Page 85 of The Bratva King

Kylie breezes into the kitchen. “Good morning, everyone.”

“I got your message, Nikolai,” she says.

Gabby looks at me.

"Luke, you’re going to learn to swim,” I tell him. “Kylie is taking you to your swim lesson.”

“Excuse me?” Gabby snaps.

“You said he needed swim lessons. I got him a teacher.”

“Okay,” Luke says.

He slides off the chair and disappears down the hallway, dinosaur in hand.

Kylie, picking up on the tension in the room, looks between me and Gabby. “I’ll go help him get ready.” She turns to leave and then pauses. “Gabby, is this okay?”

I watch her. Gabby’s shoulders drop. “Yes. Thank you.”

Kylie nods and quickly leaves the kitchen. Irina suddenly finds somewhere else to be.

Gabby sets down her coffee cup. “We need to talk.”

“Okay.”

“Last night was…”

I wait.

She throws her hands up like I’ve frustrated her. “Amazing.”

“Agreed.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m moving in permanently. That doesn’t mean we’re playing house.”

I lean back in my chair. “You already live here.”

“Temporarily.”

“No.”

“What the hell does that mean? No?”

“It means you live here. Luke lives here. He’s comfortable. Safe. Settled. He needs his own room.”

She glances toward the hallway and then back at me. “I’m not staying, Nikolai,” she whispers. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I need to find my own place. For me and Luke.”

“Why.”

She blinks. “What do you mean, why?”

“Give me one good reason.”

“I told you already. I don’t want to owe you.”

“We’ve gone over this. You don’t owe me anything.”

“I owe you everything!” She’s worked up now. I see it in the way her hands move, and in the flush creeping up her neck. “Room, board, childcare, a car. And now swim lessons, too? I can’t keep taking and giving nothing.”