Page 127 of Little Blue

Ilya doesn’t respond. Not a word of confirmation. Not a nod.

I look back to Nevaeh, and she gives me the confirmation I seek. “He did. I had an ex who became obsessed. He wouldn’t let me go and he hired a very bad man to change my mind about leaving him. That bad man turned out to be a serial killer who had been killing women in L.A. for years. Ilya caught him and—” Her eyes move to Ilya and back to me. “He stopped him. For good.”

Ilya pulls me closer into the warmth of his big body when I shiver. Then, with meaning, I say, “Good.”

Kane appears, bending to kiss Nevaeh on the top of her head as he murmurs, “Sophia is asleep.”

Nevaeh tips her head back to look up at him. I can see the love she holds for her husband as she says, “You’re the best father.”

Tara appears with a tray of drinks. Next to Kirill, Alexei claps big hands. “Now for the good stuff.”

Tara gives her husband a loving eyeroll as she sets the tray on the table in the massive living room. With Ilya’s arm around my waist, he guides me to a loveseat close to the fire. He hands me a cocktail that is sugary sweet and in the prettiest glass—the same that Kane hands Nevaeh—before settling back into the couch beside me. With one big palm settled on my thigh, he sips from a glass of pure vodka with the other.

Tara wrinkles her nose as she lifts her glass—a cocktail like mine and Nevaeh’s—in a gesture of ‘cheers’. “I’ll never understand how they drink it straight like they do.”

“Papa couldn’t handle you if you drank like him,” Kirill teases around a drink, settling into a massive chair. As big as the chair is, the man fills it. He looks like a dark God on his throne, and although I know he’s not the one heading the bratva, and should feel less scary than Ilya—there’s something about him that’s—well, scary.

“I handle her just fine.” Alexei booms.

Like he knows what he did, Kirill grins. It’s a dark grin that says he likes to stir for trouble.

Next to me, Ilya chuckles so low only I hear.

“Oh,” Tara leans back in her seat next to Alexei, her face a mask of womanly affront. “You think you handle me, do you?”

Alexei blunders for a moment, before ice blue eyes land on Kirill. He points a meaty finger at him. “You’re a little shit.”

“Not so little anymore.” Kane snickers.

Kirill smirks. Alexei shakes his head, but the grin he wears is proud. He’s proud of his sons. All of them. It’s clear to see in the brutal, yet loving way they’ve interacted these last two days.

I can’t help it; I duck my head and giggle into my glass. The room quiets, all eyes drifting to me. I instantly curse myself, fighting not to shrink into the couch.

For bravery, I take a big gulp. Whatever this is, it’s yummy. So, I take another.

Tara smiles wide. “I see you’re much happier now that you’ve decided to stop trying to escape.”

I give a flippant wave. “Oh, I’ll never stop running from him.”

Every. Single. Person. Tenses.

Beside me, I feel Ilya’s eyes on me like a thousand blades of ice. Slowly, he cocks his head in a question, darkness radiating off him in waves.

I can’t help it, I giggle again.

Ilya’s hand on my thigh tenses, as though he’s reminding me that he’d never allow me to do something like escape him.

My heart flutters, my breaths rushing faster. Twin flames heat my cheeks, coals burning in my chest as a fire rages in my core.

I wet my lips and say hotly, “I happen to like when he chases me.” I chance a peek at Ilya. My voice pitches low, husky with desire and affection. “More, I like when he catches me.”

“Delightful.” Tara sighs happily.

“Fuck me.” Kirill breathes. “On that note, I need to get home to my new—pet.” He shoots a glare at Ilya as he stands. “Little thing keeps trying to escape.”

Kane looks between his brothers curiously, his arm thrown around Nevaeh’s shoulders as she cradles her sleeping son. He asks, “Am I missing something?”

“Is she causing problems for you?” Ilya asks, and I feel the cool relief when his gaze slides away from me. “Would you like me to…” Ilya pauses, considering. “Rehome her?”

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