Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ANTON
I stand outside Kirill’s front door with two guards watching me from the side, and I wonder if I should knock or get back in my car and pretend this never happened.
The second option makes more sense. Probably more than anything else I’ve done today.
The door opens before I can make that decision, and Sloane stands there with one palm on the frame, her brows lifting the instant she sees me.
“Hey, Anton.”
“Sloane.”
Her gaze flicks past my shoulder, then back to me. “Uh…Kirill isn’t here.”
“I know. I need to talk to you.”
She stares at me like my brothers did earlier, and if I didn’t regret this before, I sure as hell do now.
“Me? Really?”
Chyort vozmi. Damn it. Everyone is going to find out about this, aren’t they?
“I should go.” I turn.
“No, wait,” she calls.
I stop, blowing out a rough breath. When I face her again, her mouth softens.
“Sorry. I was just surprised. Please come in.”
A small head appears beside her hip, and Milo, her six-year-old son, stares up at me with a friendly grin. A bit too friendly for my taste. “Hi.”
I look down at him and give a single nod. He keeps smiling like he expects more from me, and I look back at Sloane, begging to be saved.
She presses her lips together, then steps aside to let me in. “Let’s go to the kitchen. Go play, baby.”
The kid ignores her and follows beside us, staring up at me the entire way.
This is going to be worse than I thought.
Lev sits at the kitchen counter with a bowl of cereal in front of him, spoon in hand, and his quiet gaze finds me as soon as we enter.
“Lev.” I give him a short nod.
He studies me for a bit, then returns to his cereal.
Good. At least one person in this house understands the value of not overcomplicating a greeting.
Sloane circles the counter and braces her hands along the edge. “So, what can I help you with?”
I stand there with Milo hovering nearby and Lev still eating his cereal, knowing him well enough to realize he’s listening to every word.
I draw up the words in my head, already regretting them. “What I’m about to ask stays between us.”
Surprise flickers across Sloane’s face, but she nods. “Of course.”
Here goes nothing.
“What do women like when they’re on…” I glance at Milo, who’s staring at me like I’m Santa Claus.
“Yes?” she prompts.
“Their period.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widen, and she blinks at me. “Wow. I, uh…definitely didn’t expect that to come out of your mouth.”
“Neither did I. So, can you help or not?”
Milo peers over at her. “Mom, what’s a period?”
Sloane pinches her eyes shut, her shoulders shaking with a small laugh. “Well, thank you for reminding me that I need to have that talk with my son.” She points toward the living room. “Milo, go play for a little while. Let me talk to Anton.”
“Is he my uncle?”
“Yes, because he’s Daddy’s brother. Remember we talked about this?”
“Okay.” He shrugs. “But he’s kind of scary.”
Her face heats up. “That’s not nice. Say sorry.”
“Sorry, Uncle Anton. Bye.”
“Just go play,” I tell him.
He waves, while I simply ignore him.
“I’m sorry about that.” She straightens herself.
“Why? It was a compliment.”
“Right.” She grimaces. “Of course. Anyway, back to your question. Well, for me, I like a nice heating pad, some chocolates, something salty too.”
Thora already said she wanted chocolate, but I didn’t want to show up with just that.
“A nice foot rub is good too,” she goes on. “Or even a simple hug.”
“A hug?”
I cringe inside. That sounds awful. I don’t get women.
“Yeah. Who doesn’t love cuddling on the sofa?”
“Me.”
“Right.” She nods. “Okay, maybe not a hug, then.”
“Is that it?”
“Yeah. I think I covered it all.” Then a smile follows. “Is there a lady friend you’re asking all this for?”
“I didn’t say that.”
She assesses me more closely. “So you’re just asking this for no reason.”
“That’s right. Just research.”
“You know, it’s okay if there’s someone you’re interested in. It can stay between us—and, well, the boys.” She laughs, throwing a hand in the air.
“Is she pretty?” Milo asks, somehow already back.
I groan, needing someone to just put a bullet between my eyes.
She beams up at me, placing a palm on my arm. “What you’re doing is actually really sweet.”
I glare at where she touches me, and she immediately withdraws.
“I’m not sweet.”
“No, definitely not.” Her voice grows tight. “You could make her a basket, throw all the things I mentioned in there.”
“A basket?”
That sounds…I don’t even want to say the word.
“Yes.” She chuckles at my discomfort. “Oh, you can even add some ice cream in there. Tea too, if she likes that. A soft blanket. Maybe even a stuffed animal.”
I jerk my head back. “A stuffed animal? For a grown woman?”
“Why not?” She shrugs. “It’s cute.”
Just do what she says. You’re not a woman. She is. We defer to her for this kind of thing. It’s why you dragged your ass here, isn’t it?
“What kind?”
“A bear is usually safe. Or maybe a dog, since you have Volchok.”
At the mention of Volchok, Lev climbs off his chair without a word.
Sloane turns toward him. “Hey, where are you going? You still have cereal to finish.”
But Lev keeps walking, disappearing into the hall like he didn’t hear her at all, which he does a lot.
I don’t know how Kirill did it alone before Sloane. Taking care of a kid is one thing, but adding in autism is something else entirely. Even I can understand how hard it must’ve been after his ex-wife left because of Lev’s diagnosis, especially when he was only around three.
I return my attention to Sloane, trying to remember everything she said to get. “Chocolate. Ice cream. Something salty. Tea. Heating pad. Blanket. Stuffed animal. Is that right?”
“You got it.” She grins, staring like she’s proud of me.
God, this is painful.
“Okay,” I say, already thinking through where I can get everything without having to ask another person for help and make this day more humiliating than it already is.
As I start to head back out, I turn to her. “Don’t tell my brothers about this.”
Sloane’s mouth curls. “I won’t.”
I hit her with a harsh stare, and she raises her hands in defeat.
“I promise. This stays between us.”
Before I can decide whether I believe her, footsteps sound from the hall, and Lev comes back into the kitchen carrying something pressed against his chest.
Sloane turns toward him. “Lev, honey, go finish your food.”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he walks straight to me and holds out a gray stuffed hippo with one missing eye.
I stare down at it, then at him, then back at the hippo. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Aww, sweetheart.” Sloane clutches her chest. “I think he wants you to give it to your friend.”
“Friend.” Lev nods as he continues to hold out the hippo, waiting with that unnerving patience of his.
I take the hippo from him. “Spasebo.” Thank you.
A tiny flick of a smile appears before it’s gone and he rushes for his cereal, eating like nothing happened.
Sloane looks a little too emotional for my comfort. “He really loves you. But…I don’t know if you want to give her a hippo.”
I glance down at the ridiculous thing, then picture Thora seeing it and probably smiling like it’s the best thing anyone has ever given her.
“I think she would like it.”
“Well, okay then. A hippo it is.”