and that problem goes away, but a million others pop up. I’ll be untrustworthy, and that’s not what I want. Not what I can afford.

There’s taking out an enemy or someone in your way and then there’s killing the man to get out of a deal I made.

It’s worse than untrustworthy in the broader scheme. It means my word is nothing.

I need another way.

That means I may have to take the man out, a risky move as far as I can see. Just because I don’t trust him, the fact is I slid out of this once and went to him for help. Manipulated into that or not, he helped.

If I back out, kill him, or worse Stefina, I upset not just the ecosystem in place but I hurt myself and my operations.

There’s a way, I just haven’t thought of it.

I go upstairs when I get home and strip off my jacket and tie.

The bedroom’s not only untouched, it feels empty, like Erin hasn’t even stepped foot inside here.

I didn’t hear any voices downstairs, nor my son. But it’s adult dinnertime. He should be fed and getting ready for bed. I leave my room and go to his. The door opens and Alina steps out, glaring at me, pulling the door shut behind her.

“Out of my way, Angel.”

“No.”

I frown. “That’s my son in there, and?—”

“You’re not bugging Erin.” She grabs my arm and tucks her hand around it. “We can go have dinner, or?—”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Then you can watch me eat or we can have a drink, but you’re not upsetting her. She’s been through enough, don’t you think?”

I let Alina drag me down to my study, where she pours me a drink, choosing whiskey over vodka, and she pours one for herself, too .

Like magic, Olga appears with a platter of black bread, cheeses, and cold cuts, which she picks up. It tells me she was watching for me and decided to run interference.

“Ganging up on me?”

She puts her glass down. “My idea, not Erin’s. She’s been through enough. And this marriage is too much for her to understand right now.”

“I don’t want to marry that ridiculous woman.”

She sighs, slicing off some cheese to put on a thin slice of bread.

“We know how the mafia works. All the deals and the scheming and the way you have to take hits to get things done. Erin doesn’t.

All she knows is what’s happened to her.

And to Sasha. I get it. To save her, you made a deal. But it’s a lot.”

“Fuck.” I down my drink and pour another. “I’m going to find a way out of this. Somehow.”

Alina looks down. “I found out the hard way this life doesn’t let you go. Max wasn’t part of it but got killed, and Sasha got used as a pawn. Erin, too. She’ll come around. Show her how you feel and be patient.”

She stands and comes over to where I’m sprawled on the sofa, then she kisses my cheek. “Eat.”

When she’s gone, I just drink. I’m not fucking hungry.

Ilya will know what to do. I pull out of my phone, then throw it. Ilya can’t answer the fucking phone because he’s in the hospital. In critical condition.

How the hell did all this get so messed up?

I push my hand through my hair and down another drink. I need to fix this. And soon. Before I lose my mind.

Or worse.

Before I lose everything.