Page 111 of Immaculate Corruption (Romanoff Bratva)

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I’m two cups of punch and a slice of cake into the party when Dima pulls me aside and asks me to come with him.

“You planned this party and you want me to leave already?” I tease.

He smiles and wraps my arm around his. “I have another surprise for you.”

I’m not sure my heart can take another surprise, but today has been one magnificent reveal after another, so I trust him and let him lead me towards our room.

I think we are going into our room—which would be perfectly fine by me—but Dima keeps walking and goes one door over. He pauses for a second for dramatic effect, then pushes it open and stands back.

It’s a nursery.

The dark walls have been repainted a pale yellow with white wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall. There is a long white dresser with a changing pad on top, a cushioned rocking chair with a cloud pillow, and a raincloud and rainbow mobile hanging over a white crib.

It’s beautiful.

I press a hand to my mouth and blink back the tears trying to force their way out. I don’t want anything to impede my view of this gorgeous room.

“I know you want Lukas close to us right now, and I do, too,” Dima explains. “But when we’re both ready, this could be his room.”

“Right next door to ours.”

Dima wraps a hand around my waist. “Yes. Right next door to ours.”

“Dima, I don’t even know what to say…”

“You are the best mom, Arya. You put Lukas’s needs first, and you’ve fought hard to protect him and take care of him. Hearing you doubt yourself breaks my heart. So, I figured, maybe I can’t convince you you’re the best mom, but I can give you the best nursery. It’s a step.”

This is a whole other level. This isn’t just taking care of me.

This islovingme.

I turn and bury my face in Dima’s shirt. I’m probably smearing makeup on the white material, but I don’t care. I wrap my arms around him and hold on tight.

“You like it?”

“I love it,” I whisper. “I love you, too.”

Dima grabs my chin between his thumb and forefinger so he can tilt my face up to his. The kiss he plants on my lips is sweet and lingering, and I don’t want it to end.

On the other hand, if it doesn’t, I’m afraid we will christen the nursery in a way that would be wholly inappropriate.

“We should get back to the guests, don’t you think?” I whisper.

Dima shakes his head and kisses me for another minute before finally agreeing.

“I can’t believe how many people you got here,” I say as we walk back to the party hand-in-hand. “People from the vet clinic. Lauren. You invited people you’d never even met before.”

“I wanted all of the important people in your life to be here. They were all more than happy to come.”

Two faces appear in my mind unbidden, and suddenly, my perfect day has a big gray cloud.

Dima notices instantly. “What is it?” I try to brush it off, but he insists. “Tell me, Arya.”

I sigh. “I thought of Rose. She’d be here if she could. She should be here.”

“I’m sorry. I wish she could be.”

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