Page 98 of Imperfect Desires

But then I hear her voice. “Is my sister hiding in here or pretending to be asleep?”

I sit up, my heart stuttering. “Yelena?”

She rounds the doorway a moment later, radiant despite her exhaustion, one hand resting on her still swollen belly and the other holding a small overnight bag. She appears as though she hasn’t slept in two days, but her eyes shine brightly.

“Yelena,” I whisper, already on my feet.

She smiles and opens her arms, and I rush into them before I even think to be gentle. We hug gently, belly to belly, tear to tear. There’s something in her touch that steadies me in ways nothing else can.

“You shouldn’t be traveling,” I murmur, pulling back to look her over. “How did you even convince your husband to let you come in your condition?”

Yelena’s eyes sparkle with mischief as she settles into the plush chair that Scarlett vacated earlier. “He can’t say no to me,” she says with an exaggerated sniff. “Especially not when I cry.”

I laugh through a sniffle of my own.

She shrugs, more serious this time. “But honestly? He didn’t want to let me out of his sight. So, he brought me himself. He and Viktor are in the study now, probably threatening every living soul on the Eastern Seaboard.”

Scarlett chuckles from the rug, lifting one of the twins onto her lap. “Your brother, Lev, and Zasha have been cooped up in there since morning. They can now have a field day now that Aithan has joined them.”

Yelena waves a hand. “Let them play mafia kings. We’ve got more important things to discuss.”

“Like?” I raise a brow, and she gives me the kind of grin that makes my heart both sink and soar. Her grin says she is up to no good.

“Like the fact that my innocent and charming sister finally got Lev Ivanov to crawl through hell for her.”

I open my mouth, but no words come out, only a smile. Because it’s true. Lev did burst into hell with blazing guns, demanding that the devil himself let me out.

We all laugh, and Yelena props her feet up on an ottoman with a sigh, rubbing her belly like it holds the secrets of the universe.

“God, my back,” she mutters. “If this baby kicks my ribs one more time, I swear I’m donating him to Scarlett’s twins as a punching bag.”

Scarlett snorts. “Sweetheart, you can’t donate babies. That’s frowned upon. Even in our world.”

I laugh, and it feels like the most natural thing in the world—this moment, with the two women who know me best, surrounded by the hum of family.

Yelena leans forward, eyes sparkling. “But enough about me. Let’s talk about you.”

I raise an eyebrow, sipping my tea. “What about me?”

Scarlett shifts one of the twins onto her lap, her smile turning sly. “You and a certain Lev Ivanov.”

My stomach flips. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Oh please,” Yelena interrupts, throwing a silk cushion at me. “He stormed a heavily guarded compound for you, Alina. The man was a walking death wish.”

“Burned down half the city just to get to you,” Scarlett adds, her tone exaggeratedly dreamy. “Awww.”

I roll my eyes, cheeks heating, but I can’t stop the small smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

“Okay, fine,” I murmur, my fingers circling the rim of my cup. “He came for me.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Yelena says, stretching with a groan. “Viktor said he’s never seen Lev like that. Controlled chaos. Brutal. Single-minded. Honestly, I’m a little impressed.”

“I always believed,” I say quietly, surprising even myself with how certain the words sound.

Scarlett tilts her head, eyes softening. “Believed what?”

“That he’d come back for me.” I glance down at my belly, resting my hand lightly there. “Even when he pushed me away. Even when he disappeared. I just… knew.”

---