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“I decided to save objectifying you for next week. Today, I focused in on how you only kill people for work and not for sport. I think she approved.”
“I know you’re making fun of me, but you want this to happen as much as Brynn does. I’m just the only one who’s man enough to be honest about it.”
“The confidence of you Bratva boys is unmatched.” I shake my head. “Do any of you ever take no for an answer?”
“Of course not. How else do you think we get everything we want?” He winks at me.
God help Brynn.This bulldog has her scent and he ain’t lettin’ go.
“Brynn is really cool,” I warn. “Super confident and independent. You need to lay some groundwork with her. If you gun it too hard, you’ll push her away.”
“Alright, sensei, guide me.”
I laugh despite myself. “Do you really have three sisters?”
“Yup. Galina, Galya, and Galochka. I’m the youngest. The three of them like to remind me that I was an afterthought.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
He snorts. “There’s a ten-year difference between me and Galina. I was definitely an accident.” Judging from the smile on his face, though, he doesn’t take it personally.
“And you have nephews and nieces?”
“Four and two, respectively. The girls are my favorites, and—before you start lecturing me—if you met my nephews, you’d know why. Those four are Tasmanian devils. But Svetlana and Oksana are angels.” Gedeon is staring dreamily out the windshield. “Maybe I should bring flowers to your next appointment.”
The light turns green. Gedeon does not go.
“Ahem.Ahem.” Finally, I whack him in the shoulder. “Gedeon, for the love of God, step on it.”
“Shit,” he curses as he floors the accelerator and checks the clock. “You’re right. I was supposed to have you home ages ago.”
“‘Supposed to’? Says who? And why?”
“Arsen’s taking you out.” I open my mouth to ask a series of follow-up questions, but he cuts me off. “I don’t know where he’s taking you and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell. I just know you’re supposed to dress up, and you need to leave in, like, twenty minutes.”
My hair is plastered to the back of my neck with sweat and I’m in maternity leggings. “Gedeon! How the hell am I supposed to be ready for a fancy night out in twenty minutes?”
“Miracles can happen?”
“That line didn’t work the first time. It’s even worse now.” He speeds right through a red light and I roll my eyes, muttering under my breath. “Ugh. Men.”
44
LAILA
I feel like Cinderella, hustling down the stairs as I race the clock. Except, instead of a shoe, I’m about to leave the shreds of a silver dress behind. I’ll bust through these very stressed seams, and Arsen will have to go door-to-door, looking for which ginormously pregnant woman can fit into the gown.
And it sure as hell won’t be me.
Because I don’t fit in the gown. Not even a little bit.
I had to have Polina zip me up, and she did so against her better judgment, with no small amount of sweat and muttered cursing under her breath. I’m almost positive she magicked a pair of maternity leggings into my tiny handbag when I wasn’t looking just in case I accidentally take a deep breath and need some emergency clothing.
But the second I step onto the porch and see Arsen waiting for me against the Bugatti, I’m grateful I didn’t give into Polina’s concerns and change.
A dress like this is meant to stand next to a man like him.
Arsen cuts a handsome figure in his navy suit, obviously, but it’s the tousled auburn hair and hungry smile that does it for me. “You look beautiful.” He opens the passenger door, perusing me slowly from head to toe before doubling back to the black diamond pendant around my neck. Per usual with his gifts, it’s in the shape of a rose.
