Page 137 of Wrapped in Perfection

Dmitri

I've not seenBoris since he left my penthouse two days ago. He usually needs a day of space after he does whatever Zamir makes him do.

"Why isn't Boris here?" I ask Sergey when he walks into the gym. It's seven, and Maksim and I both expected Boris to arrive.

"He texted he'd meet me here and not to pick him up."

"Have you seen him?" I ask.

Sergey shakes his head. "No. But you know he needs distance for a day."

"He normally—"

The door opens, and Boris steps through it. To anyone else, he'd appear normal. But the emptiness in his eyes worries me. It usually is gone by now.

Maksim is closest to him and embraces him first. "You alright, dear brother?"

He steps back, cracks his neck, and licks his lips. His face hardens. "It's over. Where are we at on Lorenzo?"

"Obrecht is on it. We will know more later today."

"I'm tired of waiting. Nora's bar is shut down because of him. He's gone too far. Tell Obrecht to give us the entry point, or I'll figure it out myself." Boris shoves past Maksim and goes into the locker room with his bag.

"Boris doesn't make threats. He follows through," Sergey reminds Maksim and me.

Boris comes back out and racks weights on the bar to bench press.

I work on the opposite side. "You filling this?"

"Yep."

Maksim starts, "Boris—"

"We aren't talking about it. Every year, you want to talk about it. I always tell you the same thing. I've not changed. There's nothing to say. It's over. Can we please focus on our current problem?" he barks.

Maksim's eyes turn to slits. "I'm worried about you. Out of all of us, you're the man who demonstrates patience the best. But I haven't seen it this week."

Boris slams a weight on the floor. He steps toward Maksim. "What do you not get? The Rossi's torched Nora's bar. She could have died. They put her out of business. And you know they were behind Sean's death."

"I know Nora means a lot to you, but—"

"I love her. She's carrying my baby," he growls.

Silence ensues, other than the blood pounding loudly between my ears.

Boris softens his voice. "I've always loved her. You all know that. No matter what Killian thinks, she has my baby in her belly. And this is no longer only an O'Malley war with the Rossi family. This is our war now, too."

Chills expand in my body like a spider web. The war the O'Malleys are in with the Rossi family is one already full of blood. But Boris is right. If she is carrying his baby, then this is now our battle as well. And even if she wasn't pregnant, he loves her. He's correct to say we already know it. As much as we have tried to steer him away, he's never been able to stay away from her. He can't stand back and not cross the line for her. It's not possible.

"How far along is she?" Maksim recovers first.

"Maybe six weeks."

Amid the tension, a grin grows so big, my cheeks hurt. I step forward and embrace Boris. "Congratulations. But I hope the baby gets Nora's stunning good looks and not your ugly mug."

"I'll second that," Sergey says and hugs him as well.

Maksim shakes his head. "An O'Malley-Ivanov. Good God." He chuckles and puts his arms around Boris.

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