Page 91 of Baby for the Bratva

My head is already spinning with the changes I need to make. It looks as though I have a lot of thinking to do on the way back home.

I place my hand gently on Stella’s belly, rubbing our beautiful creation. “I will do whatever it takes for you to be happy and health. Anything you need, just tell me and I’ll make sure you have it.”

She taps a finger against her lips. “There is something I’d like from you, actually.”

I stand up straight, ready to serve her in whatever way I can. “What is it?”

A smirk creeps onto her face, and her eyes are filled with laughter. “A would kill for a popsicle right now. Any flavor.”

42

Stella

I’m so thankful we don’t have to take the cruise ship home. A private plane feels so much better than a giant boat crammed full of tired travelers, even if the flight is long.

We’re safe up here in the air. There’s no risk of getting kidnapped or attacked by crazy people with knives and guns. All I have to do is close my eyes and sleep, and by the time I awaken, we should be back in the United States.

I’ve never been so happy to be going home. I’ve already texted my mom to tell her I’m coming over with a surprise, and she’s been blowing up my phone with questions. I’m sure the news is going to rock her world, but she’s been through a lot in life already. At this point, nothing is going to overwhelm her.

“We’re not telling her that you’re in the Bratva,” I say as Yuri tosses a couple of peanuts in his mouth in the seat beside mine.

He frowns, looking over at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Um, she’s going to know. Everybody assumes the worst when they see me.”

I shrug. “Tell her you’re a tattoo artist or something. Maybe a model. That’s believable.”

He laughs. “I’m far from pretty, darling.”

I snatch the packet of peanuts out of his hand. “You’re beautiful, Yuri.”

He grabs them back. “Not like you.”

I narrow my eyes at him, and he dumps a few peanuts into my hand. “There,” he says with a smirk. “That’s your portion. The doctor told you to eat healthy and drink lots of liquids.”

“Peanuts are healthy,” I reply, popping them into my mouth.

He shrugs. “Not with this much salt. These are super salted.”

“Let me see those,” I say, taking them from his hand again. I turn over the packet and read the ingredients. Sure enough, there’s enough salt for almost an entire day in these things. “Good god,” I mutter, handing them back to him. “That’s probably why they taste so good.”

“Most likely,” he replies, tossing a few more into his mouth.

“But let me have some more,” I say, immediately disregarding his warning about my health. I know he’s only saying that so he can hog all the snacks on the way to the United States.

We were in such a rush that we didn’t pack lunch, and there’s not much food on the plane. Yuri eats about three times as much as I do, so he’s acting like all the snacks belong to him.

Yuri drops a few more peanuts in my hand, but hands me the entire packet when I immediately toss them into my mouth. “Okay, you can finish them.”

“Hey, you’re not going to fight me for them?” I ask, holding up my fists with a playful pout.

“They only thing I’m going to do is take a nap,” he replies, reclining in his seat with his thick arms behind his head. He closes his eyes, pretending not to care as I scarf down the rest of his peanuts.

I bet he’d care if I was scarfing down another set of nuts…

While his eyes are closed and he’s pretending to sleep, I move my hand over his lap, hovering just an inch from the bulge in his pants. Even when he’s not erect, it’s big and obvious.

Nothing else is back here with us in the cabin. There’s a pilot and a few security guys, but they’re all in the front of the plane, leaving Yuri and me alone.

And even though my body is aching from the tumble I took from the car crash, there’s something else in me that’s aching even more. And that something can only be relieved by a large dose of my favorite vitamin.

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