Page 67 of Fall into Savagery

I wasn’t a soft man.

But I was fucking soft for a select few people in my life. And I realized then that I didn’t mind it so much.

I placed them down on their feet.

“What were you guys playing with?” I asked.

Dmitriy’s eyes brightened. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back to the place they had been playing. “Come on, Daddy. I’m going to teach you how to play Cars.”

“You are, huh?”

He nodded seriously.

I looked behind and found Konstantin already taking hold of Mikhail’s hand, not wanting him to be left out.

I smiled, and Mikhail rolled his eyes, but I knew he was enjoying this.

So that was what we did.

The Enforcer and theSovietnikof the Vasiliev Bratva played cars with a pair of nine-year-olds for the rest of the afternoon.

Fuck us.

* * *

We tookthe elevator back up to the penthouse that night. I held onto Dmitriy’s hand while Mikhail got Konstantin.

Catalina was looking a little better after spending most of the day yesterday sleeping and eating, and Damien could walk around more, though I knew he was in pain.

Not that he would ever say anything about it to any of us, even if the pain were unbearable.

The doors slid open, and I found Catalina right away.

She was standing by the foyer, and her hands were wrung nervously together.

She couldn’t have kids, but I wondered if she ever wanted them.

I thought so, but a part of me questioned if I was pushing her into something she wasn’t ready for, into something she never wanted in the first place.

A heavy weight crashed down on my chest, and I used my free hand to rub it away as my eyes roamed over her body.

“Princess,” I said softly. Her wide eyes, which had been focused on the boys, moved up and met mine. I crooked my finger, beckoning her to me.

Damien stood behind her, silently taking in the scene. As usual, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

He was a little harder to read than Mikhail.

He also let Catalina out of the handcuffs, though it was for the boys’ benefit. I had no doubt he would tie himself to her again as soon as possible.

Catalina came over to me as Dmitriy took to hiding behind my legs.

I bent down at eye level with him and smiled.

The movement felt awkward and unusual.

I wasn’t the kind of man to smile like this, and I wondered if he could see through the lie.

“This is my woman.” Catalina made a choking noise as I introduced her as such, and I looked up and shot her a wink. “Can you say hi? I promise she’s really nice. Nicer than me.”

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