Page 129 of Immaculate Corruption (Romanoff Bratva)

“More than your child being kidnapped and having to track him down yourself without the help of police?” she asks in disbelief. “Because after something like that, I would have guessed you two could get through anything.”

“Apparently not.”

I don’t feel like talking about it. There are enough questions and doubts rolling through my own head without any external processing.

Lauren pats my arm. “I wouldn’t write it off so fast. You two could find your way back to each other.”

Without even thinking about it, I shake my head. “It’s not worth it. Love is a weapon.”

Hearing the words out loud, I realize how much I sound like my father. I hate it with a fucking passion.

Which is why I’m surprised by Lauren’s immediate answer. “You’re right.”

My attention snaps to her. “What?”

“You’re right,” she says again. “Love is definitely a kind of weapon. It can hurt like a bitch. I see it all the time as a doctor. Pain in every size, shape, and color. Loved ones die. Pregnancies fail. Families splinter. In so many ways, love can hurt us worse than anything in the entire world.”

I look at her, blinking, unsure how to respond.

“But then I also see the other side of it, too,” she continues. “I see the couples who tried for years to get pregnant show up with a baby they love more than the entire world. I see sick people get better, families reunited. I see how much joy love can bring. So yes, it can hurt. But it’s pain with a purpose.”

“What purpose is that?” I scoff.

“Happiness,” she says, smiling to herself. “Joy. The meaning of life.”

Arya’s face appears in my mind. No matter how hard I try to wipe her away, she stays put. One thing is undeniably true: whatever pain I’m feeling now is worth it when it comes to Arya. It’s always been worth it.

I point at Vera. “Her husband is abusive,” I tell Lauren. “I brought her here because he was searching for her and I didn’t want him to hurt the babies.”

It’s a lie, mostly. But there’s some truth in it. Enough for Lauren.

Lauren narrows her eyes, trying to see if she believes me or not. Eventually, she shrugs. “Okay. So can I take the babies to the hospital? They should still be seen by a doctor.”

I nod. “Go.” She and Sacha make quick work of getting the babies loaded up and to the hospital. Vera begs to go with them, but I refuse.

“What are you doing to do with me, Dima?” she asks, her lower lip trembling. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it.”

“I’m not going to kill you.”

Truthfully, I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do. Realizing I’m more like my enemies than I ever wanted to be is a wake-up call I wasn’t ready for.

“Then what do you want?” she sobs. “This has been the worst day of my life. Is that what you wanted? If you wanted to punish me, you did it. Job well done. I’m miserable.”

“I don’t feel bad for you,” I tell Vera. “The only reason I’m second-guessing my plan is because I don’t want to live everyday knowing I’m as heartless and cruel as you and my brother. I don’t want to be a monster.”

Vera laughs. “Too late, Dima. It runs in your blood. You and your brother are both monsters.”

“Not a very nice way to talk about your husband.”

“Well, he’s not very nice to me, either, sometimes.”

“Then why stay with him? Why warm his bed and have his children?”

She bites her lip. “We have an… arrangement.”

An arrangement.Like my mother and father. The love between them had died out long before, but they stayed together for the usual reasons. Power. Money. Control. They coexisted as best as they could until…they couldn’t.

I never wanted what they had, but it doesn’t surprise me that Ilyasov followed in our father’s footsteps. Even after everything that happened between them, he always admired our father in ways I didn’t.

---