Ultimate Vengeance (Wanted Men Book 4)(68)

“If you think to separate her from her child, I will stand before her and do what I must to make sure that does not happen.”

They all turned to find Dmitri standing in the doorway, his gunmetal eyes furious as he looked between Vasily and Alek.

A nerve had been struck.

Vasily took no offense to the aggression pulsing from his byki. He knew a situation like this would always trigger the man’s protective instincts more than any other. Vasily dealt with that first by going over and offering a quiet reassurance that no one had any intention of separating Sacha and her daughter. Hell, Vasily was already planning which rooms in his house would work best for the new family of three.

The speeding tic in Dmitri’s jaw was a good indication of what he was seeing in his mind’s eye. His mother and sister being torn apart, screaming and crying with their arms outstretched, reaching, before being silenced with two well-aimed bullets.

“I will not separate them,” Vasily stressed. He waited for a sharp nod of acknowledgment, and then went back to Sacha.

“I have more respect for you right now than I ever have.” He kissed both her cheeks and ignored the way Alek’s body stiffened next to them. His next words were for his nephew’s benefit just as much as hers. “I appreciate that you didn’t make excuses, and more, that even now you automatically protected Alek by glossing over the details to save face on his behalf. The fact that you honored us by naming his daughter after him, even after everything, well, that’s just icing on the cake.”

She didn’t believe his amicability was sincere. He could see it in the careful way she was holding herself. Which showed how smart she was. Of course, he felt some anger over what she’d taken from them. How could he not? But he let it go because he understood her reasoning, and would never think to berate her in public—mainly because she was in no way solely responsible for this situation. They were all going to have to work to gain each other’s trust again. But that would come over time, he thought as he turned her and nudged her toward his nephew, damn relieved there was now a little someone who would guarantee they would be together.

“You and Maksim will take her home,” he told Alek. “Sydney will remain with her for support while you arrange to have her apartment closed up and her things brought to Old Westbury. My house, not yours. I think we’ll let her and the baby get settled before dropping them into the circus your place has become with all the new inhabitants.”

While Sacha’s skin went snow white, Alek’s face transformed from pissed to smugly satisfied. Brat, Vasily thought affectionately as he went over and grabbed his brother’s only child with a hand over each of his ears. He landed two smacking kisses to his cheeks.

“You didn’t think I was going to leave you to be the bad guy, did you, son?” He released this boy he loved so much and had to move away before this news got its teeth into him. Alekzander was a father. Jesus Christ, that made him want to weep. He cleared his throat and said over his shoulder, “Let’s move out. When I get home, I want to greet the baby girl who’s going to bring happiness to two men who probably don’t deserve it.”



♦ ♦ ♦



As Vasily left her and Alekzander alone, Sacha tried to get her bearings. Even though she’d always thought Vasily was a reasonable man, she couldn’t believe this easy acceptance of what she’d done. How could he understand and be okay with it, just like that?

She watched the rise and fall of Alekzander’s shoulders beneath his tux and knew it wasn’t going to be so effortless with him. But she’d expected that, and as clarity had slowly seeped in over the past few minutes, she now understood the new choices before her.

She could cower under the weight of Alekzander anger. Let him continue to yank her to and fro while feeding fear into her heart until she eventually fell apart and was of no use to anybody.

Or she could kill the trembling girl he was now studying and show him something more. The strong, capable woman she’d become. One who would do anything to keep her place in her child’s life.

Some of the tension in her muscles eased. Where was the choice?

She straightened, closed her eyes, and drew in a long, slow breath. Uncaring that he was watching, she blew it out, and with it, she released the dread and fear she’d been living with since staring down at her still flat abdomen in that hotel room. She’d known she was inviting this man’s wrath when she’d made her decision to keep her child from him. She’d known and had done it anyway. So now she would live with the consequences. If she had to leave her pride behind when they walked out of here, she would. If she became not much more than a nanny, useful for nothing more than rearing the baby she’d gladly give her life for, she would. If she had to whore herself to keep her place in her child’s life—sadly, that part wouldn’t be difficult—she would do it, and wouldn’t beat herself up for enjoying it.