Page 66 of Diamond Devil

“You’re going to do it without Celine?” Dima asks. He sounds as incredulous as he looks.

“That was Taylor’s decision.” I lift my hands up in self-defense. “Apparently, Fiona wanted to be buried as soon as possible after her death. I told her we could keep her on ice, wait it out. She refused. Vocally.”

I watch Mila, waiting for her to supply more information on their day together, but she remains tight-lipped about the outing.

“What did you find out?” she asks, bumping shoulders with Dima.

“Nothing yet, but I should have something soon.”

Mila shakes her head. “This is why you should have sent me undercover. Celine would have been here for the funeral.”

Dima scoffs. “Please, you think you’re better than me?”

“Without a doubt,” Mila says, her smile cracking a little easier now that Dima is back. “By the way, what the hell are you wearing? You look like you belong in aSay No to Drugscommercial.”

“Geez,” Dima mutters, scowling. “The Zakharov siblings and their exacting fashion standards. Will this make you both happy?” He stands up and pulls the hoodie over his head.

He’s wearing a white ribbed-cotton tank top that shows off his muscled arms, and the hoodie momentarily catches the hem and drags it up over his stomach. I catch Mila taking a long look before she pointedly turns away. It’s not the first time I’ve seen her check him out, but I figure if “that” hasn’t happened all this time, it never will.

The scars on my sister’s heart might just be too much to overcome.

“Now, you look like a street rat,” Mila mutters, though her cheeks are flushed.

“There’s no making you happy, is there?”

“Some people aren’t meant to be happy.” Only part of her tone sounds sarcastic. “Anyway—what were you two talking about before I walked in?”

“Nothing,” I blurt.

Dima looks at me with raised brows.

“Aw, come on, you can’t leave me out of the loop,” Mila whines. “Dima? Wanna rat?”

“Never mind,” he mumbles and looks away, his version of waving her off. He’s better at reading the room than my sister. Between the two of them, he’s usually the one to know when to let things go.

“Does this have something to do with the baby?”

Dima looks startled. “What baby?”

Mila stares at him in shock, then at me. “You haven’t told him?”

“Told me what?” Dima presses. “There’s a baby I don’t know about? Whose? Where? What species?”

“Mine,” I growl, suddenly remembering why I prefer to be alone most days. “Taylor is pregnant.”

Dima does nothing but blink at me for a long moment. “I’m sorry—did you just say that Taylor is pregnant? Taylor, as in, Celine’s sister?”

“That’s the one,” Mila says, looking like she’s enjoying herself a little too much. “Talk about sister wives, huh?”

“You are not funny,” I snarl at her, before looking at Dima. “I was going to tell you. I’m still processing it myself.”

“Fuuuuck,” Dima groans. “This is…big.”

“That’s what I keep saying. It also screws up the whole plan.” Mila rolls her eyes and sighs.

“It doesn’t screw up anything,” I spit. “It’s a wrench in the works, that’s all. I’m going to handle it.”

“How?” Dima arches a very skeptical brow. “Celine seems like a top-notch gal and all, very laid-back, but there’s no way she’s going to be okay with you having a baby with her sister.”

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