Page 30 of Scarlet Sins

“Go back to what’s obviously important to you. Now, I’ve one of your cars waiting. I’ll see you when I see you.”

I turn on my heel and stomp off to the foyer, where a bouncy Sasha is waiting with Olga. There’ll be hell to pay later. But right now, I don’t care. I’m not even sure how to feel.

Except that hurt.

Kara hugs me tight.“I’m so mad at you. Lucky you bribed me with Sasha.”

We’re near a park and Sasha’s clinging, but Kara holds great appeal to him. She’s one of his favorite people.

“It’s a nice day. We can go to this fancy place,” I say, nodding toward the cozy Italian restaurant that Magda suggested, “or we can get something to go take Sasha to the park.”

Kara starts laughing and Sasha stares up at her and laughs, too. “This little monster in a fancy place?”

“He’s a well-behaved little monster.”

“That place looks stuffy.” She scoops Sasha up. “Wanna get French fries, a juice, and go to the park?”

His eyes get big and he basically smacks her in the face in a loving gesture. “Yes! I love you, Kara.”

“And I love you, Sasha.”

Then he reaches for me. I take him and she raises a brow.

We get coffee, juice, and some takeout from a hole-in-the-wall café across from the park.

Sasha holds a juice and a chocolate chip cookie as we go to the park, his gaze heading to the food truck at the park’s edge.

There aren’t many kids out today, but Sasha’s happy to sitdown at our feet, pulling out some of his toy cars and trucks as he eats his cookie.

I fill her in on everything that’s happened and Kara smacks a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, Erin. No wonder you have three gorillas watching you.”

There are probably more and while I know if we were in the restaurant we’d have more of a feeling of privacy, they’re not too close. Demyan’s men are more interested in clocking and eliminating any threat that might come for us over listening in.

I sip my coffee as Kara fills me in on her life. Her latest disastrous date, how she got a promotion, but it isn’t the same now that we’re no longer planning our own business.

“We’ll return to it,” I say. “In time.”

She sighs. “Really?”

“Really.”

“There’s something else, though, isn’t there. I feel it, and it’s not some dude kidnapping you, which sounds horrifying, by the way.” But she ruffles Sasha’s hair as he comes in to press against us both, like he’s checking we’re still there. “And he rescued you. Which is… romantic.”

“I’m the mother of his child.”

“Come on.” Kara looks me up and down. “There’s more to it than that. I feel it.”

“Who are you, Spider-Man?”

“Spider-Woman, thank you.” But her laughter fades. “What’s up?”

I fill her in on Stefina. She sucks in a sharp breath. “Ooh boy, Erin. You sure like complicated.”

“But I don’t. I hate it, and I want to hate him and… am I mad for standing by Demyan when he’s promised himself to another woman?”

“Only you can answer that. But…” She pauses, sips her coffee as Sasha climbs up onto the bench, chocolate smeared onhis face and he puts his feet on Kara and his head on my knee. She rubs his calves. “But from what you said, it sounds like he only agreed to this marriage in order to save you. And you said he’s trying to find a way out of it.”

“Yes, but…” I look at her. “It still hurts.”

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