Page 70 of Viktor

The Magnolia Café was a trip from its ocean blue walls to its red upholstered booths. Classic diner. She loved it. Dimitri was easy to spot. He was probably the tallest person in the room. His blond hair was sticking up crazily like he’d been driving a convertible with the top down. As soon as he spotted them, he jumped up and waved them over.

Dimitri Kincaid looked absolutely nothing like his brothers, at least at first glance. He took after their mother with blond hair and blue eyes. Looking at the brothers side by side, you wouldn’t guess they were related.

“Took you long enough.” Dimitri hugged his brother. “My belly decided to start eating through my backbone.”

“Now, that, I believe.” Viktor’s eyes twinkled. He turned and pulled Becca from the booth. “I missed you, Library Girl.”

“Library Girl?”

Viktor hauled Becca into his side. “She hung out in the library all through high school. If she wasn’t there, I’d go looking for her to make sure she was okay. Nik, Conner, and I all watched out for her after Dimitri graduated.”

Becca rolled her brown eyes when Dimitri tugged her away from Viktor and tucked her into his side. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail today. The girl barely came halfway to Dimitri’s shoulders, she was so tiny.

Sara didn’t miss the way Becca’s gaze swept over the diner and how she leaned into Dimitri a little more. She suffered from severe anxiety when it came to crowds. Dimitri told her it was getting better since they’d been going out more, but it wasn’t simply going to go away overnight. Delia had the same tendency, so Sara knew firsthand how hard it was to overcome. It endeared Becca to her even more than she already was.

“You gonna tell me how you got a busted lip, sprained wrist, and more bruises than I care to count?” Dimitri drawled as he and Becca slid back into the booth. “Do I need to kick my brother’s ass?”

“God, no. If Viktor hadn’t been there, I don’t know what might have happened.” At Dimitri’s hard stare, she hurried to explain. She didn’t want him blaming Viktor for this. It was her own damn fault for not paying attention and listening when he was only trying to protect her.

“You haven’t caught the fucking asshole yet?” Dimitri pinned his brother with a stare lethal enough to smite the bravest of men.

“Fucker hasn’t shown up. He sent someone after her, scared the shit out of her mother, but no, he hasn’t done one thing I can legally use to get his ass thrown in jail. Uncle Pete’s doing what he can to get more of a state police presence in town. Fucker has too many friends in the local PD to do me a damn bit of good. State boys might change that, though.”

“I swear, did you two learn to speak at the bottom of sailor’s beer bottle?” Sara huffed.

“I think so.” Becca shook her head. “I swear he cusses more than the gang members I know.”

Dimitri lips thinned. “Knew, Becca, gang members youknew. We got all your shit packed, and they’re supposed to deliver everything to the house this weekend. Kade said he’d make sure everything got inside. Speaking of which, did you check your email?”

Viktor’s eyes widened in consternation. He pulled his phone out and tapped a few things. His breath came out in a strangled hiss. Sara glanced over, curious, and saw the face of a little boy. He was looking at the camera, but he wasn’t smiling. His eyes, as green as the spring leaves, stared out of the image. They were hollow, empty, a little dead inside. What in the world happened to him?

“I’m going to fucking kill whoever did this.” The venom in that statement made her pull away from him. Not out of fear this time, but so she could look at him. He was enraged, and for the first time since she’d met him, she knew it wasn’t directed at her, and even if it was, he’d not take it out on her.

“Kade and Conner already took care of it. Bastard didn’t make it out of the house alive.”

Viktor snarled, his fingers tracing the child’s face. “What the fuck did they do to our kid?”

Our kid?

“He’s our nephew,” Dimitri explained. “Kade and Angel’s son. They thought he died, but the cartel Kade pissed off stole him. Angel accidentally ran into him in New York. She had a physical reaction to him and was so distraught Kade looked into it just so he could show her the boy belonged to someone. Turns out he belonged to them. Angel knew he was hers, even though she knew it was impossible.”

“I’d know Delia if I was blind,” Sara said. “A mother knows her child.”

“Plus, he looks like the Kincaids,” Becca finally spoke up. Sara hadn’t pushed her to talk. She could see it was wearing on her being here.

There was no denying that. Even with the green eyes, he was a Kincaid. He looked a little like Viktor, honestly.

The waitress interrupted them by taking their drink orders and handing her and Viktor menus. Neither she nor Becca missed the way the waitress looked at their bruises and then slid a glance at the men, assuming they were the cause. It didn’t sit well with Sara at all since Viktor had done everything in his power to protect her. He’d been so kind.

“You get that look right off your face. Neither of these men caused my or my friend’s injuries. They’re the reason we’re safe right now.”

The waitress’s eyes widened, and she scurried away, her cheeks flaming.

“Damn straight,” Becca muttered, and she high fived Sara.

Sara ignored the men’s chuckles and opened the menu. Her mouth watered. So many options.

“You ready for tomorrow?” Dimitri asked, looking over the menu himself. “Damn, but I might order one of everything.”

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