Page 30 of Essence of Fear

“I just realized …”

Viktoria raised a brow when her brother didn’t finish his statement. “Realized what?”

“That I’m going to be a father.”

“She’s like six and a half months pregnant.”

He scowled as he looked back at her. “Quite aware, yeah? I go to the appointments and keep up to date on it all.”

Viktoria pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Kolya sounded so fucking defensive that someone might question his involvement or level of dedication to his wife and unborn child that it was amusing. Anyone who spent more than two minutes with her brother when he was around his wife knew very damn well that Kolya cared about nothing and no one the way he cared about Maya Boykov.

He shook his head and sighed as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. His gaze came back to her, and she offered him a small smile. “I think I didn’t have an … example of how to be a good father. And seeing all the blue things made me realize some people here expect one thing from a boy of mine.”

“Different than what you expect from him, you mean?”

Kolya shrugged. “Take it that way, if you want.”

She would because she wasn’t stupid. That was exactly what her brother meant, whether he wanted to say it or not. She could read between the lines. She and Kolya were too alike for their own good, even if it was for entirely different reasons.

A topic for a different day.

Today was supposed to be beautiful.

“I think the fact that you know you expect different things from your son than what was expected of you means your first concern is not an issue, Kolya.”

Her brother’s brow dipped as he muttered, “I don’t understand.”

“Our father would have never worried about whether he was going to be a good father to begin with. All he cared about was the fact that his boys became what his boys needed to be—other versions of himself.”

A quick understanding dawned in her brother’s eyes, but in true Kolya fashion, he didn’t acknowledge her words. Still, she could see the gratefulness in her brother’s soft smile. Another unusual thing for him—Kolya was soft in nothing, except for maybe with his wife, but Viktoria knew better than to tell him that.

“You came!”

Viktoria didn’t even get the chance to ready for the oncoming attack from her sister-in-law before Maya pushed past Kolya’s large form and came for her. Maya was a sprite-like thing. Tiny as a fairy compared to her very large and intimidating husband. Her smile was blinding, whereas his scowl was terrifying.

And yet, when she hugged Viktoria, it felt like little bars had come to wrap around her body and were squeezing her tight. Someone else, and Viktoria would have been quick to tell them to back the fuck off. She might even tell Maya that on one of her bad days, but she knew she would get a comment from Kolya for doing it, too.

Not today, though.

Today, she hugged her sister-in-law back.

“Of course, I came,” Viktoria said.

Maya pulled back with one of her big smiles. “I know, but Konstantin said you were … not having good days lately, so I didn’t want to assume. It would have been okay if you weren’t feeling up to it, yes?”

Okay, so maybe she loved her sister-in-law for more reasons than just the fact she was Kolya’s wife. Maya was one of the few people in Viktoria’s inner circle and family who didn’t push her for more than she was willing to give. The woman always seemed to understand that sometimes, people just had to deal with their own shit on their own time. It wasn’t something that could be forced.

And Maya expected nothing from Vik. She was there if she needed her. That was exactly what she needed a lot of the time. She wished the rest of the people around her could understand that, too. Easier said than done …

“Also, Konstantin should learn to keep his mouth shut,” Maya added, winking.

Viktoria laughed. “I tell him that all the time.”

“And he never learns, does he?”

“He’s a fixer,” Kolya muttered behind them. “He must fix all the things.”

“Don’t tell him that.”