Page 28 of Born into Chaos

“It’s not like that,” he says, but he’s still blocking the damn door.

“Fucking prove it,” I growl at him, tightening my grip on the can of soup so I don’t do something stupid like throw it at his annoyingly beautiful face.

“I don’t have to prove anything. You need to march your ass back to the elevator and go to your apartment. Text me when you get there so Iknow you made it, and then stay there, Sveta. For once, just fucking listen to me.”

“How could you?” I whisper the question before I can think better of it, and the hurt look on his face surprises me. “Is it because of what I did last night? I know I made an ass of myself and crossed the line, but it was just one stupid mistake.”

Before he can respond, I hear a sound that sucks the breath right from my lungs. Instead of the feminine voice I’m expecting, it’s the unmistakeable sound of a baby crying.

My eyes widen as my world feels like it’s spinning out of control. “You have a baby?”

He groans and grabs my arm, pulling me inside and shutting the door before turning his back on me and walking towards the living room. I’ve never been inside his place before, and I can’t help but gawk a bit. It’s pretty much how I imagined it—big, comfy-looking couch, large screen TV, masculine, dark shades of blue and grey, but the thing I wasn’t expecting is the explosion of baby things littering just about every corner of the living room. I’m still staring at the car seat and stack of pink baby clothes and blankets when Vitya walks over to the playpen and picks up a very small baby and holds her against his chest like he’s been doing it for years. His large hand cups her small head, making sure she’s secure as he turns to face me. I’m not even sure he’s aware that he’s lightly bouncing from side to side in an effort to soothe the crying baby, because he’s too focused on being pissed at me.

“We had a deal,” he says, and I bark out a laugh, because the last thing on my mind right now is my promise to stay in the apartment above him.

“You have a baby, Vitya.” I wave a hand at the pink bundle in his arms, watching as he gives her a pacifier. A violent stab of jealousy runs through me, hitting me at my core. I hate that he’s been with other women, and I hate that one of them gave him a baby. It makes me feel sick, and when the soup can falls from my fingers, I sit down on the chair behind me before I fall on my ass.

He sighs and walks over to me. “I need you to hold her.”

“Huh?” I look up at him, trying to get my brain to work, but I’m still so stunned by this strange turn of events and his words don’t register.

“I need you to hold her while I make her a bottle.” He hands her over to me, and my arms immediately wrap around the tiny bundle. He runs a finger through her silky hair before heading into the kitchen.

I look down at the baby, and there’s no denying she’s adorable. Her light brown eyes look up at me as she sucks on her pacifier. She doesn’t have Vitya’s blue eyes, and her hair is a lighter shade than his, so it’s hard for me to see him in her, but she’s beautiful, just like her daddy, even if they don’t have all the same features. She’s in a cute pink sleeper with little colorful llamas decorating it, and when she flails an arm out, I drag my thumb over her tiny fingers, smiling when she opens her hand and clutches onto me. She’s very small, tinier than I ever remember Isabella or Roma being. She lacks the healthy plumpness that they both had, and I can’t figure out how old she is.

When Vitya comes back with a bottle in hand, I look up at him, still unable to believe he has a baby.

“She’s beautiful, Vitya,” I say, hating how weak and heartbroken my voice sounds.

“She’s not mine, Sveta.” He sounds exhausted as he holds the bottle out for me to take. “I found her.”

I grab the bottle and pull her pacifier out before she latches onto the nipple with a ravenous hunger and starts greedily sucking away.

“Youfoundher?”

He sits down on the couch opposite me and rubs his eyes, clearly exhausted and now I know why. He wasn’t having a wild night of sex like I’d feared. He was up all night taking care of an innocent little baby he’d somehow found.

“I sometimes do extra jobs for your family,” he finally says. “Usually I’m busy watching you, but every few months, I’ll have a night off and I’ll ask if I can do anything. The other night they needed my help, and then last night I finished that job up.” He waves a hand at the very hungry baby in my arms. “I found her at the house I was at.”

I raise a brow at him. “That’s seriously all you’re going to tell me? What job? What house? What the hell were you doing?”

“You know I can’t tell you.”

“Where are her parents?”

“Her mom was already dead. I’m guessing her dad was one of the men we took out.” He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees and lightly clasping his hands as he keeps his eyes on mine. “She looked like she was half-dead when I found her, so dehydrated she couldn’t even cry.” He sighs and shakes his head. “I couldn’t leave her there, and I didn’t know what to do, so I brought her back here.”

“Why didn’t you just tell my dad and uncles? They would never hurt a baby, Vitya, you know that.”

“No, they wouldn’t,” he agrees, “but what would happen to her?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I’m guessing maybe she’d be dropped off at a hospital or fire station, some place where she’d be found immediately and taken care of.”

“She’d be put in the foster system. I’ve heard enough horror stories to know there’s no way in hell I can leave her to that fate.”

“And if you keep her?” I ask, unsure if that’s actually what he’s seriously considering.

His blue eyes stay locked on mine when he says, “Then I wouldn’t be able to keep watching you, and that’s also not an option.”

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