Chapter 35 #2
Drea was, unfortunately, not one of those people—case in point, the screaming newborn in her arms.
I plastered the fake smile on my face—the one that had been my go-to facial expression for the past three fucking months—and walked into the lounge room. “Hey, hey, hey, what’s going on? What are you doing to my niece?” I asked, taking her from Drea.
The crying stopped immediately.
Drea’s mouth dropped open. “Why?” she whined softly, almost stomping her foot in outrage. “I’ve been trying to soothe her for twenty minutes, and you just come in and she stops straight away? That’s not fair!”
I smiled down at Ivana, my heart so full of love and light, giving her my pinky to wrap her little hand around.
This smile wasn’t fake. It was the only one that wasn’t.
“What can I say? Babies love me,” I said, falling into that easy rocking rhythm you couldn’t help but do whenever you had a baby in your arms.
“Again, I say, no fair. You’d never even met a baby before they were born.”
“I told you I would be the favorite.”
She pointed an accusatory finger at me. “Just you wait. I’m coming for that title.
” Then, she smiled lovingly at Ivana. “Goodbye, Princess. Sleep well,” she whispered, rubbing the top of her beanie-covered head in a soft, soothing caress.
Her gaze whipped up to me, and she pointed two fingers at her eyes before swiveling them to me in a I’m watching you, it’s on motherfucker kind of gesture before she said a quick goodbye to Nikolai and Aleksei and walked out.
I laughed softly. “She’s salty, isn’t she?”
“Little bit.” Nikolai chuckled, placing the empty bottle down on the side table. He maneuvered Aleksei to his shoulder and began gently patting his back.
He’d fallen into the father role effortlessly, almost as if he’d been born to be a parent. I’d never seen him so happy. The pure love and adoration on his face when he looked at his children was nothing short of heartwarming.
Kinda made me want a little rascal of my own, to be honest.
“Go easy on her. She tried everything to settle Ivana, and you waltz on in and she just falls asleep.”
I looked down, and yep—sure enough, the little one was fast asleep. Grinning, I said, “I can’t help that I’m the favorite.”
“No, but you like it,” Nikolai snickered.
I flashed my teeth in a wide smile. “Yeah, I kinda do.” I sat down on the couch beside him, making myself comfortable. “Where’s the missus?”
“Getting some much needed rest. She was up all hours of the night, breastfeeding the twins.”
Aleksei burped, spitting up on the cloth slung over Nikolai’s shoulder before starting to cry. “Shh, shh, shh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he soothed, rubbing a hand up and down his back. “How did it go? Did you find her?”
“No.” I sighed, disappointment and anger pounding inside me. I beat it down. I promised myself that I wouldn’t lose my shit near the babies. “She hadn’t been there in weeks. I did manage to get the information on her new identity, though, so that’s a plus.”
He nodded, rocking back and forth in his chair. “Send me the details. I’ll put it into my programs and be on the lookout.”
I inclined my head. “Appreciate it.”
My siblings had been nothing but supportive of my quest in finding Lyla.
They’d all witnessed her kill her own brother in order to save me and Father.
That negated any negative feelings they might have originally had after learning her identity.
Like Father had assumed, Aleksandr and Nikolai understood.
They didn’t hold Lyla responsible for what her father did.
And could even understand why Lev would want revenge.
Any of us would have done the same in his place.
Illayana? Well…she took a little longer to come around.
She’d been so young when Mother was killed, and although she knew Lyla was in no way responsible for it, it was hard for her to differentiate.
Hard for her to let go of the past. Illayana had eventually agreed to help me in my search, like my other siblings had, but she made it noted it was under protest.
I think the phone call she’d had with Lyla during my captivity had affected her mood about the whole situation, though she refused to admit it.
Leaning back, I adjusted Ivana so she laid flat on my chest, and looked around the room, my mind a jumbled mess. “I just don’t know why she’s running from me,” I admitted, my thoughts running wild.
Nikolai pursed his lips. “She’s in pain, Lukyan.
She lost her brother. Someone who was incredibly close to her.
And from what you’ve told us about their relationship, he was the only one who was there for her.
It will be hard for her to deal with his death, let alone come to terms with the fact that she was the one who killed him.
Imagine how you’d feel if you had to kill one of us to save her. You’d be tormented.”
He was right. Of course, I knew that. Had even told myself the same thing on numerous occasions. Didn’t help in dealing with it, though.
I exhaled heavily. “I just want to be there for her.”
“And you will be,” he said with conviction. “Just don’t give up. Find her and let her know you’ll be there for her, no matter what. That’s all she needs.”
I tossed one of the twins’ soft toys sitting beside me at him. “When did you get so wise?”
He caught it effortlessly and threw it to the side. “I’ve always been wise. You’ve just never paid attention before.”
I grunted. “Hardy, har, har.” I went quiet for a moment before speaking again. “I gotta say, it still surprises me how supportive you’re all being about this. I could have sworn you’d all tell me I was crazy for wanting her.”
He gave me a sad look. “I hate that you’d think that of us.
All we’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy, Lukyan, and it doesn’t take a genius to see that she makes you happy.
I’ve never seen you care so much about someone before.
Be so focused on their happiness and well-being.
To be honest, when we heard you’d been kidnapped, we kinda knew you’d come back completely in love with her. ”
“You did?” I frowned. “How?”
“She’s everything you’ve ever wanted. Beautiful.
Smart. Confident. Brave. She has the same type of personality you have.
I always thought you’d need someone opposite to you.
Someone to calm your crazy, but that was stupid of me to think.
You need someone who matches you. Challenges you.
Someone who can keep up with you. Someone even crazier than you are, and, well, she’s definitely that.
Only someone absolutely fucking nuts would walk into a room full of enemies and trick you into marrying her. ”
I smiled at the memory, and all the rest that followed. “Yeah. That was pretty fucking nuts.” I chuckled. My gaze moved to the ring still on my left finger. I hadn’t taken it off. Never would, if I had the choice, and I hoped she was still wearing hers.
Nikolai looked past me at the sound of footsteps. From the way his face lit up like a fucking Christmas tree, I didn’t need to turn around to see who was coming down the stairs. There was only one person who could illicit that kind of infatuated look on his face.
“Don’t worry,” he said quickly. “I’ll send her identity to the rest of the family, and get them all searching for her. We’ll find her.”
I truly, truly hoped so.
Tatiana walked into the lounge room, her blonde hair down and falling past her shoulders. She was wearing a black silk robe, tied at the waist, with a pair of fluffy pink slippers on her feet.
Nikolai smiled, love and light in his eyes. “Hey, Mama,” he whispered lovingly. “Did you get a good rest?”
“The best.” She moaned, stretching her arms above her head. “How did they go?”
“Good. Aleksei finished his whole bottle and just fell asleep. Ivana took a little longer to settle.”
“But don’t worry, Uncle Lukyan came to the rescue.” I winked. “She’s konked out. Hey, T.”
“Hey Lukyan.” She smiled. “Did you find her?”
I shook my head, that anger beating inside my head again.
The fact that I was holding a tiny little baby in my arms helped to alleviate some of it, but it was still there, like an unrelenting pressure in my brain.
“I’m hoping that will change soon, though.
Here you go.” I got up and went to hand Ivana off, then paused, maneuvering her sleeping form so I could pull out my phone. “Actually, can you take a photo of us?”
Tatiana smiled, taking the device. “Sure.” She held it up and took a few pictures. “You’re not going to post these online, are you?”
“No. I know your rule. No pictures of the babies on social media.” Both Nik and Tati were very strict on that rule.
The Bratva had many enemies. They didn’t want to risk anything happening.
No one outside of the family even knew she’d given birth yet, or that she’d had twins.
We were all being very secretive about the whole thing to ensure the twins’ safety.
“Thank you.” She handed the phone back to me.
I looked at the photos, smiling. “These are perfect. Thanks.” I handed Ivana off to her mother. She stayed asleep, cuddling deep into her chest. “Where’s Aleksandr?”
“I just saw him in his office with your father,” Tatiana said, her eyes firmly plastered to her beautiful daughter in her arms.
“Cheers. I’ll catch you guys later.”
Neither one looked at me again, both too focused on their sleeping children. I couldn’t even blame them. The kids were damn cute.
As I made my way upstairs toward Aleksandr’s office, I sent the photo of me and Ivana to Illayana.
Me: Attachment 1 photo.
:Told ya. Favorite.
Illayana Butt Face: Soak it up while you can. I’m coming for that spot.
Ha ha. In your dreams. If I had to bribe those kids with money to stay the favorite, I would damn well do it