Page 96 of The Payback

“You left our daughter in the hands ofthieves?!” I roar.

“More or less.” She levels me with a look and waves her hand at my chest. “Would you rather she be here, neck deep in the Bratva? Glass houses, asshole. Besides, who better to watch her than them? They’re secure, in an untraceable location, so even if you decide to get hotheaded and go after her, you’ll never find her. And they’ll likely kill you before you know they’re onto you.”

“Christ, Ellie! I won’t steal our child away in the dead of night.”

That she thinks I would sends a dagger through my already shredded heart.

“Good. So let’s wrap this up, and if you decide to return to the right path at some point, we can discuss the future. But I warn you, Nikita, that conversation is in the distant, distant future.Distant.”

I smile. But at least it’s in the future. Whereas before, it wasn’t even in the realm of possibility.

I have a daughter.

Bella.

I have a family.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX

Dimitri

Dismissed,like this isn’t my house. Like Eleanor isn’t my wife, and Nik isn’t my closest friend—which is sad because we’re about as close as strangers at this point.

The day started so well, too. I got a meeting on camera last night with an arms dealer, then I slept surrounded by Eleanor’s scent—her soft body wrapped around me because, in her sleep, she can’t stay away—a bit of teasing over the phone, light degradation, and showing her my studio.

God, I’d never felt so stripped bare as her eyes roved over the works I’d left scattered around the room’s edges. But she was perfection personified as she assessed, not critiquing, even though the painting on the south wall could use fine-tuning now that I’ve gotten some distance from it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting wrapped up in each other and then all that shit downstairs started. Clearly, I said something to send Nik into a fit. Was it a fit?

Eleanor’s soft knock on our bedroom door pulls me out of my mental replay. I scowl. Why is she knocking on our door? It’sourdoor. Since I’ve shown her all of me, one would think she would feel welcome in our shared space, not hesitant.

“Come in,” I call from the seating area. I started the fire when I got up here, only to have something to do when I was dismissed—something we’ll certainly be discussing later. But I saw the desperation in both their eyes. They needed that moment. And as loath as I am to admit it, they need each other as much as I need them. Not in the same way, but the three of us call to one another in a way I’ve never experienced before.

Nik is my brother in every way that counts. Sure, we’ve drifted, but what siblings haven’t? Eleanor feels like family, too. But differently—a way I’m afraid to want but too weak to resist.

Eleanor steps into the room, poking her head in before pushing the door wider.

Without a word, she takes the other chair, and Nik follows her. My brows raise, the only expression I can’t get control of when they appear together, solemn and sombre.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

Eleanor nods. “There’s something we need to discuss. As a team.”

Nik swings his gaze from me to Eleanor. “Is that what we are? A team?”

My wife smacks his chest with the back of her hand. “Don’t be an asshole.”

He shrugs and offers the other armchair in the sitting room of our suite to Eleanor, who shakes her head. She stands between us, her gaze landing on my lap when my fingers twitch on my thigh. I want her with me; of course, I do, but she seems unsure.

She plops down on the floor, crossing her legs in front of her like a preschooler.

“So, are either of you going to explain what the hell just happened downstairs?” I ask, starting us off. “Evidently, I said something that instigated all of this, and I’d like to know what it was.”

Eleanor takes a deep breath, steadying her shoulders and looking between Nik and me, her gaze lasting longer on me. Not that I’m counting.

“You know I have a child—”

“That you lied about,” I remind her.

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