Page 15 of Scarlet Sins (Yegorov Bratva #2)

Chapter Twelve

DEMYAN

Another morning, another fucking visit from Stefina who, I think, is deliberately failing to get the memo I don’t want a daily visit from her. It’s been nonstop.

Today was the tediousness about the cakes. She’s narrowed it down to ten and had the baker come with her, complete with samples of mini cakes that were decorated, as well as the samples of the cakes to try to work out which one.

Like I care about wedding cake.

Maybe, perhaps, if it was for me and Erin, but I can’t quite see Erin going to such trouble.

There’s a moment of stillness in me. I don’t give a shit about this crap, but with her, I’d like to have something she wants.

Erin doesn’t strike me as that kind of girl.

She doesn’t seem like the type to fuss over the perfect flavor combination, like salted caramel and dark chocolate or coconut and cream. Or…

What the hell would Erin want and why do I get the feeling it’s something she hasn’t thought about? Worse, it’s something she doesn’t think she deserves.

I’m not exactly sure where the thought comes from, but maybe because I’ve never seen Erin go out of her way to glam it up, and she’s never asked me for a thing.

Now I go still.

She’s never ever asked me for a material thing. Not a purse or shoes or cash.

Women do that, don’t they? They want things in exchange for putting out, in exchange for being pretty arm candy.

Heat burns my cheeks as I imagine what my sister would do if she caught a whiff of that line of thinking.

It’s just… in my world, Erin’s fresh and new and a breath of air I didn’t know I needed.

She’s exciting, yes. I get fucking hard when she smiles in a certain way.

Or when she’s naked or in my shirt. Her kisses set me on fire.

But she also gives me something else, something that isn’t for sale or that costs.

No, that’s not right. It costs. But it’s a payment of myself, because she’s offered me her.

Or she did.

My phone buzzes. “Fucking Stefina,” I mutter, looking at the screen.

Tomorrow afternoon we’re looking at ideas for you and your groomsmen. My father’s best?—

Nope. I toss the fucking thing on the desk.

Not finishing that. It makes my head pound, this never-ending planning.

“You’ve got a lot of time to work out how to get free of this,” I mutter as my head starts to pound.

I go down to the kitchen to get some water, but Magda thrusts a bottle at me and shoves me out.

There’s a pot simmering on the stove and groceries everywhere, so she’s prepping some meals. By the looks of some of the pasta shapes, there are going to be packages in the fridge and freezer for easy meals and snacks for Sasha .

She cooks daily, but the Sasha prep seems to give her pleasure. If he’s hungry, she can heat something up, or we can.

And that makes a spot just behind my ribs warm.

But the pounding in my head increases, so I unscrew the bottle and take a few sips before heading to the downstairs bathroom for some painkillers.

I pop a couple, washing them down with some mouthfuls of water, and then I stomp back up to my study.

There’s a lot of work and I miss sex and I miss Erin even more.

The house seems empty with my sister, Erin, and Sasha out on a playdate with Micah Herrod.

I’ve got a report on the kid and the kid’s parents, the in-laws, second cousins.

I know what the father does for a living and how many parking tickets both parents have gotten.

My son met a kid in the park and I’ve now vetted the kid and the family. And still… Pavel’s on that one with his handpicked crew.

Playdates. Fuck.

I rub my temples and open up my emails right as my phone buzzes again. I pick it up and my heart hammers as I see who it’s from.

The hospital.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Yegorov?”

“Yes? How’s Ilya?”

The air’s caught in my throat.

“He’s awake, so I thought you should know the good news.”

I hang up, pleased as fucking punch that something’s going my way. Fuck work. I head to the hospital and storm into Ilya’s room.

“Finally,” I say, “you decide to stop being lazy.”

“Yeah,” he says with a small grin, looking good for a guy who only recently was at fucking death’s door. “What can I say? I got bored.”

I dump the grapes on the side table. “Next time, don’t get shot. I need you.”

“Next time, I’ll just hand over your woman.” The steel in his voice makes me smile.

Ilya would lay down his life for Sasha and Erin and he almost did.

“Shit,” I mutter, “you scared me half to death. You almost died, Ilya.”

“Found out you can’t replace me, eh?” he says in Russian.

I switch, too. “Never, my friend. You’re family.”

“Finally, you see my worth. Can I have a raise?”

“Hell no,” I say, stealing a grape. “You’re family, family doesn’t get paid.”

“Asshole,” he says in English.

And I laugh.

“How’s Erin? Last I remember, they grabbed her.” Then he frowns. “And Sasha?”

“Fine, all fine. Home and safe and sound.”

“Good,” he says, “that’s good. And Alina? Is she okay?”

“She has ups and downs, but Sasha and Erin are good for her,” I say.

He frowns some more.

“Are you in pain?”

“Fuck yes, but I don’t like so much of these painkillers. They dull the mind. They made me sleep. Those and all the sedatives.”

“They had you in a medically induced coma.”

He sniffs. Then he goes back to Russian. “I knew you’d get Sasha, I told her that, but she was so beside herself, so worked up that she tried to escape to find him. That’s how it happened. They stormed the hospital and Erin was out of her room, under the guise of using a bathroom. Niko? ”

“Niko’s dead. He took Sasha as a decoy. You’re lucky you’re alive.”

“Tough as nails,” he says. “So, how did you find him? Niko has many hiding places. Some even I don’t know about.”

I squeeze my hand into a fist and start to pace. “I found him through Sergio.”

“Fuck, Demyan.”

“I know,” I hiss. “I had to make a deal. A real deal with him, one where he got my word on tape.”

“Are you an idiot?”

“Erin’s life is worth it.”

He sighs. “There must have been another way. He wants to share in your empire. And I assume this deal is that idiotic marriage you got out of once.”

“Yeah.”

“We kill him.”

“Everyone will know, Ilya. Because I’m pretty fucking sure he’ll have safety nets about that. I touch him. Fuck, I break this agreement, and there’ll be a war.”

He’s silent a long time. “We can survive a war. But we’ll lose standing. The important neutral players we deal with won’t trust us and that means surviving not thriving. We need something…”

“I know.” I swallow. “There’s a way I just don’t see it. And Stefina isn’t helping. And Erin doesn’t understand.”

“Do you blame her?”

Yes. No. I don’t know. “I understand her. There needs to be a way. And with all that, we need to at least attempt to appease Stefina if we get out of this. I don’t need to like her to know she’s her father’s pawn and doesn’t know it.”

“Maybe she does.”

“Maybe.” I pull up a chair and sit.

“Fuck, sounds complicated,” Ilya mutters.

“You’re not wrong,” I agree .

Ilya looks at me. “Give me some work to do.”

“You just had major surgery, and you were in a medically induced coma, then took your sweet time waking up.”

Ilya clicks his tongue. “Fuck that. This place is driving me insane,” he says, continuing in Russian. Then he says, “I’m off the heavy sedatives and pain meds, so I can work. Or give me a gun.”

“I’ll give you work.”

“Thank you,” he says. Ilya looks at me expectantly.

“I’m not sending you out on the streets. You’re hooked up.”

“Get me a computer and my phone.” I find his phone on the side table and hand it to him. Then I send a message from mine to Pavel to arrange the computer.

“Okay, find out what you can on Sergio. All the dirt, even the smallest speck.”

“Why?” He narrows his eyes.

“Because fucking Stefina won’t quit coming over every day to plan her gaudy wedding of the century.”

Actually, it’s not as gaudy as I thought it would be, but it’s big, way too big for my tastes, and too splashy.

“Doesn’t matter what I say, how much free rein I give her, she’s there. Every day.”

“Maybe she doesn’t get it,” Ilya says, “or she’s under orders to keep an eye on you.”

“Maybe.” That’s one thing I didn’t think about because what the fuck could she spy on. I don’t conduct business in front of my sister or Erin. I sure as fuck wouldn’t in front of Stefina. And my office is locked when I’m not in it. Especially now that she thinks my home is her second one.

“See if she’ll meet you at the penthouse,” Ilya says.

I note that down, but I’ll have to introduce that carefully or it’ll be seen as a slight. And fuck knows, Stefina sees everything as a slight .

“Demyan?” he asks. “Who’s footing it all?”

“Sergio.”

“Damn.”

“Isn’t that the traditional way? We know Sergio’s a traditional guy.”

“Yes, but he’ll put down every cent spent and owning you more.”

“He can think what he wants, but he doesn’t and he won’t. We’ll get out of this.”

“I’m on it,” he says, picking up the phone and getting to work.

I do the same. I’m texting one of the businesses I deal with about a payment pickup when my phone pings.

An appointment notification?

I open it, surprised to see the doctor, an OB-GYN Alina saw years ago when she wanted to go on birth control but was too afraid to ask our father.

She asked me instead, and while I didn’t ask why—I didn’t want to hear about my seventeen-year-old sister having sex with her seventeen-year-old idiotic boyfriend…

and I knew girls took the pill for reasons other than sex—I agreed to take her and act as her guardian.

I never took the doctor or her appointments off my phone. She hadn’t used the doctor in years, or if she had, she’d added it to Max’s phone. Though why not her own?

Maybe it’s one of those lady checkups they have. Or maybe… what if she’s pregnant?

“Something wrong?” Ilya looks at me.

“No, I’ll be back tomorrow. Pavel will drop off your computer, but don’t overdo it.”

“Yes. Sir.”

“Asshole.”

On the way to my car, I call Alina.

“Demyan? ”

“I just got an alert on my phone about a checkup with your OB-GYN. Is everything okay?”

There’s a telling beat of silence, then she stutters and finally pushes out what’s clearly a bullshit excuse. “Oh. Did it come to your phone?” She utters a forced laugh. “It’s just a routine checkup, that’s all.”

Thing is, Alina can’t fucking lie to save her own life, especially to me. She’s like glass, completely see-through.

I don’t doubt she’s going in for a visit, I wouldn’t have gotten the alert, but there’s nothing routine. Nothing at all.

But I don’t call her out. “Okay, just thought I’d check.”

I hang up.

No, I’m not going to push it.

I’m going to follow her to the appointment in the morning, instead.

If I thought our talk the other night had changed things with Erin, it hasn’t.

She’s still distant, perhaps more so than usual. Worse, she’s doing her best to avoid me.

An easy job in this mansion. And with our son as an excuse.

I push Stefina off into the afternoon and tell her I have a business trip coming up. Then, sitting at my desk, I call in Alina.

She’s jittery, too. I bite back a sigh. “I’m thinking of doing something for Erin.”

That catches her attention. “Yes?”

“Would you mind watching Sasha for a weekend? I was thinking of taking her away for a surprise weekend away. Somewhere romantic. ”

“Yes!” She claps her hands, then shakes a finger at me. “Don’t screw it up.”

“I won’t,” I say with more hope than assurance.

When she goes, I find the perfect spot and book it.

Then I go searching for Erin.

She’s not with Sasha, who’s with Olga downstairs, and she’s not in our room. A place she’s been spending less time in than I like. As in not sleeping there.

I find her in her room, curled on the bed, looking pale. I cross to her and brush her hair from her face and she stirs. “Hey, Lyubimaya ,” I say softly, “it’s me.”

She sits up. “I fell asleep.”

“I wanted to let you know that Ilya’s awake and doing well.”

A bright smile lights up her face, bringing a little color with it. “Oh, I’m so happy. Thank you. He’s like family, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

I start to leave, knowing I need to give her some space. But I stop. “This weekend, we’re going away. I booked us a place.”

“Where? Is it child friendly?”

“Lake Geneva.”

“In Wisconsin?”

“It’s gorgeous.” I pause. “And it’s just for us. Sasha’s staying here with Alina.”

Her face falls. “Oh, I… I don’t know about being apart from him.” Then she bites her lip. “But I guess some time away will do us both some good.”

“He loves Alina.” I smile. “And she loves him. It’ll be good for everyone.”

She breathes out in a rush. “Okay.” This time I go to leave, but she calls out. “Demyan?”

“Yeah? ”

“Tomorrow morning, c-can you watch Sasha? If you’re not with Stefina.”

“I’m not.”

She nods. “I have plans with Alina, and they’d be better if he stays here; h-he gets bored shopping.”

“I’d love to. You know I love spending time with our son. I’ll see you for dinner?”

“Maybe. I had a late lunch,” she says.

I keep my face neutral as I go, but fuck, are they shopping after Alina’s appointment, or is the shopping a ruse for this OB-GYN appointment?

Tomorrow, I’m finding out.