Page 27 of Scarlet Sins (Yegorov Bratva #2)

Chapter Twenty-Three

ERIN

Kara grins. “I for one can’t wait to see Sasha in those outfits. Which one for the wedding? My vote is the little blue tux!”

I shouldn’t have bought it, the color is azure and makes his blue eyes glow. And he’s so fucking adorable in it I almost lost my shit and cried about three rivers then and there. But he saved me by asking what we’re getting the baby to wear.

The girls just fell apart laughing.

“I’m not sure a tux is okay for a beach.”

“Tell Demyan I made you get it.” Alina nods at Sasha as we go to the next shop, one Kara picked, which has swimwear and lounge gear.

It’s a fun day and we seem to buy out half the stores on Chicago’s Gold Coast, with pretty dresses and even two outfits for the girls, who’ll be my bridesmaids. I let them choose and they color coordinate in a lavender of differing dress cuts that flatter them both.

“What are you going to get for your dress?” Kara asks, as Alina plays with Sasha .

I shrug. “Not sure. Just something casual. Maybe this place has a nice summery dress.”

They’re all designer, after all.

“No way. We’ll get some going out things here, and maybe for you and Demyan if you have a night out… or in… but you need a real wedding dress.”

“It’s the beach. I’ll know it when I see it.”

But Kara’s having none of that. She turns to Alina. “She wants a summer dress for the ceremony.”

“No way, Erin. Demyan will want you in a real dress. Come on, there are other places.”

With a sigh, I wait as she pays for the purchases and we head out, one of the guards taking the purchases to the car. There’s one with us constantly that I can see but I’m betting there are more, knowing Demyan.

But I’m not about to let that bother me. He’s not doing it to watch and make sure I don’t run. He’s doing it to protect me and his sister and Sasha. And Kara. Anyone with us, he’ll protect.

I don’t want some elaborate wedding dress and I push Sasha in his stroller, listening as the girls banter about the trip and the wedding. Kara travels but she seems to be looking forward to this like it’s something special. And Alina sounds just as excited.

We pass some fancy shops and I catch sight of a wedding dress shop, some wild and fairy-tale thing in the window, but what snags my attention is the other side of the window, sleek and sophisticated, and next to that a dress that’s simple and romantic.

“Do you want to go in here?”

Kara’s already half in the door and Alina stops, looking at it. “This is where I got my dress,” she says, hesitating, then she breathes in and takes the stroller and maneuvers it in.

Horror hits me and I rush in, too .

Oh God. She lost Max on their wedding day, and that was only a recent thing. She’s been doing so well with her grief I… I don’t even have an excuse for my faux pas.

Here I am, dragging her not just out to shop for wedding dresses for me, but at the same shop?

I hurry to her, hugging her. “Alina, I’m so insensitive. I didn’t think. I’m sorry. We can leave. There’s a nice little restaurant back up the road. I’ll just pick something up in the next few days. We’ve done enough.”

“Erin.” She eases out of the hug as Kara runs her gaze over us and then takes Sasha’s stroller to look at some jewelry, knowing sparkles will distract him.

“I should have thought, Alina.”

“Stop, please. Thank you for thinking of me,” the dark-haired beauty says, “but I want to do this. Max wouldn’t want me to stop living and he’d want to be part of this, so he is with me here. And I’m having fun.”

I throw my arms around her and hug her again. “Anytime you want to leave or it’s too much, we’re out of here.”

“And miss this?” She smiles, but I see a little sadness mixed in and maybe that’s okay, that’s how it has to be. “Besides, left alone, you’ll probably get some cheap sundress, and then we’ll all have to deal with my brother in some fancy-ass suit, ready to bite my head off.”

“Well, I don’t think he’ll be in a fancy suit,” I say, lying. It’s Demyan. He has fancy everything. “We’re eloping, remember?”

“I know, but he might be keeping it simple, but he wants it classy. Demyan is very detail oriented. I think you know that. If he gave me the unlimited card, he wants us to spend and make this memorable and you in your dream dress.”

I swallow hard. “I guess I’ll try some things on.”

Both Alina and Kara pick a pile of dresses and I drift to the simpler ones, picking some of them out .

I go and change. The first one earns wedding cake from Kara and Stefina-like from Alina. Which is fine by me. I don’t like it.

The next dress is too fussy for me. The two of them settle in, Sasha with a juice box and the girls have champagne. And not one of the dresses has a price tag on it, which scares me.

Personally, I don’t care what I wear. I’m happy that Demyan’s proving himself, and my feelings for him have been validated by the cancellation of the fake marriage plans with Stefina. For the first time it’s like our relationship’s equal.

But Alina’s right. Demyan wants me in something I think is perfect. And he is into detail. If I just grab anything, he might feel let down, and…

With the little tux, and if I find something perfect, then I think it’ll be the perfect start to our marriage, a real new beginning.

I look at the dresses in the big changing room and I sort through them, finally picking out some very simple ones, a sophisticated one and at the last minute, one that either Kara or Alina chose, calf-length, fitted but with lace.

I show them a few more and they select two to put aside. Then I try on the lace one.

And I know.

This is it.

I walk out and the girls stand.

“Mama!” Sasha says. “Pretty.”

The girls are gushing, and I stare at my reflection.

The gown fits tightly with a scoop neck and the satin ends mid-calf.

But the lace… It brushes my feet and near my throat with its intricate and delicate design.

It’s utterly gorgeous, managing to be romantic and simple and sophisticated, everything at once.

It’s tight and accentuates my still-flat tummy. And when Kara holds my hair up, it looks even better. Since the wedding’s next week, we don’t need to get it adjusted.

The dress is absolutely perfect. And it looks good even with my bare feet.

After I get changed, the dress is taken away and boxed up. And the girls are looking at beautiful combs in the display box.

They pick one that I’m not allowed to see, and that gets bought, too.

When we’re finished, Kara has to rush off to work and Alina, Sasha, and I spend the rest of the day noodling around. The day is perfect.

The next day, Sasha’s with Alina and Demyan and I head to the OB-GYN clinic. I didn’t see him all morning, but I’m guessing that’s part of the deal with marrying a man who heads his own empire, who runs part of Chicago.

He doesn’t say much as he drives us there, and when we pull up, instead of excitement lighting up his face, he seems distant, like his head is elsewhere.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing, just got a lot of work going on.”

I swallow. “You don’t need to come.” It’s the ultrasound, so I don’t want him to miss it, but we can always reschedule that since I’m also booked in for a checkup.

“And miss seeing my kid for the first time? No fucking way, Lyubimaya . I’m where I want to be.”

We go in and wait and my stomach is a knot of nerves. This is going to be my first ultrasound with this baby, and I’m nervous, excited. What if something’s wrong?

I’m called in and I have my checkup, with Demyan remaining outside. When he’s called in, Demyan enters calmly, almost like he’s reserved about it all.

Or something else.

I take his hand and draw him close as we wait for the technician and the doctor to return. “Demyan … is something wrong? Because it seems like something’s wrong.”

His pocket starts to buzz, but he just pulls out his phone and turns it off. “Everything is fine, like I told you.”

He squeezes my hand.

When the doctor and technician come in, they expose my stomach and the gel’s cold. Demyan’s eyes are fixed on the screen as the technician moves the wand to find the baby.

“There it is. See?” The doctor points out the tiny thing. “Heartbeat’s good, nice and fast, and where it should be at eight weeks.”

“Is… is everything else fine?” I ask.

“Everything looks great and your health’s perfect.”

When the doctor leaves, the technician smiles. “Would mommy and daddy like a picture?”

“Yes.” I look at Demyan, who’s still staring at the screen. “Thank you.”

When we get our picture printout, I’m left to clean the gel and I wait. The nerves grow as Demyan still looks reserved, his face unreadable.

He holds the picture, staring down.

“Demyan? You’re scaring me. Do… do you not want to do this?”

But he doesn’t seem to hear me. Then his mouth turns up. “It certainly feels real now that I’ve seen our baby on that screen and have this photo. How perfect is he?”

Oh hell, I’m going to cry. I blink fast. “It could be a girl.”

“I don’t give a fuck. It’s ours and I’ve seen him or her right from the beginning. The first picture.”

He kisses me long and hard .

Then he pulls out his wallet and carefully tucks the picture in.

Relief floods me.

Relief for the fact Demyan’s happy.

Relief the baby is healthy.

Relief I’m not doing this alone.

All through my pregnancy with Sasha, I was so worried. I didn’t know what to expect; I had to do it alone. Well, I had Kara, but I didn’t have the father, and it seemed okay, but with him now, I can see it wasn’t. What I wanted was him. Not just any man, but this one. And now… now he’s here.

This time, I’m looking forward to it all. With Demyan where he should be.

By my side.