Page 114 of Immaculate Corruption (Romanoff Bratva)

To my surprise, he then slaps a hand on his forehead at once, startling me. “Dammit!”

“What’s wrong?” I ask in alarm.

“I should have gotten you gin from Gen. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Missed opportunity. Next time.”

Dima and I both execute simultaneous eyerolls.

“Who doesn’t love a good pun?” Gennady complains as we all start to head out back to the ballroom.

“Everyone,” I say. At the same time, Dima says, “No one.”

We laugh as we go back. I try to remind myself of what Lauren said. Lukas is surrounded by love. Me, Dima, Gennady, Ernestine, June, and many, many more. So many people love him.

That is enough.

At least, I hope it is.

41

Dima

Lauren Malone is the last to leave the party. “Are you sure you all don’t need any help cleaning up?” she asks.

“I have people for that,” I assure her.

Arya nods. “Yeah. Please don’t worry about it. You’ve done more than enough. You are free to go.”

Lauren bites her lip. “Actually, I can’t check into my hotel for another hour, so I don’t really have anywhere to go until then.”

“Oh,” Arya says, turning to me and then back to Lauren. “Then stay! By all means. You can hang out here. We are happy to have you.”

“I don’t want to be in your hair. Maybe I could just take Lukas off your hands for a little bit.” Lauren leans forward and wrinkles her nose playfully, making Lukas giggle. “He dozed in everyone else’s arms most of the party, so I doubt he’ll take a nap and I’m sure you could both use one.”

Arya starts to argue, but then thinks better of it and relents. “Okay, point conceded. I am exhausted, but you don’t have to do that. We can go to the kitchen and chat and—”

Lauren shakes her head and holds out her arms for Lukas. I hand him over. “I’m going to go an entire week without touching a single baby while on vacation, which I’m pretty sure is harmful to my DNA. I need my fix. You two go nap. We will be… in the living room? If I can find it.” She turns to Dima. “Do you provide maps of the establishment for your guests? Or is it more of a ‘second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning’ kind of deal?”

I chuckle as I point down the hallway and to the right. “That way.”

She grins. “Easy enough.”

“There’s a diaper bag by the front door,” Arya adds. “And his formula is in the kitchen if he gets hungry. If that happens, you can always yell for me, and—”

Lauren rests a hand on Arya’s shoulder and smiles. “I’ve made plenty of bottles before. I actually do this for a living, if you recall. Anyway, after footing the bill for my flight and hotel, this is the least I can do. You two, go take a nap or… whatever.”

When she’s gone, Arya turns to me. “What did she mean by that?Whatever?”

“I don’t think she meant anything.”

“She said it weird. Really weird.”

“Something like this, maybe…” I lean down and nip at her neck.

But she swats my hand away, still frowning. “That isn’t what she meant.”

“That’s what I heard.”

“You’re projecting.”

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