Page 39 of Gilded Caresses

Since the night we lost Axsel, we’ve stayed together. First, it was my place across town. A large spread with ample gardens. Then at Gregor’s place four floors down in this high-rise. And now here so we can take turns watching over Elyah’s father.

We keep each other sane when the shadows reach out to claw us deeper into their territory.

Elyah shrugs his shoulders in silence like this is a nightly occurrence because it nearly is.

“Don’t worry about it. I haven’t gone to bed. Gregor hasn’t slept all night either. He keeps going on about making this place babyproof.” Elyah pinches the bridge of his nose. “I don’t think he understands we have nine months to prepare and that’sifshe’s pregnant. The man is a fucking case of positivity I can’t handle.”

“You don’t think she’s carrying our child?”

“I think when we collect her, we make sure. Simple as that.”

He closes the door when my phone goes off. I fumble for it and see Sapphire’s sweet face.

I look up ready to call him back in, but maybe in a minute. I want a little one-on-one time with our soon-to-be baby momma.

“Lev, is that you?”

Her voice comes across as sleepy and causes my heart to jack into overdrive and my dick to stir to life. Fuck her voice is sexy. I haven’t cared for another human being besides my brothers in a long damn time.

The three of us haven’t spoken with Sapphire since we left her at her apartment with the instructions of being ready in three weeks. Elyah thinks she can use the space, but I think too much space allows regret to move in.

Hmm. Dread drops in my gut. Call it intuition or life experience, but I have a feeling this call isn’t for an early pickup from her place.

“Krasotka.Everything okay?” Her sweet face fills the screen. Small shafts of light shoot in from the curtains at her back. When she moves slightly, hints of the room she is in peek throughrevealing nothing out of the ordinary. No danger. But her eyes are wide in fear.

“Sapphire,” I state firmly. “Is everything okay? Or did you just miss us,malyshka?” The use of terms of endearment calms her so I use them liberally. She might not know what the words mean but she visually relaxes a few degrees.

Her hand darts into her hair and she tugs on the roots. “What have we done, Lev? I can’t find it in me to tell my cousin I am leaving.”

I hate being right. Fucking Elyah. The hardheaded man never wants to listen. We should have taken her that night and to hell with letting her get her affairs in order. Nothing she couldn’t do from here.

Blunt teeth press into the pillowy flesh of her lower lips again and I immediately want to pull her to me for a taste. One more week and I can do just that.

“Fuck Harlon and his friends. Tell him or not. I don’t care. It doesn’t change two facts, beautiful.”

“And what are those? Wait, I know.” She holds up two fingers for me to see in the low light of the morning. “I’m dead,” she says sarcastically. “And you three are dead. Even if my cousin doesn’t act on my betrayal, others can’t wait to find a reason to take down the family and I just handed it to them. Harlon and the men are already fighting to keep people in line. I think I’ve royally screwed up.”

Those pretty blue eyes are on me as she speaks. So bright with worry. Fuck she’s killing me. Seeing the pain in her eyes makes me want to burn this city down to get to her.

“Do you have regrets?” Some self-loathing part of me needs to hear the exact words. Invisible nails claw into my pulsing heart. For the first time in my life I want something solid with a woman. The night at The Society was the first in two years I didn’t wake in cold sweats. As much as I crave her, I alsoneedSapphire in my life.

She gets up and moves around doing exactly what I do when I am bothered by something and the solution isn’t obvious. Pacing. One pass and then the other. I let her gather her thoughts before speaking.

“Malyshka.Answer me.”

I hear the clink of a lock falling into place, and soft footfalls on the carpet. The rustling of cloth and then silence.

“Are you in your room?”

“I just locked the door like I have something to hide from in my own home, Lev.”

“I thought you lived alone.”

“That’s the problem. I do.”

I give a low chuckle.

“Everyone has dirty secrets, beautiful. We might as well add another one to the pot. Lay down on your bed for me.”

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