Page 103 of Born into Sin

“Yeah, laugh it up,” he hollers out at me. “Just wait until you’re all healed, sweetheart. I wonder how many handprints I can leave on your ass.”

I don’t have a smartass comeback for that one, and he’s still smiling about it when he comes back with a warm washcloth in his hands.

“Spread those pretty thighs for me, principessa.”

I do as he says, sighing when the warmth of the cloth hits my tender sex. “Thank you.”

He leans down and kisses me. “I will always make your pussy sore, sweetheart, but I promise I’ll always take care of you afterwards. Now be a good girl and rest while I go get you some food and some more ice for your ribs.”

I’m too tired to move, so I just nod and close my eyes, drifting off to sleep before he’s even come back. He wakes me and then insists on feeding me while I keep the bag of ice on my ribs. When I can’t keep my eyes open a second longer, he gets in bed next to me, wrapping me in his arms while I drift off to sleep again.

The next morning after he’s helped me shower and dress and iced my ribs again, he smiles and kisses me before saying, “I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh yeah?”

He laughs when I wiggle my brows at him because we both know I’m way too sore from last night to do anything right now.

“Not that kind of a surprise, sweetheart, but I do love your enthusiasm.”

I watch him walk to the door, and when he opens it, Svetlana comes running in. Ignoring the “Careful,” that Dominic yells at her, she jumps on the bed and then pulls me in for a surprisingly gentle hug.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” she whispers into my hair.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I don’t ever want to go through anything like that again.”

She pulls back and runs her eyes over my bruised face. “That bastard,” she hisses, but then her eyes soften when she looks at my stomach. “I can’t believe you’re pregnant.” She grabs my hand and gawks at the diamond on my finger. “And getting married.”

With a laugh, she looks over to where Dominic is still hovering near the door, watching to make sure I’m okay.

“I bet you’re not so mad about us sneaking into your club now, are you?”

He laughs and shakes his head. “I’m still pissed about you two putting yourselves in danger. I would’ve ended up with Natalya no matter what, so sneaking out wasn’t necessary.”

Svetlana huffs out a breath and waves off his comment. “Potayto, potahto.”

“It’s scary how much you’re like your dad,” he tells her. Then looking at me, he smiles and says, “I’ll leave you two alone so you can visit.” He walks over so he can kiss me, and then he can’t help but fuss with my blankets and make sure everything is to his liking. “I’ll have some food sent up.”

“Thanks.” I smile up at him as he gives me a wink and then starts to walk away.

As soon as the door is shut, Svetlana laughs. “Wow, that man is whipped.”

“So am I,” I tell her because it’s the truth. I’m just as head over heels for him as he is for me. “How’s everyone doing? My dad told me about Vitya. That was crazy, Sveta. You’re like a kick-ass hero.”

She sighs and lays down next to me, turning her head so we can still see each other. Her honey-brown eyes aren’t as vibrant as they usually are. She’s still the same best friend I remember, but there’s a sadness hanging on her that wasn’t there before.

“I was terrified,” she admits in a whisper. “I woke up and went looking for you, and then I saw him lying there, and there was so much blood, Nat. I didn’t know what to do, and all I could think was that you were lying somewhere nearby, bleeding out just like he was.”

I grab her hand, squeezing it in mine when she looks like she’s about to cry. Svetlana is not a crier. She cracks jokes, she deflects, she will do just about anything in order to not cry, so seeing her eyes turn glassy tells me everything I need to know.

“I’m so sorry,” I tell her. “When Andrik grabbed me, he told me if I fought him, then he would start killing everyone I love. I couldn’t risk it. I saw Vitya, but I thought he was already dead.”

“He looked it,” she says, giving me a half-smile. “As soon as I felt his pulse, I knew I had to try and save him, even if he was kind of a big, silent dick to us.”

I let out a soft laugh and keep squeezing her hand as she continues.

“Thank god, Pyotr was there. The guy is like a walking encyclopedia of everyone’s blood type and health history. We were a match, so I insisted he start a transfusion.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “I honestly didn’t even know that shit was possible. I stayed up late with Val one night, and he was watching some war movie where they did a transfusion on the battlefield. Pyotr tried to talk me out of it, tried to tell me it wouldn’t do any good, that Vitya was too far gone, but I told him he’d better get that damn needle in my vein or I was going to start poking around on my own. I guess he knew how pissed my dad would be if I returned with a mutilated arm, so he finally gave in and connected us.”

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