Page 55 of Immaculate Deception (Romanoff Bratva)

Or at least, that’s what I thought—up until recently.

As much as I hate to admit it, Arya has a point. There are a lot of people with an interest in planting a bullet in my head right now. Anyone in my vicinity faces the same threat.

Arya presses forward. “I know you think I’m some idiot civilian who doesn’t know anything about your world, but you’re wrong. I know how to keep myself safe.”

I raise a brow. “What does that mean?”

She looks away opaquely, turning her gaze to Lukas. “I just mean I’m not as clueless as you may think. I’ve taken care of myself successfully for years. There’s no reason to believe I’d fail now.”

I want to argue with her, but I can’t. The truth is, my destination in Chicago is not a suitable place for Arya and Lukas. My business there is dangerous.

Our son is only a few days old. He and his mother some place where they both can rest and recover. Someplace safe. Someplace comfortable.

Brigitte’s brother’s house could be that place.

Plus, if I drop them off there and then make a scene somewhere else in Chicago, it will draw the people looking for me away from Arya and Lukas. I can make sure they’re left out of the crossfire. I owe my son that much, don’t I?

But,fuck—I don’t like this at all.

We don’t come to any official agreement right away. Arya puts Lukas back in his car seat, and we drive in silence for a while as I brood.

Arya dozes in the passenger seat. I watch the white lines in the road disappear under the car, trying to figure out if there is any other option that makes as much sense.

But I draw blank after blank after blank.

18

Dima

Close To Chicago

When we are just outside Chicago, I finally nudge her awake. “What’s her brother’s address?”

I’ve racked my brain and come up with a grand total of jack shit. So that’ll have to be it. For now.

Arya gives me the address with barely-suppressed glee. I navigate the crisscrossed highways and one-way streets until I pull up in front of a narrow, two-story house in a suburb just outside the city.

And just like that, we’re at the end.

Lukas is waking up from another long nap and squirming in his seat. Arya and I just sit in silence. Neither of us know what to say.

This shouldn’t be an emotional goodbye. We only met a few days ago—not counting our first meeting. And “fucking each other’s brains out before parting ways forever” isn’t exactly the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

It’s not like we made any promises to one another, either. From the moment we drove away from the hospital, I knew I’d let Arya go at some point. That time has now come.

So it ought to be easy to part ways. To recede back into our respective worlds.

But it’s not.

It’s really fucking not.

“Well,” Arya says, her voice drifting off. “I guess this is it.”

“I guess so.”

I climb out of the car and open the backseat to remove Lukas’s car seat and diaper bag. “I’m keeping the car,” I growl. “I left money at your house to help buy a new one.”

Arya nods nervously. “Okay.” She tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. She glances down, glances back up, glances everywhere but right at me.

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