Page 7 of Viktor

“Mommy, can I watchAdventure Time?” Delia asked from where she lay on the bed, one knee on top of the other, her foot bouncing.

“No, you may not, young lady.” Delia leaned down and kissed her daughter’s forehead. “You know that show is off limits.”

“But, Mommy,” Delia whined, “Jessi’s mommies let her watch it.”

“And since when do I care what Jessie’s mothers do or do not do? You can watchSpongeBoband eat pizza.”

“Two slices?” She turned her face up, hopeful.

“Two slices, and then a bath if I’m not back. No sassing Nana.”

Some instinct stirred to life inside Viktor that was so fierce it made no sense. He’d done a few domestic violence cases since he opened his security firm, but he’d never felt this strongly before. Seeing Delia, sweet and happy, her mother laughing and being very motherly flipped a switch like nothing in his life ever had. It scared him.

“Are you ready to go?” It came out harsher than he’d intended, and Delia’s entire body hunched in on itself. Dammit. He needed to tone his shit down.

“Yes.” Sara picked up her purse and grabbed her phone off the desk. “We’ll be back as soon as we can, Mom.”

“Take your time, honey.” Sue Anne settled into the chair with her book. “We’ll be fine.”

Sara Jane fidgeted a moment longer before she finally gave up and walked toward the door. “I’ll see you soon, poppet.”

“See ya, Mommy.”

Viktor walked behind her, his eyes appreciating her ass for two seconds before he reminded himself to behave. The sooner they talked, the sooner he could escape to his room and away from the temptation that was Sara Jane Riley.

She should have known he’d be a foodie. Dimitri was obsessed with food, even though he had the most finicky stomach known to man. Viktor took them to a place close to the hotel. At least she wasn’t far in case she was wrong about Roger not being in town and he showed up at the hotel.

The ride to the restaurant had been awkward and uncomfortable. Neither of them spoke. She kept stealing glances at him, but he hadn’t taken his eyes off the road once. The silence made her even more nervous than she’d already been. Being around a six-year-old who asked a thousand questions a minute didn’t leave room for quiet.

“Have you been here before?” Sara took the menu from the waitress and asked for water. The sugar from soda would only aggravate her nervousness.

“No.” Viktor looked through his own menu. “Dimitri beat me to it and wasted no time in gloating. He doesn’t even follow the show.”

“The show?”

“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” He scrunched his nose as he studied the menu. “He texted me earlier with a snapshot of his food.”

“Is this the same place where Dimitri was earlier?” She looked around, curious. “He was eating Becca’s duck fries.”

Viktor burst out laughing. “He’s going to be shitting his brains out by the end of the night.”

“What?”

“He can’t eat duck. It does bad things to his stomach. I hope the bastard ate at least half of them before she stopped him.”

“That’s a little cruel and unusual, isn’t it?” Why would he wish that upon his brother?

“Fuck, no. He deserves it. Last time we had chili, he laced all ours with laxative. Now, that was cruel and unusual.”

“Why on earth would he do that?”

“Because we laughed at all the bathroom memes of him running off stage.”

She shook her head. Thank God she didn’t have boys.

“I’m surprised you’re not at the hospital with Dimitri and Becca.” She flipped through her menu, trying to make up her mind. It all looked so good.

“I was,” he admitted. “Scared the shit…fuck, I shouldn’t have said…” He broke off and frowned. “Sorry, I do try not to curse around women, but sometimes it just slips out. I’ll apologize for future slip-ups now.”

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