Page 101 of Disgraced (Russian Sinners 3)

“I like this promiscuous side of you,” I teased her. “When did that happen?”

“Little after he and Nikolai saved me.”

That reminded me that Sergei was the reason she was captured. “Sergei told me he kidnapped you and handed you over to those men. I am so sorry, Anja.”

The line went quiet and I pondered if I made a mistake bringing it up. But it was too big of an event to sweep it under the rug. I loved Sergei and I loved my friend. I wasn’t willing to give up either one of them.

“I’m actually proud of him for telling you. Honestly, the more things unfold, it seems he actually saved us all. I know he didn’t do it to hurt me. He was trying to save you. And how could I fault him for it?”

My throat constricted, my emotions all over the place. “Ah, damn it,” I muttered on a sob.

“Why are you crying?” Anastasia seemed puzzled. “I’m not mad at him. In fact, I like him very much. He’ll be a great brother-in-law.”

Shit, she didn’t know that Sergei was actually her brother. I couldn’t tell her that. It was for Sergei to break it to his brothers and Anja.

“These pregnancy hormones are a killer. I’m crying when I’m happy and when I’m sad. It’s ridiculous.”

She started laughing. “Great. You want me to get pregnant so I can be all crazy emotional like you.”

We talked for another ten minutes all the while the worry lingered in our mind for Olivia and Sergei’s brothers. I was happy we could at least spend it talking and keeping each other company.

The bedroom door opened and Sergei showed up.

“Everything okay?” I asked him and he nodded the same time Anastasia muttered into the headset.

“Listen, Dimitry is calling me. I’ll talk to you later. Okay? Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I pressed the end call and ran over to Sergei, throwing myself into his open arms. “So Olivia is safe? Your brothers too?”

“Yes, they are all good. Nikolai and Olivia are going back to their home and Dimitry back to Anja.”

A huge relief swept through me. “Thank God.”

I remained in his arms, enjoying his strong hands around me. I knew he worried about his brothers too. It couldn’t be helped. No matter how strong we were, we would always worry about the ones we loved.

“Are you feeling okay?” His mouth pressed against the crown of my head.

“Yes. I told Anja we were having a baby. But I didn’t tell her about any of the other stuff.”

His nod was solemn. “I’ll let my brothers have some rest, but I want to tell them. I kept that secret too long from them.”

I pressed my hand against his cheek. “They’ll still love you. You are their brother first and foremost. It takes a lot more than conceiving a baby to be a father. Boris never deserved that title.”

Watching Sergei, I wondered if I should bring up what has been weighing on my mind. I didn’t want to upset him. Today has been stressful enough.

“Ask me,” he could read me too easily. “Whatever is on your mind, just ask me.”

Inhaling deeply, I went for it. “I worry about staying in this crime world. One of the reasons I fought against the arranged marriage was because I didn’t want to be part of the mafia world. I didn’t want to raise a family among all the threats and danger. I’ll stand by you, I just-”

“My brothers and I are pulling out,” he cut me off. “We have been working on pulling out for a while now.”

“Seriously?” I couldn’t believe that all the pieces would fall into place so perfectly. “Sonia mentioned your brothers might be trying to go legal but I wasn’t sure.”

“I want to get all this behind us. Once Vlad is eliminated, I want to get married and enjoy our life together. You, our children, and me.” I smiled at his wide grin. “Some weeks we’ll invite your parents and my brothers, but mostly it will be just us. Because I’m greedy like that.”

“I like your greediness,” I beamed. “But don’t forget. We’ll need babysitters so we have to keep the family close.”

“Ah, right you are,” he retorted, laughing. “I want to have lots of dates with my wife.”

Life was good and getting better by the minute!

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