Chapter 11 Tonight Everything Changes #2
“That would help,” she whispers, placing her hand over mine. “Thank you, Santo.”
“For you? Always.”
She settles against me again, relaxed now, her fingers playing absently with the buttons on my shirt.
“I want to do our announcement soon,” she says quietly, her voice soft and full of this secret happiness she’s been carrying all day. “Before dinner maybe?”
My chest warms.
“Yes,” I murmur. “Whenever you’re ready, Dea.”
She smiles—the kind of smile that knocks air out of my lungs and leans her head on my shoulder.
I pull my phone from my pocket with my free hand and type quickly:
Check on Lila. Now. Her place. No noise, no teams. Just you. Update me.
I hit send.
Then tuck the phone away and wrap both arms around my wife, holding her close as guests chatter around us, her small body melting into mine.
“Let’s do the announcement now, hmm?” I ask her softly.
I watch her nod, her eyes bright with excitement, and I stand, helping her to her feet. My hand stays firm on her lower back, keeping her close as I guide her toward the center of the room.
“Everyone,” I call out, my voice carrying easily over the conversation. The room quiets immediately. All eyes turn to us, and I feel Vasilisa’s pulse quicken.
She steps slightly forward, her hand finding mine, fingers intertwining as she takes a breath.
“Santo and I have an announcement,” she says, her voice clear and steady despite the nervous energy I feel thrumming through her. “We wanted to share some special news with our family first.”
Luna is already beaming, hand pressed to her mouth. Nico stands beside her, his expression knowing but pleased. My men watch with curious eyes, glasses paused halfway to lips.
“I’m pregnant,” Vasilisa says, joy radiating from every syllable. “We’re having a baby.”
The room erupts in cheers and congratulations. Sergei, surprisingly, is the first to step forward, pulling Vasilisa into a bear hug that makes my protective instincts flare until I see her laughing, arms wrapped around his thick neck.
“Little Vasilisa having baby,” he says gruffly, his accent thicker with emotion. “This is good news.”
The others crowd around her, careful, respectful, but eager to offer congratulations. Luna squeals and rushes to her side, already chattering about nursery colors and baby showers. Pietro catches my eye across the room, raising his glass in silent acknowledgment.
I watch them surround her, my wife at the center of this warmth she’s created, this family she’s built with nothing but her generous heart and stubborn determination to find light where I only saw darkness.
And then I hear a low, familiar voice behind me.
“Move.”
Before I can turn, Marco, a wall of good-natured bulk, is physically shifted to the side like a piece of furniture. Not hurt, just… relocated. Efficiently.
By Vaska.
Vaska steps into the space Marco occupied, all lean muscle and quiet danger, black shirt rolled at the sleeves, rings glinting under the lights. His expression is unreadable, until his eyes land on Vasilisa.
And then they soften.
No.
Before I can stop him, those lethal hands scoop her straight off the ground.
Vasilisa laughs, delighted. “Vaska!”
He lifts her effortlessly, like she’s still that six-year-old he used to carry around Maksim’s estate.
My heart stops dead in my chest.
“Put her down,” I bark, already moving. “She’s pregnant—”
“She weighs nothing,” Vaska says calmly, “Same as always.”
He spins her once, not fast, just a slow, easy turn that makes her giggle.
I nearly have an aneurysm.
“Vaska,” I grit, every vein in my body ready to burst. “Down. Now.”
He pauses.
Shrugs.
And sets her gently on her feet like she’s made of porcelain.
“Congratulations little Vasi.”
She beams up at him. “Thank you.”
Heat is rising in my chest like a furnace, that familiar, territorial surge that comes whenever another man touches my wife.
Even if it’s Vaska, who’s known her since she was a child.
Even if it’s completely innocent.
She’s mine.
“She was always tiny,” Vaska says to me. “Even as baby.”
I watch as Vasilisa turns to Luna, instantly swept back into excited chatter.
“You touch my wife like that again and I will slice out your tongue and force it down your throat,” I grit.
He freezes.
I expect a sharp nod, snark remark or smirk.
Instead—
He hugs me.
A full-body, chest-to-chest, iron-armed hug that locks my shoulders in place.
“What the—Vaska!”
“You’re doing good,” he murmurs, patting my back once. Hard. “Keep her happy.”
He steps away like it’s nothing.
I stand there, stunned.
We’ve sparred.
Threatened.
Gotten into actual blows.
But never.
Never hugged.
Across the room, Nico is absolutely failing not to laugh.
My phone buzzes in my pocket breaking me from my shock.
Enzo
No answer at door. Neighbor says he hasn’t seen her all day. Car still in lot. Door locked. Window slightly open. Orders?
My jaw clenches. I glance at Vasilisa, still glowing with happiness as she accepts congratulations.
Enter. Quiet. Report back immediately.
I pocket my phone and move back to my wife’s side, sliding an arm around her waist. She leans into me instantly, like she was waiting for my touch.
“They’re happy for us,” she whispers, her eyes shining.
“Of course they are,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to her temple. “They love you and you’ve given them something to celebrate.”
“We’ve given them something,” she corrects.
I’m about to respond when my phone buzzes again. I check it discreetly.
Enzo
Signs of struggle. Blood on carpet. Not much. Place looks ransacked. Broken mirror. No sign of her. Closet emptied. Phone left behind. Cracked screen.
Fuck.