Page 50 of Defiled Innocence

Though, my own thoughts have already turned to the subject. I’m not an old man, but I’m not young either. Having my baby swell Amelia’s belly soon is in the forefront of my mind.

“Maybe Kost will find a woman soon and start a family,” Nikolai says with a straight face as he brings his drink to his lips.

“Kost?” Arman laughs. “He’d sooner cut off his left foot than settle down with one woman.”

“He enjoys his life the way it is,” I agree with a frown.

It wouldn’t hurt him to settle in one place for longer than a few months. But he’s always enjoyed the adventures that come with the work he does.

Uncle Igor raises a glass to me. “He’s never not found his mark, I’ll give him that. No man can hide from Konstantin.”

I glance at my watch then the door again. What are they doing in the kitchen? I should have asked the cook to stay instead of listening to Amelia about letting her have the night off.

“Then there’s Dmitri here, who hasn’t stopped looking at the door since we sat down.” Nikolai laughs. “Let your bride have time with the girls. She’s probably filling their heads with all the insane things you’ve done since she found out she had to marry you.”

“Don’t look so angry. Anya accused me of losing my mind at least once a day when we first got together.” Arman pushes up from his chair to refill his glass.

“That’s because you did, and there are days when you still do,” Anya says, sweeping into the room with Amelia and the other women right behind her.

Anya brings the tray with plated desserts to a nearby table and Amelia brings a tray carrying the coffee.

The carafe looks wobbly, so I get up to help her, not wanting her to spill the hot drink all over herself.

“I have it.” She frowns at me when I get to her side.

“It’s heavy.” I take the tray from her grasp and bring it to the table where Anya has put the dessert.

“It’s just coffee.” She shakes her head at me. “I can carry a pot of coffee.”

“That’s not the point,” Charlotte and Anya say in unison at the same time as I do.

I shoot them a heated glare, but they only grin back at me.

“Don’t look at my wife like that, Dmitri. Only I get to glare at her like that.” Nikolai picks up his wife’s hand.

It’s a facade, his anger toward me.

“Then do your damn job, cousin,” I shoot at him, only to be laughed at again.

“Don’t antagonize them, they’re family,” Amelia says softly as she pours coffee into a cup. “Do you want some?”

“You’re serving me coffee?” I question hesitantly.

This woman was ready to remove my heart with a spoon only twenty-four hours earlier; should I trust anything she hands me?

“It’s just coffee, don’t get all Dmitri about it.” She places the cup on a saucer and hands it to me. “Who all wants a cup?” she calls to the rest of the room.

I take my cup back to my seat and watch as she pours and serves coffee to my family. Charlotte and Anya have already passed out the chocolate cake and sit beside their husbands in the chairs each of them has vacated for their wives. The men have moved to straight-back chairs brought in from the dining room.

“Lia, Nikolai told me that you’re in charge of the Moreau Center.” Charlotte swipes a finger beneath her lips, wiping away a bit of chocolate frosting. “That must be a lot of work.”

“It is.” Amelia nods. “But it’s good work, you know? I mean the mundane things like building maintenance, budgets—all that stuff is annoying, but the actual helping people makes up for all that.”

“You don’t have enough staff to do all that?” Anya questions.

Amelia eyes the chair beside me. It’s the only one left for her to sit in, but she remains standing with her coffee. The urge to demand her to sit with me, in my lap actually, is strong, but I won’t push the issue.

She’s been so gracious with my family and all of their questions during dinner, I’ll let her have this tiny defiance.

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