Page 14 of Lethal Abduction

“Hey.” He throws up his hands. “I do a better job of it than Roman, believe me.”

I roll my eyes. “That, I do believe.”

I reach up to take my hair out of the messy bun.

“Don’t.” Dimitry shakes his head with a slow, dangerous grin. “Leave it up.”

I’m suddenly breathless. “Why?” I manage.

His grin turns dark. “Because I want to take it out later.”

We stare at each other, and I feel a trickle of heat from nipple to groin. Dimitry tilts his head toward the door. “Let’s go, shall we?”

3

Dimitry

Malaga, Spain

Present Day

“It’s a boy!” Roman comes bursting through the hospital doors into the waiting room, his smile blazing like the Spanish sun outside.

“A boy!” Ofelia leaps up from the plastic chairs to hug him.

Masha, her little sister, dances around excitedly, clapping her hands. “Dimitry!” She clings to my legs. “I’m gonna have a little brother!”

“Yes,myshka, you are.” I hug her, horrified at how emotional I feel.

Get it together, asshole. You’re supposed to be happy.

“Congratulations.” Mickey, Roman’s godson, is more subdued, but grinning nonetheless as he shakes Roman’s hand. “It will be good to have another man around.”

“A man, huh?” Roman ruffles his hair affectionately. “You’re not even sixteen yet. Yes, you can go in,” he says toOfelia’s excited questions. “But not for long. Darya’s exhausted.” He watches the three kids sprint down the hallway, still smiling, then turns to me.

“Well done, brother.” I embrace him, feeling the exhilaration in his fierce grip. “I’m happy for you both.”

I mean it. I am happy for them.

As happy as I get these days.

Roman stands back, gripping my shoulders. “We’re calling him Aleksander, after my father.”

“Nice.”

He shakes me gently. “And you’re going to be godfather, of course.” There’s just the hint of a question in his voice.

“Of course.”

Are we just going to pretend like Abby never left?

I incline my head, trying to ignore the stab of pain. “I’m honored, brother. Truly.”

And I am. But a kid’s supposed to have two godparents, and the other one isn’t fucking here.

Worse, I can’t bring it up, because Roman is so pissed off about Abby’s disappearance that it will ruin his entire day.

“So does that mean you’re finally going to come home, then?” He’s still smiling, but I don’t miss the way his eyes narrow as he asks the question. “It’s not the same here without you.”

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