Ultimate Vengeance (Wanted Men Book 4)(31)

He took his phone out and called home to ask Samnang, their housekeeper, to make sure Alek’s tux was ready for him to swing by and pick up later.

“I take it we’re going to show in full force tonight?” Maks said as he reached over the counter to rinse out his mug.

Anticipation came knocking, overriding Alek’s irritation at being left in the dark. Now he just had to clear his head. He needed to approach Sacha with a gentle, apologetic, please-have-mercy-on-me hand, not the what-the-fuck-do-you-think-you’re-doing-with-him? one begging to be used right now.

A spoon hit him in the chest before clattering to the counter.

“Are you ignoring me, asshole?” Maks demanded with a trace of humor in his voice.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because every time you talk I want to stab something. Let’s go.” What he wouldn’t give for a pair of earbuds. “Now I know why Vincente kept telling us to keep you away from him when he was going through that shit with Nika. Not because you’d purposely send him over the edge, but because you just can’t help yourself.”

Micha and Anton were sniggering as they headed for the exit. Alek came around the island and got socked in the shoulder by a monster fist.

“What if I promise to make only necessary comments and offer sage advice? If my warped opinion sneaks in, I give you permission to tell me to fuck off.”

“That’s the problem. I can’t.” He met a pair of unusual silver eyes and found comfort in the deep bond he shared with his brother. “As fucked up as it is, I value that warped opinion and will seek it out when I can’t keep my own shit straight.”

With an affectionate hair ruffle that annoyed the hell out of Alek, as it would any man, Maks jerked him in with an arm around his neck and kissed the side of his head. Idiot handled everything and everyone as if they were toys. And he wasn’t the sentimental type so he must have been touched by Alek’s claim. Or Sydney and the kids were rubbing off on him.

He ruined the moment by talking as he donned his coat. “You’ll be tight once you see her. And if the attorney is there, I’ll make sure you don’t hurt him. Even I get that he’s an innocent in this sitch. Of course, you want to beat him down for what he’s doing and who he’s doing it with, especially with that fucking attitude of his. But he doesn’t deserve it. Much. Ah, hell. I’d want him dead, too. Shit.” He gave his head a shake. “Okay. Seriously. I’ll make sure you’re civil. Honestly, I will. Do my best, I mean.”

Alek headed for the foyer, and for some strange reason, didn’t feel all that reassured by the half-assed guarantee.



♦ ♦ ♦



Neither Tanner, who was Angela’s son, or Olivia, the one-year-old girl Sacha was caring for this morning, paid any attention to her chatter, half of it in English, half in Russian. But the third occupant in the stroller didn’t disappoint. Every little while Lekzi, who was facing backward and hidden from everyone but Sacha by the canopy on her car seat, stretched her little face to offer her mother a smile that showed off her two tiny teeth popping up from her bottom gums. Her soft blonde hair was covered by a hat, her small body by a snowsuit. The only visible parts to any of the children were their faces.

“Are you trying to charm mummy as I bore you with my nervous chatter?” Sacha whispered as she pulled the zipper down on her own padded coat. It was mild for early December. “I cannot help it. I keep expecting your papa to step out in front of me.” She navigated the stroller around a recycle bag that had fallen from a pile on the curb and refrained from looking back to see if her guard did the same. “But you know this.”

Lekzi had woken just before six, and as they’d settled in the rocker with their mid-sections pressed together and the baby enjoying her breakfast, Sacha had unloaded, sharing about Alekzander’s reappearance in their lives. Guilt had consumed her when she’d spoken of getting rid of him as quickly as possible. Shame over her vindictive behavior had joined in to eat at her as it always did when speaking to her daughter about her father—something she did more than she should considering how she now felt about him. Finally, she’d had no choice but to voice the frightening possibility that now existed.

She’d told Lekzi she might meet her papa one day after all.

After she’d uttered the terrifying words, Sacha had quieted and tried to imagine what it would be like to share her child with the man who’d helped create her. At first, she’d tried to think in terms of not being the only woman to ever go through something like this. So many other couples successfully co-parented. Would it really be so terrible? To watch father and daughter fall in love with each other. To give Lekzi another person who would love and protect her with his very life. Because she knew Alekzander would. Would it be so awful to sit next to him in the school gymnasium and share in the joy of watching their only child perform in a primary choir? Or have someone to call so she could share things people who weren’t a child’s parent found so annoying? Would it not be a relief to know she could rely on someone if Lekzi got sick? Or if, God forbid, she did?