Page 59 of Surrogate for the Bratva
“That’s all you’ll need to gather everything we’ll need?”
Maxim smiled. “I have most of it already. Go talk to April so your head is on straight when we do this.” He smiled and left as if he was the fucker in charge.
I could’ve been upset but I wasn’t. I was completely amused but as I climbed the stairs toward April’s room my smile faded, and my heart rate sped up. A small part of me wanted to spark her ire by barging into her rooms again but in the end, I chose to knock.
I waited and when the door opened my heart cranked up another few levels at the sight of her in a pale pink strapless dress that showed off her pregnancy cleavage. Her skin was glowing, her nipples were hard, and her face was naturally beautiful. “Igor, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” I growled and blinked to clear my head. “That’s not true. May I come in?”
Her lips twitched as she stepped back and motioned me inside. “You may. But only if you tell me why you look so worried.”
I stepped inside and turned to face her, crowding her against the nearest wall. “I have to go out tonight. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone but Iwillbe back.”
“Okay.” She said the word slowly, her expressive eyes asked one hundred questions.
“I need you to do one thing for me today, okay?”
She nodded. “What is it?”
I cupped her face in my hands and let my thumbs stroke her jawline. “I need you to be careful today, April. Don’t leave the house, not even to go onto the terrace unless it is absolutely necessary. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. If anything seems off, acknowledge it and take precautions. Okay?”
“Igor you’re scaring me.” Her hands rested on my waistband but slowly they tightened. “What’s going on?”
“A lot but I don’t want to burden you with the details.”
Her nostrils flared. “It seems like the details are what’s really important here.”
I smiled at her tone. “Okay, somethingisgoing down, and Maxim is coming with me, so I need you to be extra careful. Ivan will be here with you, so I just need you to forget your anger at me for now. We can pick it up later as long as both of us are still here to pick it up. Got it?”
She nodded slowly but her grip tightened on my waistband even more and she sagged against me, trusting me with her weight. “You’re going after that Voronov guy.” Thankfully, it wasn’t a question.
“I have to. Tonight it ends.”
April nodded and let out a long, slow breath. “You’ll be safe?”
I smiled. “I will. I promise.” I brushed a soft kiss to her lips because I knew that a longer taste would take us some place, I didn’t have time for. “I have too much to live for.”
Her lips pulled into a sweet smile. “Okay, then. Be safe.” She sucked in a deep breath and let it out faster. “Be safe. And end this shit once and for all.”
For that, I kissed her again. I had to. April knew the stakes, she knew what had to be done and she wasn’t being squeamish or unrealistic about it, she was reasonable and pragmatic and accepting. “When I return there are a lot of things I need to say to you.”
“Okay.” She released my waistband and slid her hands up over my abs, my chest and around my shoulders where her fingers danced in my hair. “Don’t worry about any of that right now. Focus on what you have to do so that we can all rest easier around here. Okay?”
“Yeah,” I smiled. “Okay.”
“Good.” She kissed me again and slowly pulled back, her smile blended with her worried expression the last thing I saw before I left to put an end to the Voronov family once and for all.
Chapter Thirty-Three
April
Iknew that I couldn’t just sit in my room and read all night while Igor was out dealing with Dmitry Voronov. Just an hour into the evening and my mind refused to stop racing, to stop conjuring up worst case scenario of how everything could play out. I was driving myself crazy and I needed a distraction, so I picked up the phone and called my people.
“Hey Baby Mama!” Kelsie’s voice put a smile on my face instantly.
I groaned through the smile. “I really wish you would stop calling me that.”
“I will, as soon as it stops being so damn amusing. What’s up?”
