Chapter 33 Dimitri
DIMITRI
I’d been irritated all morning for two reasons:
By the time she called, it was too late for me to make the appointment. As soon as the tests were over, I made my excuses and headed back to the house, leaving Sergey behind to negotiate prices with the supplier.
When I pulled into the driveway, I was vibrating with…something. Anger? Irritation? I was sure of one thing, though—I was fucking done with everyone in my house knowing more about my wife than I did.
I buttoned my jacket and adjusted my jacket sleeves as I made my way inside. My first stop was the kitchen, where Sveta was frosting the biggest cupcakes I’d ever seen. Just another change Sienna had brought to the house—the constant presence of baked goods.
“Are those for Sienna?”
Sveta jumped, and the frosting went all over the counter. She stared down at the mess, tension lining her shoulders. “Sorry, Pakhan. I didn’t hear you.”
My expression softened. “Nothing to apologize for, Svetochka. I’m sorry I startled you.
” Sveta was doing so well lately it was easy to forget the haunted look her eyes had carried the first few months after she was rescued.
She had grown strong, and while helping her would never make my hands clean after the horrible things I’d done in my life, taking care of her was an attempt to balance the scales.
I’d been sent to Russia for training to make me into a true Bratva soldier.
Those years in the compound were long and dark, but no matter how hard they’d tried to break me, they could never get me to hurt innocents.
The scars on my back were the price I’d paid for my resistance.
After years of torture, my father had been forced to relent.
He made me his enforcer and gave me other jobs—building our connections with jewel traders around Europe, extracting taxes from those under Bratva protection, putting an end to enemies and traitors.
The millions of dollars I’d made were funneled directly into the Pakhan’s pocket, funding his cruel empire.
I might have refused to hurt women, children, and animals, but my hands were still so deeply stained with blood they would never be clean again.
It dripped from my fingers in my nightmares, forming scarlet rivers that poured from my flesh like the souls of everyone I had ever harmed.
Sveta gave me a small smile. “Yes, it’s for Sienna. She seemed…” She chewed her lip and my heart started pounding.
“Seemed what?”
“She seemed a little stressed this morning before her appointment. She mentioned the baby is the size of a jumbo cupcake this week, so I thought I’d make her one.”
I looked out the kitchen window, swallowing around the lump in my throat.
I’d learned from an early age to suppress my emotions, and had gotten so good at it I’d believed I wasn’t capable of feeling anymore.
But during this past year, the women in my life kept cracking me wide open. My sisters, my staff…my wife.
Sveta cleaned up the spilled frosting and added a few finishing touches to the cupcake. “You should bring it to her.” She slid the plate and two forks over to me.
I furrowed my brow. “No, you made it. You should do it.”
“Please? I’m really busy today.”
My lips twitched. She was not a skilled liar, but I couldn’t protest too strongly—she was giving me the perfect excuse to approach Sienna.
“Thank you.”
I took the plate and forks and headed to the part of the house I did my best to avoid.
I paused when I reached the sunroom, peering through the open door.
Sienna and Vovk were sitting on the new window seat she’d had the contractor make.
Her hand was curled in Vovk’s thick fur and she leaned into his side as they both looked out at the garden.
I’d spent hours watching her in this room on the house cameras, but it was different in person.
I stayed quiet as I took in the details—the huge red-patterned rug on the floor, the dark green and gold wallpaper, a couch that looked just as soft and luxurious as the new ones in the living room, and a table in the corner that held an elaborate computer setup.
I frowned. What did she need multiple monitors for?
Vovk looked over his shoulder and nudged Sienna. She turned, her lips parting as she spotted me.
“Hi.” Her voice was soft…almost unsure. Did something go wrong at the appointment?
I dragged in a deep breath and forced myself to cross the threshold for the first time in years. I held out the plate. “Sveta made you this.”
Her lips curved into a grin. “Is that a jumbo cupcake?”
I looked down at the sprinkle-covered monstrosity. “Apparently.”
She jumped to her feet and crossed the space between us. “That is so sweet.” Her eyes caught on the two forks clutched in my hand. “Oohh, I see. You’re doing the delivery because you want to steal some of my treat.”
I frowned. “No, that’s not—”
“It’s a devious move, but I respect it.” She flounced over to the couch and plopped down, patting the cushion next to her. “I suppose I can spare a bite or two, if you ask nicely.”
I sat down beside her on the couch like a fucking puppy. Vovk was on her other side, his head resting on her lap.
“I don’t think you can have any, Vovchyk. Cupcakes aren’t for little wolves.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Where did you learn that nickname?”
“Maxim told me. Everyone deserves a cute nickname.”
I watched as she loaded her fork up with a massive bite of cake. Her expression melted into one of pure pleasure as she chewed.
“How was your appointment?” I asked. Her tongue darted out to catch a bit of icing at the edge of her lip, and my eyes locked on the movement.
“Oh,” she said, eyes wide as she blinked up at me. “It went well.”
“And the...cupcake baby is healthy?”
Now her face split in a true smile that took my breath away. “Baby Cupcake is doing really well. Um, I wasn’t scheduled for an ultrasound today, but I was feeling anxious so they ended up doing one. I have the pictures. Do you want to see?”
Her teeth dug into her lip. My fingers twitched with the need to pull it free and rub my thumb over the mark.
“Yeah. I want to see.”
Her smile returned. She handed me the cupcake, made an I’m watching you gesture, and hopped up to grab something off of her desk. When she returned, she sat down next to me, moving in until our legs pressed together.
She held out the small pictures. I put the cupcake down on the coffee table and took them from her with trembling hands. I didn’t know what to expect, but my chest constricted when I saw what was clearly a baby. It was curled up with its hands by its face.
“So cool, right? Baby is sucking its thumb. Can you believe they can do that when they’re so little?”
I glanced between the cupcake on the table and the pictures, trying to wrap my head around how small it was.
“And then these pictures are from my first ever ultrasound.” She held out her phone and my gaze jumped between the little gray blob on the screen and the baby on the prints.
“It’s grown a lot.”
Sienna didn’t mock my stilted statement. “Amazing, right? Baby was only the size of a lentil here.”
I couldn’t stop staring at baby Cupcake. “Is there a way I could have a copy of this?”
Her hand clutched my forearm. “You really want one?”
I nodded.
Her eyes shimmered and my heart leapt to my throat, but she just let out a little sigh and leaned against me. I held my breath, terrified she would move away. When I stayed still, she relaxed further, resting her head on my shoulder.
“We made that,” she whispered.
The tension in my body slowly melted away and I tentatively wrapped my arm around her, gingerly entwining our bodies.
We sat without speaking, our eyes fixed on the ultrasound photos.
It was quiet. Peaceful. And utterly dangerous.
Because it broke all the unspoken rules I’d set to help me maintain my distance.
Our middle of the night meetings didn’t feel real, but now we were in the daylight and I had run out of excuses.
After a few minutes, she poked me in the side and gestured at the cupcake. The corner of my lips tipped up as I leaned forward and grabbed it. She stayed pressed against me as she worked her way through the cupcake. There was still quite a lot left when she put down her fork.
“Full?” I asked.
“For now. I’m sure I’ll get my second wind soon.”
I considered taking a bite, but I wanted her to have everything she wanted.
My heart squeezed painfully when she sat up, leaning against the cushions instead of me. “Do you like the room?” she asked.
The funny thing was, I did. I wasn’t even irritated that she’d taken it upon herself to take over whatever rooms she wanted and ordered tens of thousands of dollars of house shit on my credit card.
“There are more places to sit now.”
She shoved my arm. “High praise,” she said dryly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell all the scary Bratva men that their Pakhan likes the floral wallpaper.” Her brow furrowed. “How would I say that? Pakhan lyubit tsvetochnyye steny.”
I snorted at her somewhat nonsensical sentence—the Pakhan likes flower walls—but the progress she’d made in just a few weeks was astounding and her accent was impressive.
“You have learned a lot.”
“Sveta, Polina, and Aleksei have been helping me practice, but it feels slow. I’m determined to learn, though, so I can talk to everyone.”
A feeling I rarely experienced built in my chest. I wasn’t sure what it was…but it almost felt like guilt.
“This is the house you grew up in, right?” she asked.
I lifted my chin. “Until I was sixteen.”
“That’s when you moved to Russia?”
My jaw ticked. “Yes.”
“It must be strange to be back here. I know it wasn’t a very happy place—at least, it wasn’t for Sofiya and Mila.”
My stomach churned with how easily she read me. It made me feel exposed, flayed open, and tempted to run from the room like a coward. But then she took my hand, tangling our fingers together.
“Matteo and I never returned to our family home, even after he defeated our uncle. Renovating the apartments in our new building gave me something to focus on and made it feel more like home. I hope renovating this place has made it feel new for you.”
I wanted to pull her into my lap. Press my face to her hair.
“This room belonged to my mama. It was her favorite place in the entire house.” I froze at the blurted confession that left my lips without my permission.
She inhaled a sharp breath. “Is it okay that I’m in here? I should have asked before I did anything to the room.”
Watching you in here is the best part of my day.
My mama would have loved all the changes you made.
She would have loved you.
My skin crawled. Blyat. I couldn’t forget how dangerous she was, how easily she could tear me apart.
I stood abruptly. “It’s fine. No one was using the room.”
“Thanks for the cupcake delivery.” Sienna’s sweet voice followed me as I strode to the door.
I didn’t stop, didn’t turn. I couldn’t let my guard down.
There was too much riding on me to lose my focus.
By the time I was driving to my downtown office, I was back in control, even as Sienna’s perfume lingered on my jacket.