She snorted. “If his head’s crooked, it’ll be entirely your fault. What’s the difference between rolling around here or on a mattress?” She went on her side and laid her head down. Her raven hair spread out like an oil slick. Another beauty. “Come out here, sweetheart. Let us maul you.”
“This should do the trick.” Samnang Oung, their perpetually smiling housekeeper, came from the same direction Eva had. His grin was as bright as his peach shirt. He was holding up what looked to be a saucer of tuna or salmon. “Hello, Mr. Alek. Nice to see you this evening.”
Nika looked over her shoulder. “Oh, hi, Alek.”
“Hey. What do you have under there?”
“Found a lone kitten curled up in a tree trunk in the west woods,” Jak answered. “Brought it home and V’s pissed.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the cat.” Vincente rearranged his grip on the squirming dog. “My deal is with this one who’s gonna destroy the place chasing it.”
“Ouch!”
His gaze whipped to Nika. It went from concerned to tender to agonized as she began fussing with the little ginger ball she was now bringing under her chin with a hand that had a long, bleeding scratch on it. “There you are, darling. Did you scratch one of your new mommies? Oh, you sweet, silly baby. It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid. Nobody here will hurt you. I promise.”
A sick feeling took up residence in Alek’s gut. How often had Nika wished someone had been there to say those words to her while her dead husband was beating on her?
Vincente must have been paying more attention to Nika than Charlie, because in the next second, the fifty pound Rotti was loose and barreling across the foyer toward the girls.
Over the sound of all the men jumping into action while cursing their heads off, Nika’s voice rang out stern and clear.
“No!”
Charlie’s paws slid as he put on the brakes. He stopped three feet from Nika’s thigh and moved the rest of the way to her in a sheepish crouch, his tail hammering back and forth a mile-a-minute.
“That’s my good boy,” she praised as she handed the kitten over to a grabby Eva so she could take the dog into her lap and cuddle with him, good clothes and all. “Do you see what a smarty-pants you are? I told Daddy your lessons were working. Mommy’s so proud of her special boy.”
“Sure I can’t knock you up yet?” Vincente asked in a low voice.
“Not yet,” Nika answered with her face buried in black fur, her tone suggesting the question had been asked before. “But you’ll be the first to know when I’m ready.”
He nodded once. “Just thought I’d check.” He left the girls to their animals and wandered over to Alek. On his way by, he punched Jak in the side. “A fuckin’ cat, soldier? Real man’s pet. Hey,” he said to Alek when he reached him. “I hear you got yourself a permanent shadow. Why don’t I see him?”
“Ducked out when he heard you bellowing. Didn’t want to get caught in the cross-hairs.”
Alek brought Anton in and made an informal announcement regarding his new role. After nods of satisfaction and a few it’s-about-times, the rest of their crew arrived home from the city and everyone settled in the main room as they usually did on weekends when they found themselves home together.
Alek made sure to stay in the moment, knowing he had to decompress before he saw Sacha again. He had to get her alone next time. Completely. With a guard at the door and no one in her camp having any knowledge of where she was. And no babies around. He wasn’t going to let anything distract him from detailing his defense…
Bad choice of words, he realized when Sheppard came to mind.
He looked at his watch, groaned inwardly at the early hour, then looked for a distraction.
Maks and his Aussie had ended up on the sofa. Sydney, who was sniffling and glaring at the ginger kitten on the other side of the room, was a walking fetish in a cozy onesie she’d changed into; Alek couldn’t tell if it was sleepwear or a costume since it had a puffy tail and a hood that would turn her into a koala if she were to put it up. She curled into Maks’s side and let out a long sigh. Her nightclub, one of the most popular in Manhattan, kept her busy until the wee hours, so she took her downtime seriously. Maks’s arm caged her in even as his hands were busy working the controls on a game he was playing with Andrew and Elli that consisted of blowing the heads off some fast moving zombies.
“Yes!” Andrew threw his arm in the air. He and Elli fist-bumped without taking their eyes off the screen. Maks muttered something about unfair teams and cheating which had the kids scoffing and rolling their eyes. Sydney looked up at him. When he pretended to yawn, as if bored, she snickered and tightened her hold on his waist as she snuggled in deeper. Maks pressed his lips to the top of her head and left them there as he played.