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The boy tucked his chin, one hand curling against his stomach. “Mom will be happy.”

“Maybe.” Anika crouched in front of him when he refused to close the distance. “She may be angry or sad too. You can feel however you feel. No one gets to tell you which one is right.”

Mikhail stayed stiff when he stepped into her arms, then folded against her when she rested her cheek against his hair. Tears tracked through the blood and makeup on Anika’s face.

Nora abandoned my fourth fingernail and wrapped herself around both of them. Kirill started to rise, but Roman shook his head. “That invitation was not for you.”

Mikhail eased out of Anika’s arms and looked toward the medical room again. “I want my mom.”

Anika wiped her cheeks and offered him a slight smile. “Let’s go see her. We’ll tell her together.”

The three of us did join her in the room, curious to see Alina’s reaction and unwilling to be apart from Anika. Alina woke when Mikhail climbed onto the edge of her bed. Her hand searched beneath the blanket until he laced their fingers together. She swallowed and winced. “Is he dead?”

“Yes.” Anika sat beside Mikhail but left space between herself and her sister. “Very, very dead.”

Alina shut her eyes. A broken noise escaped as she pulled Mikhail against her uninjured side and buried her face in his hair. “Thank you.” Her attention moved over the three of us. “I never thought I’d say that to the three of you, but you’ve earned it.”

Roman remained near the foot of the bed and slid his hands into his pockets as he spoke. “You’re welcome to recover here as long as you need.” And as long as Anika wanted her around.

The monitor counted out the silence. No one offered forgiveness or pretended an apology could repair five years of damage. “Mikhail stays with me.” Alina held him tighter, panic hardening the words. “Sokolov is gone. No one has a reason to use him now.”

I stepped away from the wall, and suspicion snapped toward me. “No one is taking your son, but we don’t want you to disappear either. You both need doctors and security. When you can stand without tearing open your wounds, we’ll discuss where you want to live and what protection you’ll accept.”

“Accept?” Alina tested the word as though she expected a hidden blade among the syllables. She’d probably never been given options.

“You’ll have a choice.” Anika covered her sister’s hand. “But you don’t get to erase us from his life because you’re afraid. He has me, Nora, and three men who will make anyone regret coming near him.”

Kirill brightened near the door. “Painfully.”

“I want to stay with Nora.” Mikhail spoke so quietly we almost didn’t hear him, but then he raised his head. “I like it here.”

Alina released a long breath and turned her hand beneath Anika’s. “For tonight.”

Anika rose and kissed Mikhail’s forehead. “Get some sleep. Both of you.” She made it into the hall before her shoulders began shaking. I caught her first, and Roman and Kirill closed around us while she pressed her face to my chest and cried without trying to apologize.

Hours passed before both children slept and the doctors released us. Purple glitter covered all ten of my nails and most of my fingertips. I’d refused every offer to remove the excess.

Anika walked into the bedroom after we’d been examined wearing a silk robe. She locked the door, looked over each of us, then tugged the knot loose. “I need a shower.” The robe slid from her shoulders. “And I need all three of you where I can touch you.”

“Hell yes.” Kirill dropped his clothes so fast it was a wonder they didn’t catch fire.

We walked into the bathroom together, Roman and I taking our time removing our clothes while Anika adjusted the water and stepped beneath the spray.

Warm water washed the last of Sokolov from her skin. She checked Roman over when he stepped in beside her, kissed the bruise over Kirill’s heart, then traced the marks around my wrists and ribs. “Tell me if I hurt you.” She lifted her face, wet hair streaming down her back. “I’m serious, Maksim.”

“You aren’t hurting me.” I cupped her jaw, rubbing my thumb over the swelling beside her mouth. “The question is whether you’re hurting.”

“Everywhere.” She turned her lips into my palm. “But we’re alive, and I don’t want another minute of tonight belonging to that bastard.”

We dried one another and moved into the bedroom. My ribs slowed me, but Anika pushed me onto the mattress with one hand against my chest. “Stay.” She climbed over my legs and settled between my knees.

My cock hardened as she unwrapped the towel. “You expect me to lie here while you’re naked?”

“I expect you to follow one order after I followed about a thousand of yours.” She wrapped her hand around me and stroked. “Think of it as personal growth.”

Kirill lowered himself beside me while Roman sat on my other side. Anika drew the head of my cock into her mouth, and heat closed around me as her tongue moved beneath the crown. Purple glitter flashed when I gathered her wet hair, but I kept my grip loose. She took me farther, working the rest with one hand while stroking Kirill with the other. His humor disappeared in an instant.

Roman touched her shoulder. “What do you want from me?”