Page 151 of Sinful Blaze

What else could I possibly need?

57

DAPHNE

On the way to the restaurant after a quick pit stop at the cell phone store, I send out texts to give the important people my new number. Hazel, Mel, Jameson, Pasha. I download an app that lets me spin up a secondary VoIP number and I give that one to Todd and Keith, because I’ll be damned if they farm my shit out to Conrad and Brittany again.

I hardly trust them to pay me these days. They’ve been so jumpy, so easily startled, like they’re constantly hovering over something top secret.

I consider extending an olive branch to my parents—but the thing is, one too many olive branches given away makes a tree bare.

So on second thought, forget that.

When we arrive at Chez Moliere, Lev helps me out of the car and holds the restaurant door open for me. It looks like I’m the first one here—aside from the birthday lady herself.

Asya beams at me and sweeps across the room to wrap me up in her warm embrace. “Look at you! So radiant!” She gushes and examines me all at once. “How are you feeling? Are you sleeping well? Is my son being supportive?”

I can’t help but blush under her care. Isn’t this what a mother is supposed to be like? “I’m fine. The nausea is gone, thank goodness. Baby is kicking my ribs and giving me acid reflux, but only when I don’t give her what she wants.”

Asya rests her hands on either side of my rounded tummy and coos. “Well, that would be my son’s influence, no doubt. Always so demanding, especially when he doesn’t get what he wants.”

Tell me about it.

“You seem tired, though,” she adds. “You’re sure you’re sleeping well?”

I nod. “I am, really. I think it’s just stress. I get my eight hours of sleep every night, or darn near, but then I have to go to work and deal with a pair of bosses who haven’t exactly left the 1950s.” I let her guide me to a long banquet table and sit in the chair she pulls out for me. “It’s been worse since they found out I’m pregnant. I’m surprised I still have a job, to be honest.”

Asya sits down next to me and rests her hand over mine. “I know it’s a difficult time. The world is spinning out of control while you’re focused on bringing new life into the chaos. I know! I was there!”

“And you did it three times. I am in awe.”

“Each was harder than the last. Kostya, my late husband, was not a family man. Once he had his heir, everyone else I birthed was just spare parts to him.”

Oh, God. “That’s horrible.”

She tilts her head to one side. “You want to know how I pulled through?” Asya flicks her eyes to where a line of guards stands along one wall. “The Family. The Bratva.”

I follow her gaze. “I know they’re hired to protect us, but?—”

“They are paid as compensation for their time, yes. But no one is ‘hired’ in the traditional sense. These are all people who believe in us as much as we believe in them. Loyalists to our family and to the brotherhood. Most of them are born into this life, and this family. So when they see the mother of their future leader struggling, they will not hesitate to step in and help.”

I turn to look at her. “Is that how you survived?”

It takes a moment to realize what I just blurted out.

Shit.

A shadow passes over Asya’s face. She blinks, and it’s gone. In its place is a softer, more nostalgic smile. “For the most part, yes. Kostya may have been a despicable man, but the world is filled with good ones.” Her smile suddenly brightens and her gaze focuses once more on me. “Which is a huge difference for you, my darling. You have a good man with a good head on his shoulders. You can tell by how loyal his people are.”

“That I can. You raised a good man.”

“And your parents raised a good woman.”

I wince. “I’m not sure how much credit should be given to them. We’re basically… estranged.”

Asya rubs my arm and kisses my cheek. “Then their loss is my gain, no? Besides, adversity forges us in the fire. My granddaughter needs a strong mother, and I think she has the best one.”

We’re interrupted by a sudden rush of relatives arriving all at once, from Sofiya and Makari to cousins and siblings of Asya’s I’ve never met before. Each of them exclaims their happy surprise to finally meet me, and not a single person allows me to stand to greet them.

---