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He proved me wrong.

He asked countless questions, still super curious and willing to speak up to get answers for everything on his mind. When he got a little more focused, asking how a baby got into his mother’s stomach, Paloma distracted him by suggesting we go out to the pool.

As much as I wanted to stay and enjoy watching him in the water, and to see Louisa in her bathing suit that showed off all her smooth, fair skin, I had other tasks on mind.

“Where do you gotta go?” Brady asked as he clung to a floatie.

“Where do you have to go,” Paloma corrected patiently.

“Nowhere. I’m in the pool,” he replied.

I chuckled, sliding my sunglasses off to tuck them on my collar. “I’m going to talk to my brothers about business.”

Brady nodded, accepting that I needed to work. “Mama, do you need to work today too?”

She glanced at me. “No. I worked earlier. If anything comes up, Wren will text me.”

She hadn’t gotten in the water yet, so she walked with me toward the door.

“I might be out late,” I warned her.

Nodding slowly, she followed through the house. “I know. Be careful.”

I kissed her, holding her for a moment since it could be hours. “I will. Always.”

She peered up at me and let out a deep breath.

“If you get an update on Vladimir⁠—”

She cleared her throat. “I’ll let everyone know.”

Much like she had with Rico Johnson and Owen Bilsen, she coded automations that would pick up on their movement. Tracking people was always something that we did, but with her instrumental help, it was so much easier.

She had rigged a tracking code to alert her if Vladimir Konstantin was on the move. Based on what she found with Rico Johnsons’s intention to kill himself, it seemed like I’d be busy going after him to question him or seeking the assassin that Kirill Konstantin had tried to use for killing Adrik.

I left the house and went straight to the mansion. I did need to meet with the others and discuss those two tracking risks, but I also had another thing on mind.

Adrik and Maksim greeted me first, downstairs near the foyer as they cut through the house.

“You’re early,” Adrik commented.

“I need to do something before we get started.” I ran my hand back and forth over my hair.

As if on cue, proving I would never be fully ahead of time, Viktor walked in with Alexei and Lev.

“Are you bailing on me?” Alexei asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

I shook my head. “Will you cut it out?” He was supposed to accompany me on this job of finding Vladimir Konstantin and Rico Johnson. “He keeps acting like he’s the last man standing. The only one who’s not tied down and the only one we can count on.”

Adrik frowned. “My excuse is a little different, but⁠—”

“That’s bullshit,” Maksim and Viktor said at the same time.

Lev laughed. “He’s just feeling the pressure.”

“I’m not talking about fucking feelings again,” Alexei warned his brother.

“He’s getting nervous that with all of us getting hitched and having kids, he’ll be next.”