Page 64 of Toxic Temptation (Krayev Bratva #1)

KOVAN

“Luka!” I call out. “Luka, it’s okay. You’re safe. It’s me. It’s Uncle Kovan.”

My nephew thrashes against his bedsheets, trapped in whatever hell his eight-year-old mind has conjured. His legs kick and churn, fighting invisible demons with every ounce of spirit he has in him.

“No…!” he whimpers, eyes closed, chest heaving. “Please no… Leave me alone…”

I grab his shoulders and shake gently. Finally, his eyes snap open. The nightmare dissolves as reality crashes back in. Sweat beads across his forehead.

“Uncle Kovan?” he says in a sleepy, terrified voice. “Wh… what…”

“Just a bad dream, malysh . That’s all it was.”

He launches himself into my chest. His small body is trembling so violently I feel my own heart skip.

“Are you okay?” I ask after his breathing has calmed down. “What happened in the dream?”

“Nothing,” he mumbles against my shirt. “It was nothing.”

I consider pressing the issue, then decide to let it rest. “Alright. I’m here now. Everything’s okay. Every single thing is okay.”

“Is it?” His head jerks up, eyes huge and desperate. “The social worker lady is still coming back. She told me yesterday she hasn’t decided yet. What if she makes me go back to Mama?”

I have to close my eyes in the face of the wave of pain and fury that that simple question stirs up in me. When I open them again, he’s watching. Waiting. “You get a say in this, Luka. It’s your life.”

“I don’t want to live with Mama again,” he says, face downcast. “She’s mean. And she makes me sad all the time. And I can never talk about Papa when she’s around because it makes her angry.”

I pull him closer. His bird-thin shoulders fit perfectly under my arm. I wonder idly: Was I made for him or was he made for me? Vitalii would’ve known. Vitalii would’ve been able to see the answer in the stars.

But Vitalii isn’t here anymore to tell me.

“Don’t worry. I’m doing everything I can to make sure you stay here with me.”

“With you and Vesper,” he corrects, his fingers curling into my sleeve. “Can she…” He looks up at me shyly. “Can she come put me back to sleep?”

I shudder. “Vesper’s sleeping. You’ll see her tomorrow.”

“I want her now.”

It’d be easy. She’s twenty feet away, one thin wall between us. All I’d have to do is walk across the hall and wake her. She’d come running without complaint. She’d hold Luka until his breathing evened out. She’d probably fall asleep right here beside him.

The image is so perfect it makes my chest ache.

Which is exactly why I can’t let it happen.

I’ve been so focused on winning custody that I forgot to consider the collateral damage. Luka is already too attached to Vesper. Hell, so am I.

And as Krayev men, we cannot afford attachments. They’re far too dangerous.

So I need to get my head back in the game. Remember why I’m doing this. Remember that Vesper was never supposed to be permanent.

She can’t be.

I ignore his request and start humming the Russian lullabies my father used to sing. I hold him until he finally forgets about Vesper, until sleep claims him again.

Unfortunately, forgetting isn’t so easy for me.

“We thought we’d take a walk around the garden,” Vesper says, tossing one of Luka’s rubber balls into the air and catching it. “Want to join us?”

“I’m busy.” I don’t look up from my phone.

Waylen’s head snaps toward me. His shoulders tense in that protective-older-brother way that happens whenever I so much as breathe wrong in Vesper’s direction.

“Fine,” says Vesper. “Suit yourself.”

The moment she and Luka disappear outside, Waylen starts shoving his teaching materials into a folder. Each jerky movement screams his disapproval.

I set down my phone with a sigh. “Something you want to say, Waylen?”

“You’re a fucking piece of work.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve been cold to Vesper all morning. She’s trying to help, and you’re treating her like shit.”

“I have a lot going on right now?—”

“I don’t give a fuck what you have going on.” He abandons any pretense of organizing and faces me head-on. “You dragged my sister into your mess. The least you can do is be civil.”

“Trust me.” I stand, meeting his glare. “It’s better this way.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Waylen lets out a harsh laugh, his eyes narrowing.

“Jesus Christ. You have feelings for her, don’t you?

That’s why you’re playing these stupid fucking mind games.

Because, for all your big, bad talk and your big, bad walk, you don’t even know how to say three little words.

Here, I’ll help; repeat after me: ‘I like you.’ That’s not so hard, is it? ”

Every muscle in my body coils up. Not that I can hit Waylen, but fuck, sometimes, I’d love to do exactly that. “This conversation is over.”

He steps into my path, blocking my escape. “My sister isn’t some disposable toy you can play with when convenient. She’s brilliant and kind and funny as hell. But she’s also vulnerable. Too trusting for her own good. If you think you can just?—”

“I’m not playing with her,” I snarl, jabbing my finger into his chest. “The last thing I want is to hurt her.”

Waylen goes quiet, studying my face. “So what’s the plan? Be an asshole until your feelings disappear? Treat her like garbage so it’s easier to walk away?”

“You realize I’m your boss, right?”

“Fire me then.” He shrugs. “I’m sure Luka will have opinions about that.”

“Fuck you.” I push past him and lumber toward the bar cart in the corner.

The whiskey burns going down, but it doesn’t erase Waylen’s accusing stare when I turn back around.

“Want my advice?” he asks.

“No.”

“Too bad. You’re getting it anyway.” He crosses his arms. “If you do nothing, Vesper will eventually leave. She’ll go back to her ninety-hour weeks and her empty apartment. And because she’s beautiful and amazing, she’ll meet someone else. Some nice, boring guy who’ll treat her right.”

“Good,” I lie.

“Is it? Because once you let her go, there’s no taking it back. So ask yourself this: Can you handle watching her marry someone else? Having another man’s kids? Growing old with him while you’re still jerking off to memories of one night together?”

The images ricochet into my brain before I can stop them.

Vesper in white, walking toward another man.

Vesper pregnant with someone else’s child.

Vesper in another man’s arms while I rot away alone.

My hands clench into fists.

“Yeah.” Waylen nods when he notices. “That’s what I thought.”

I turn away from him and gaze out the window, where Vesper and Luka are throwing a ball back and forth on the lawn. “What exactly are you suggesting I do?”

“Make a choice. Either tell her straight that, when this custody thing ends, you’re done. Disappear from her life completely and let her find someone who deserves her.”

“And if I can’t do that?”

“Then your only other option is to tell her how you feel. Be her person. Keep her safe and make her happy. Stop being a coward and step the fuck up.”

I run a hand through my hair, suddenly exhausted. “I thought you hated me.”

“I do.”

“Then why push me toward your sister?”

Waylen’s scowl softens slightly. He looks older than his years, tired in a way that goes bone-deep.

“Because I know Vesper. She won’t be satisfied with ordinary.

She’s a surgeon—she craves adrenaline, challenge.

You’re strong enough to handle her career and her personality.

You’re also powerful enough to protect her.

” He pauses. “And if there’s a chance you actually care about her the way I think she cares about you…

then her happiness matters more than my personal feelings. ”

“Is this you giving me your blessing?”

His smile disappears. “Don’t push it, asshole.”

I can’t help but grin. “You work for me and you want me to marry your sister. Maybe you like me more than you admit.”

“Nobody said anything about marriage,” he snaps. “I’m just calling it like I see it.” He rubs his face. Then he adds, “Just don’t hurt her, okay? That’s all I’m asking. That’s the only thing that matters to me.”

Yeah, I think to myself. Same.

But what if the damage is already done?