Page 51 of SINS & Riley
Which shouldn’t be hot.
But holy hell—it is.
Fine. There, I said it.
Katya lunges. He counters with lazy precision, turning the attack into theater. A fight on the surface, a dance underneath.
“What’s he doing?” I breathe, half in awe.
Dominic doesn’t blink. “Even monsters have to play.”
He says it so flat I can’t stop the laugh that slips out. “What the hell?” Am I seeing this right? “She’s holding a real sword.”
His brow pulls tight. “Katya is six. Not six months. If I were teaching her to swim, should I fill the pool with air? Perhaps an imaginary pole would drive home the art of fly fishing.”
Point taken.
For a long while, we stand there and watch. Blades flashing. Children shrieking with laughter.
My heart squeezes.
“When did you turn their playroom into a bookshop?” My voice slips out hushed, almost reverent. “It’s…remarkable.”
His brow ticks, unreadable. “Where?”
“In the playroom.”
“Great.” He exhales in a sharp, irate breath. “I should’ve known Zver was up to something when he sent me out. So now they have a bookshop. What's next? A movie theater?”
“The kids have never been to a movie theater?”
He shakes his head, more to himself than to me. “If I’ve warned him once, I’ve warned him a million times…you can’t unspoil children.”
The words settle into the softest part of my chest.
Because that’s exactly what Zver’s doing.
Giving them pieces of the world they’ll never get.
Can a brutal beast actually feel?
In what can only be described as a reckless, no-fear, kids-have-a-death-wish move, Katya climbs a leather chair before launching, full force, straight at Zver.
I’m a heartbeat from screaming “Look out!” or “For the love of God, don’t impale her!” when he simply drops the sword.
Two powerful arms snap out, catching her mid-air like it’s nothing. He spins her in wild, dizzying circles, and her laughter explodes off the walls. Pure joy.
A second later, Misha’s shouting, “Me! Me next!”
And I swear, it’s like someone swapped out my psychopathic mass murderer for Father of the Year.
Something flutters hard in my chest as I try to take it all in.
Do not swoon, Riley.
Do.
Not.
