Page 74 of Wicked Refusal

So she beat him up.Good. I hope she broke something.

I tilt Mia’s chin up, inspect her face. Then I pick up her hands, one by one, and look over her arms and wrists.

No fresh bruises.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. But Mia’s still shaking like a leaf—that means he did something. “Tell me what happened.”

“It was nothing, really?—”

“Mia.” I catch her gaze and hold it. “Don’t lie to me.”

She exhales a shaky breath. Suddenly, her eyes fill with tears. “He… he wanted Eli.”

As if on cue, Eli emerges from the hallway. “Yulian!” He throws himself at me and hugs my knees. “I was so scared.”

I put one hand on his head and another around Mia’s shoulders, tucking them both against me. “It’s okay,” I tell Eli. “I’m here now.”

“Please, don’t leave again.”

I’m not sure if he means for work or for good. When Mia and I broke up, he must have thought I’d abandoned him, too.

“I won’t,” I promise. “I’ll stay right here.”

I lean down to ruffle his hair. Eli’s eyes blink back tears. Then they settle on my chest. “What happened to your shirt?”

Shit.“It’s nothing,” I reassure him. “I just got dirty at work.” Not a lie—technically.

But Mia isn’t fooled. “Oh my God,” she blurts, pulling me up to see. “That’s—Yulian, you’re?—”

“In need of a change of clothes.” I send her a pointed look, which she understands.Let’s not worry Eli.“I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll take this little man to get ice cream,” Nikita offers. “You up for it, E-dog?”

“Can’t Mommy and Yulian come, too?”

“They have to get clean first.” She makes a silly motion like we’re both stinky, and Eli giggles. “Whatcha say we grab some pizza for dinner, too? And popcorn, and a movie?”

Finally, the temptation is too strong to resist. “Can I pick the movie?”

“Yes, but it can’t beSkyfall.”

He purses his lips. “Casino Royale?”

“The one with Mads Mikkelsen?” Nikita pretends to swoon. “How can Ieversay no?”

For the first time, I realize just how good she is with Eli. Or maybe she’s like this with all kids, who knows. In our line of work, families are a utopia. An impossible dream neither of us managed to make come true.

Until now.

Mia smiles down at Eli, wraps him up in his jacket, and kisses the top of his head. “Be good with Nik,” she says.

“Yes, Mommy.”

They file out while chatting about Bond villains. I spy something around Nikita’s neck—a macaroni necklace? Then I realize Mia had one, too, tucked into her shirt. Did Eli make them?

And did she put it away when Brad came, for fear he’d break it?

Anger pools low in my gut. Twenty years I’ve chased revenge against my family’s killers, thinking I’d never feel that kind of rage towards anybody else, but Bradley Baldwin is challenging that assumption with every breath he takes.