Vadim
They were both asleep and I was lying next to them, itching for them to wake up. My hand hadn’t left her belly—I could still feel the gentle swell beneath my palm. For the third time, my wife’s belly would grow. This time I would be present for all of it.
I snuggled closer to Runa, who had woken not long ago for a quick feed and cuddle. When I’d tried to lift her she had made it clear she was not letting go of Iskra’s nipple. I didn’t fight her. I knew how she felt.
But now here I was—proof beyond doubt that our child nestled below her mother’s heart.
I gently kissed my daughter’s head, listening to her breathing, and fixed the covers around her to make sure she was clear of the quilt.
Even as my eyes began to droop, I was already planning the day with the fourth member of our family in mind.
??
??
??
Her hair smelled of something warm and floral—shampoo and cold air combined—and the wind kept carrying it toward me no matter where I positioned myself.
I moved in behind her, letting her feel what her proximity did to me, and adjusted her arms for the targets lined along the far wall.
Once her stance was correct I rested my hands on her waist and stayed there.
She groaned.
“Why don’t you let someone else teach me to shoot?”
She wasn’t wrong. The shooting range sat at the east edge of the compound—open air, grey sky, the smell of gunpowder and frozen ground—and I had spent the last twenty minutes pressing myself against my pregnant wife instead of improving her aim.
How exactly rubbing my erection between her ass cheeks was going to help her hit a bottle was a question I chose not to examine.
“Don’t be silly. You should be able to aim and fire regardless of distractions.”
“I have a loaded gun in my hands,” she muttered. “When is Tau coming back?”
He was a good choice for her. Konstantin was more annoying than I was—which was saying something.
“He’s still in America,” I said, reluctantly stepping back.
Her stance was good. She fired. Rapid, decisive—the blasts tearing through the cold air and rolling back off the compound walls. She hit two of the six bottles.
She threw her hands in the air, gun and all, and began jumping up and down like a lunatic.
My smile died the moment I thought about what was currently bouncing around inside her.
I wrapped both arms around her, absorbing the motion, and she turned to face me. Her hat was askew, strands of blonde hair whipping across her face in the wind, cheeks pink from the cold and the triumph.
“I did it. Did you see that?” she said, waving the gun in my face. “I want a bigger one. Can I try yours?”
She pushed my jacket back and started searching for my holster.
“Blyad. Your safety isn’t on,” I said as her barrel grazed my waistband.
“I’m out of bullets,” she said, still pulling at my gun.
I grabbed her wrists and stepped back.
“You’re out of control, woman.”
“What about grenades?” she countered. “Just a few tips.”
I waved Bogdan over without looking at him.
“You deal with her.”
I was not about to get my dick shot off.
“Coward,” she shouted at my retreating back.
Bogdan’s expression as I passed him was the kind that would have earned consequences six months ago. But I was leaving him with a pregnant woman who had just asked about grenades, so I considered us even.
I glanced back before I reached the house. Bogdan was standing at least a metre from Iskra, pointing at the wall with the careful deliberateness of a man defusing a bomb, then holding his fingers up to demonstrate a trigger.
I grinned and went inside to find Runa in the living room with Tikhon. We could watch her mama from the safety of bricks and glass between us.
I had a duty to keep her siblings safe.
??
??
??
I raised my eyebrows at my brother.
“You’re certain?”
“I’ve been working with Valentin and we’re one hundred per cent sure it’s Mirko. Aleksandr has two men tailing him.”
“He never attended the memorial.”
“He’s clever,” Konstantin said with a shrug.
“A Dragunov,” I murmured.
“You’re getting sentimental.”
“Your instincts were right when you added him to the list. Even with little family resemblance.”
“I worked with him. He enjoyed hurting people.”
“The perks of the job,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Put him in the warehouse. Isolate him. No one talks to him until I say so.”
We eliminated one problem and five more surfaced in its place. Remaining vigilant wasn’t merely survival—it was the cost of everything I had built.
“I’ve noticed you’re more relaxed at home these days,” he murmured, warming up to something I had no interest in hearing.
The office held its usual evening quiet—the low burn of the desk lamp throwing amber across the walls, the distant sound of the house settling around us, the faint smell of cigarette smoke and wood from the fire that had burned low in the grate.
Outside the window Chernograd’s lights were beginning to emerge against the darkening sky.
My office door opened.
Runa’s head appeared first—her small face at the gap—with Iskra’s hands visible behind her.
“I thought you might want to say goodnight before I take her up,” Iskra said, nudging the door open with her shoulder.
Konstantin was already on his feet, lifting Runa before she’d fully cleared the doorway.
“Come to your dyadya,” he cooed.
“Don’t get her hyped up,” Iskra warned.
“I’ll try, but females can’t help themselves,” he said, grinning down at Runa. “Isn’t that right?”
Iskra shook her head as I stood. I crossed the room toward her. She looked tired tonight—the tiredness of a woman carrying a second pregnancy while feeding the first, the kind that settled around the eyes and wouldn’t shift regardless of rest.
“I’ll be up shortly. I can change her after her feed,” I said. She nodded, lifting her hand to cover a yawn she couldn’t quite contain.
My fingers found the pendant resting close to her clavicle. Small. Cool to the touch. I held it for a moment.
“We’ll go and see him soon.”
Her eyes softened. Her hands came to rest against my chest—light, unhurried, as though she hadn’t decided to put them there.
“I’d like that,” she whispered, swallowing. “Runa hasn’t been.”
I leaned down and pressed my lips to her forehead. Even as she blinked I could see the tears clinging to her lashes, catching the lamplight.
“We can take her,” I said.
She rubbed her nose and nodded.
I collected Runa from Konstantin, who for once said nothing. The small warm weight of her settled against my chest immediately—her hand finding my cheek as though it belonged there, which I had come to accept that it did.
“My tired printsessa,” I murmured, holding her a beat longer than necessary before passing her to Iskra.
The dark wooden door closed behind them and I turned to pour myself a drink.
“You’re a good father, you know,” Konstantin murmured. “And you’re doing better in the husband department too.”
“She’s somehow tough and soft. Women are changeable but men tend to remain fixed,” I said, raising my glass.
“You’d be bored if it were anyone else.”
I stared at my brother. The thought of any other woman in my space made my stomach turn. I poured a second drink and handed it to him, waiting until he took a mouthful.
“She’s pregnant,” I said, and smirked when he choked.