Page 104 of Born into Sin

“How’s Vitya doing?”

She huffs out a breath and rolls her eyes. “I went to visit him in the hospital, you know, after saving his life, and all he did was grunt at me. Was it a thank you for saving my life grunt or a get the hell out of my room grunt? Who the hell knows? He’s infuriating.”

I smile because men don’t frustrate Svetlana. She admires their beauty, wishes she could maybe date a few of them, but no one has ever caught her attention and weighed on her mind.

“Stop smiling,” she grumbles. “Tell me exactly how Uncle Lev took the news of you being knocked up and engaged.”

I’m saved from having to answer when there’s a soft knock at the door. When I holler that it’s okay to come in, one of the maids that I’ve only briefly met, comes in with a smile and leaves a huge tray of food on the bed for us. We thank her and as soon as she shuts the door, we dig into the brunch Lucia’s prepared for us.

“Start talking,” Svetlana reminds me before taking a big bite from the filled doughnut that Dominic taught me is called a bombolone.

While we eat our fill and then some, I tell Svetlana every single detail of everything that happened. By the time I’m done, I’m so stuffed I can barely move, and I’m ready for my afternoon nap. When I start to yawn, she shoves her empty plate aside and stretches out on the bed, groaning at how full she is.

“I need to get going before Dominic comes up and kicks my ass out. He made me promise a million things before he’d even let me up here, and one of them was that I’d get my butt moving if I saw you yawn. He also thought two visitors would be overwhelming.” She stops to playfully roll her eyes. “So everyone else will be visiting on a rotating schedule that I’m sure Dominic will be making and texting to everyone.”

“He’s just worried,” I say with a laugh.

“I know. It’s kind of cute, and I’ll be sure to tease him about it for the rest of our lives.”

“You’re going to be in my wedding, right? I need you up there with Yelena.”

“Of course.” Svetlana laughs. “God, Mia is going to kill you.”

“There’s no way she can’t be my maid of honor, so she’s going to just have to grit her teeth and wear a damn dress for one afternoon.”

“I’m so glad I’ll be there to witness it. Please tell me you’ve chosen pink as the color for your bridesmaid dresses.”

“Do you honestly think I could ever pick anything else?”

Svetlana laughs and claps her hands. “I’m going to take so many pictures.”

“She will truly love that.”

We both laugh at how uncomfortable my sister is going to be. We both love her to pieces, so it’s not out of meanness, and I’m sure she’ll get back at me when she gets married and forces me to wear black cargo pants and combat boots or whatever the hell else she decides on for her wedding. I’ll do it with a smile on my face, just like I know she’ll wear whatever I pick out for mine. My little sister is a lot of things, but she’d never ruin my special day by throwing a tantrum. She’s just not that kind of person.

Dominic must have some sort of sixth sense about me, because as soon as Svetlana and I hug and she stands up to leave, he’s walking in to check on us.

“Please don’t tell me you have hidden cameras in here,” she teases him. “I mean, it’s kind of kinky, but also really fucking creepy.”

“I don’t have hidden cameras in our bedroom, Sveta. I just know my fiancée must be getting tired, and it’s time for me to ice her ribs again.”

Svetlana laughs but pulls him in for a hug that I can tell surprises him. He smiles at me over her shoulder and returns her hug.

“Congratulations on the baby and the wedding. I knew you were a goner the second I saw you looking like you were going to have an aneurysm when you saw her on the dance floor.”

“Don’t remind me,” he groans. “I wanted to kill that little fucker who groped her.”

“I did break his nose,” I remind them.

“That you did, principessa. Sexiest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen.”

Svetlana laughs and gives me a wave before walking out. “Call me!”

“I will,” I promise her, sighing when Dominic lifts up the bag of ice he’s brought with him. “I’m tired of being sore.”

He moves the tray to the dresser and then walks over to me.

“Can we at least do it in the sunroom?”

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