Page 70 of Wicked Refusal

“I promise I’m okay.” I squeeze her hand, remembering Yulian’s words from this morning.Don’t say sorry—say thank you.“I’m really glad you’re better now.”

“You’re the weirdest nurse I’ve ever met, you know that? Treating assassins, crying at their sob stories.”

“Then you’ll love my boss, Gwen. She hasn’t shed a tear since 1954.”

Nikita looks slightly appalled at the prospect.

I compose myself and take a deep breath. “Where were we again?”

“I think we pipelined into this whole thing from the topic of difficult sisters.”

“Right. That.”

“Take it from me,” says Nikita. “Ginny’s making a play for alpha now. Don’t let her win it. There can only be one alpha sister.”

It sounds like she’s speaking from experience. For the first time, I realize I don’t actually know anything about Kira. Just that she was important to a lot of people and died an unfair death. “Were you the alpha in your family?”

“Fuck, no.” Nikita laughs. “If there’s one thing Kira was born for, it was to rule. No wonder Desya thought she was going to piss all over his territory.” She takes a deep sigh. “I wish he’d taken the time to know her better. Then, he’d have realized she was just as trapped under her crown as the rest of us.”

I open my mouth to ask what she means, but then?—

“Mommy!”

A grin streaks across my lips despite the heaviness of our conversation. Ever since this morning, all I’ve wanted to do was bury my nose into Eli’s head of curls and inhale that sweet Cheez-It scent. “Hey there, little guy. Miss me?”

He careens into my knees and hugs me tight. “We made macaroni necklaces today!” He pulls out a colorful piece of handmade pasta jewelry, painted in shades of blue and indigo. “Do you like it?”

I pick it up and pretend to inspect it under the sun. “Oh, my. Are these real sapphires?”

“No!” Eli giggles. “It’s paint.”

“Paint!” I gasp. “That makes it even more precious. Can I wear it?”

“Yes. That one’s yours.” He pulls out another one, this time in shades of green. “This is for Nikita.”

Nikita’s eyes go wide. “For me?”

“Yes. They said to make one for our mommies and sisters, but I don’t have any sisters. Do you like it?” He holds it up, all hopeful-like. “It’s green, like your eyes. And Mommy’s is blue, like hers.”

Nikita picks it up gingerly. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s the one with a bad case of watery eyes syndrome all of the sudden. “I love it,” she whispers, then puts it around her neck.

I do the same and flash a pose next to Nikita. “How do we look?”

“Kickbutt,” Eli declares. “When do we see Aunt Kallie? I have a red one for her.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it. What do you say we go give it to her right n?—”

My breath stops.

Nikita sees him a split second after I do. Her hand flies to her belt, where I suspect she keeps her gun.

Eli looks at me, puzzled. “Mommy?”

Then he sees him, too.

“Hey, champ. Ready to go back home with me?”

Brad.