Page 95 of Immaculate Corruption (Romanoff Bratva)

Lukas is home.

I strain forward to try and see down the stairs, but Dima presses me against the wall harder and shakes his head.

“I can’t believe it’s so beautiful today!” Jody is saying. “I’m glad we got out and enjoyed the weather while we could. Huh, Matt? Wasn’t that fun?” she asks in a motherly sing-song voice.

I want to rip her vocal chords out.

“He loves the fresh air,” Nick says. “I thought he’d fall asleep, but he was alert and looking around the whole time.”

“It’s because he’s so smart. Aren’t you, Matty? So smart,” Jody croons. “Let’s go get changed for dinner.”

Dima shimmies us down the hallway wall and pushes me through the nursery door.

I hear footsteps on the stairs. I am going to be in the same room as my son in a matter of seconds. My heart is pounding against my rib cage and I’m shaking. But I try to stand firm.

Dima positions himself between me and the door. When Jody walks in, she doesn’t even see us at first. She heads straight for the changing station.

Once she sets Lukas down, Dima speaks. “Why do you have our son?”

Jody screams. I hear something clatter to the floor downstairs. A few seconds later, Nick is in the room, too.

“Jody, what is it—” He looks over, and his face goes white. Bedsheet white. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

“Wh-what d-do you want?” he stammers, backing up towards his wife and Lukas. He stretches an arm out in front of them protectively. “We don’t have much money, but we’ll give you everything we have. Just don’t hurt us.”

Jody picks up Lukas from the changing table and cradles him against her, turning her body to shield him. “Please. We have a baby.”

“My baby!” I don’t mean to scream, but it comes out that way.

Lukas starts to fuss. My heart aches. Is he crying because he recognizes my voice or because I’ve scared him? Does he even know me well enough to recognize my voice?

I lower my voice and step around Dima. “Give me my baby back and we won’t hurt you.”

Nick steps in front of his wife. “Now, listen, I don’t know what you are playing at, but—”

“I’m not sure what you think you’re playing at!” I cry. “You can’t kidnap other people’s babies and expect to get away with it.”

“Kidnap? We did no such thing.”

“Well, your wife sure as hell didn’t give birth to him. Considering he came out of my body, I can attest to that.”

The couple look at each other, speaking in a silent language I don’t understand.

Dima pulls his gun out of his holster and keeps it pointed at the floor. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. Don’t make me.”

He’s being calmer than he would be normally. With Lukas in the room, neither of us want this to escalate. Jody and Nick don’t seem to want that, either.

They seem to be…protecting Lukas. Trying to shield him from us. They certainly don’t look like they ever expected this to happen.

“We just want you out of our house. Whatever it takes to make that happen. Just please leave,” Nick says. “Take whatever you want and leave. We’ll give you anything.”

“I want my son!”

“Except him,” Jody says, laying her hand over Lukas’s head. He’s crying louder now.

“We aren’t leaving here without our son,” Dima intones. “Hand him over. Now.”

Nick holds up his hands in surrender. “Listen, I think there’s a misunderstanding here. My wife didn’t give birth to Matt, but—”

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