Page 24 of Knocked Up By the Russian

By the time they left, tension had eased from his shoulders. Amy wasn't smiling when they got back to the apartment, but there was a lightness to her that he hadn't seen in a while.

Chapter 11 - Amy

It was late when they finally arrived back at the apartment, and Amy stalled in the living room, eyes fixated on the setting sun outside the wall of glass windows.

"I was thinking of opening a bottle of wine," Ivan murmured behind her, and she heard his keys clink on the kitchen counter as he walked past. "Would you like to join me?"

Pursing her lips, Amy had to admit to herself there wasn't really anything else to do. They had six months ahead of them, she might as well get used to him being in her space every moment of every day.

"Sure," she conceded, leaving the view outside to watch her new husband. He grabbed a bottle of merlot from the wine cabinet, placing it on the counter before finding two delicate stemmed wine glasses.

"Your mother seems happy," he stated, red wine splashing into the glasses as he poured. He made quite the picture, dark hair mussed and the lines in his face relaxed for the first time in days. He looked up then, lips quirked. Her cheeks heated, and she hummed her acknowledgment as she looked away.

Her mother had been relaxed, and Amy hated to admit that it was once more because of the Nikolais and their dirty money.

Not even Zia had known about the debt Amy's father had left for them to pay, but the streak of bad luck that followed years after he'd left was what really made both Amy and her mother desperate. Ash had been a sickly baby, though he was perfectly healthy now, and hospital bills had added to the strain. The job Zia had gotten her couldn't have come at a better time. They'dbeen living month to month, just barely covering their expenses, when Amy had lost her job after the poisoning.

Her heart hurt just thinking of it now. Her mother had been forced to pick up more double shifts, and the twins had been through growth spurt after growth spurt. Amy didn't know what she'd have done if she hadn't been hired to work at Eclipse. They'd paid her more than she'd expected, though, and in the months following Amy had finally been able to afford more for herself and her family.

Moving closer to the office was essential, and so was getting her own space. Her apartment might've been a little downrun on the wrong side of town but it was hers all the same. Just like her car.

Her whole family had lived in her mother's little three-bedroom for the past decade, and more than one fight had started from a lack of privacy. Even Aaron and Adam, the twins, had to be separated before things got bloody.

Ivan handed her one of the wine glasses, snapping her from her thoughts. She followed him to the couch, sipping the dry blend slowly as she sat next to him.

"Why did you take me there?" she murmured, cocking her head to the side. "Don't get me wrong, I love helping them—but I thought... with the package and everything..." she trailed off, shrugging, unable to admit that she'd been expecting him to lock her up in the apartment while he tried to figure out what was going on with Adrian.

"You looked like you needed a break," Ivan answered, and while the words would've made sense coming from someone else, it didn't make a lick of sense coming from the control freak himself.

"I did—but why? I don't get it." Her brow furrowed, eyes catching on a folded-up wedding magazine near a bike magazine. Questions burned inside her head. So many things didn't make sense. She turned back to him, words spewing out before she could stop them. "Why go to such lengths? We don't even like each other. You've been a pain in my ass since you stumbled into Eclipse halfway through the working day."

God,she remembered it even now. His hair mussed and his eyes sleepy as he stumbled through, a cock-sure grin on his face. She'd thought Lev and Zia had lost their freaking minds making her work with the one brother known more for the girls hanging from his arms than anything else. The horror she'd felt that day, knowing she'd have to do her own work and his too.

He proved me wrong about that, though, didn't he?Her conscious whispered and she shook the strange thought away.

"You never take anything seriously," she continued, brows creasing further. Which was pretty fucking hilarious considering how much of a dictator he could be with her. The party boy persona hid so much. "So, why spend a week putting together a wedding when we're going to get divorced in a few months anyway? Why the car, and the house, and the fucking ring? Why do any of it?"

She turned her glare onto him, suspicious of his motives. None of it made any sense.

"Ivan?"

He placed his wine glass on the table, something indecipherable in his gaze when he turned back to look at her. "Mishka."

Amy blew out a frustrated breath, a rant building inside of her. "Can you just stop calling me that? I've told you a million times. Why don't you just lis..." Her words trailed off as heplaced a palm around her neck, his lips meeting hers in a soft kiss.

"What are you doing?" she whispered when he finally pulled away.

"Distracting you." He bent to pull her to him again, and her hands reached for his suit jacket—but not to push him away. The scent of oranges left her dizzy, and the taste of the wine on his breath left her drunk. How the hell was she supposed to think in those circumstances?

Warmth pooled in her belly as his free hand gripped her waist, pulling her into him.I should stop this—but the thought stopped right there as he deepened the kiss, tongue dancing with her own.

Sanity prevailed in the end, though. Hearing herself whimper, she finally pulled away. His breath caressed her forehead when she looked down.Bad idea!Her brain screamed and she couldn't help but agree.

"I think I should go to bed."

A sigh whispered across her skin as she pulled away. "Fine, Mishka. Have it your way."

Unable to meet his stare, she got up from the couch and left the room. Heat stirred in her belly when she caught him unbuttoning his shirt in her periphery.Don't you dare, she told herself. Going back would be a colossal mistake in the making.

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