Page 36 of Immaculate Deception (Romanoff Bratva)

Dima brought a portable bassinet, more baby clothes, more clothes for me—just sweatpants and t-shirts, but still miles better than what I’ve got on—and a bundle of toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, and razors.

I pop the lid on the deodorant and take a deep breath. “You’re an angel.”

In response, he reaches into his back pocket and holds out a small orange canister. It’s a pill bottle, but the pharmacy label has been ripped off.

My eyes widen as I reach for it. “What’s this?”

“Hydrocodone.”

I don’t want to know where or how he got this or who he had to hurt along the way. I’m just so relieved to have some relief that I could cry.

“Thank you.”

He gives me a terse nod and drops down in the recliner next to the bed. “I told you I’d provide for you.”

I’m so grateful I don’t want to argue, but I can’t help it. I shake my head. “You said you’d provide for yourson.”

“You’re his mother,” Dima says quietly, almost more to himself than to me. “What’s the difference?”

I swallow a single pill and then set up the bassinet for Lukas. He doesn’t stir at all when I pick him up from the floor.

The sight of him in an actual bed brings tears to my eyes. It’s a small bit of normalcy in a fucking insane day.

I’m exhausted. As soon as Lukas is settled, I lay back on the bed and close my eyes. I fall asleep immediately.

* * *

I don’t wake until I hear Lukas whimpering a couple hours later.

He’s in his bassinet, lips puckered, searching for food. For me. I pluck him up and settle him in my arms to feed.

Once he’s eating, I look around. “What the…”

I don’t see Dima. Did he leave us? Just like he left me at the clinic? Disappeared without a trace, without a word…

I’m starting to panic again at the thought of being stranded out in the middle of nowhere with no car, no phone, no nothing—

When I see him through the darkness.

He’s sleeping in the recliner, which he’s pushed against the back of the door.

He put himself directly in the doorway. To keep us safe. To provide for us.

I meant what I said earlier: I don’t trust Dima Romanoff. I know almost nothing about him, and what I do know is dangerous and terrifying.

But it’s clear that he’s a man of his word. He’s a man with a code.

If he says he’ll take care of me and Lukas, I believe he will.

Even if it costs him his life.

13

Dima

The Next Morning

I don’t trust Arya.

---