Page 78 of Scarlet Secrets

“I can come with you.” I squeeze her hands. “It’s not too late to change your mind about that.”

But she shakes her head. “It’s such a small ceremony, just family and me.” Pinpricks of pink bloom on her cheeks. “What if they blame me for this? Blame us? They have every right. The Yegorovs are bratva. Violence follows this family. So they must think it’s my fault. And it is. They’d be right.”

I sigh and kiss her forehead, then take hold of her chin. “Because you were born? That’s bullshit. You didn’t do a thing. And we’re not to blame. Any problems I’m dealing with had no business coming near your happiness.”

This isn’t a lie. There’s an amnesty of sorts over innocent family, unless there’s an outright war. There is not a war.

Or there wasn’t.

I grit my teeth. “We’re not to blame. There’s only one person to blame, and that’s the coward who did this, and I’ll deal with them.”

She nods and gets up, and I do too. “I need to go or I’ll be late. Demyan?”

“Yes?”

“Make sure the streets run with their blood.”

Alina leaves, and I stare after her. She’s the sweet one, the sheltered one, the girl who doesn’t have a violent bone in her body.

Until now.

A part of me is horrified, the other part proud she’s living up to the blood in her veins. And I know she’s right. Revenge must be had.

I follow after her, turning left into the downstairs study where Ilya waits. “Ready?” I ask.

He nods and I turn to leave. Outside, I get into the waiting car, Alina’s already gone.

Ilya closes his door with a click. “Are you sure?”

“Give the fucking driver the address. I assume the meeting with Sergio still stands?”

“Demyan…” He blows out a breath and leans back, pushing a hand through his hair. “Are you sure?”

“Give him the address.”

Ilya sits up and says in Russian, “This feels like you’re amputating a leg over a sore toe.”

“Sergio’s a fucking snake. But I need to make a dealwith him to take down that scorpion, Niko. Or to put it another way, I make a deal with a devil to take down Satan, though that’s giving Niko a little too much credit. The address?”

He fires it off, and we head out. I check my weapon, returning it to its holster. I’m not planning on using it, but I like to be prepared.

“You have a son.”

“We don’t tell fucking Sergio or anyone else that. The girl’s a guest, but I’m not planning on her being seen and certainly not the boy.”

His side-eye hits. “Someone’s bound to have noticed the purchases.”

“A guest with a child.” I let out the irritation.

But it isn’t at him, it’s me. Sasha is a distraction and one I welcome. His mother…

She’s a distraction, too. I’m furious at her for lying. Guilty for locking her away to punish her, and when she hugged me, it brought back the very reason why Sasha exists. Erin exudes a sensuality that’s shy on the surface, but I know from firsthand experience rages hot on the inside. And yeah, I want her again.

A guest with a child is so ludicrous. Then again, I’m not sure I’m listed on the birth certificate—another thing to take issue with—so it should hold up that she’s nothing more than a guest to anyone poking.

Unless, of course?—

I stop myself.

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