A small laugh escaped me, though I didn’t think any of it was amusing. Jane was right. Tonight, I would probably need to have all of my shit in order.
“It’s some stupid shit when I have to bring my baby to see all of you,” Carina announced as she burst through the front door. She was pushing what looked to be an expensive ass stroller in front of her with a very worn out Ace on her heels.
His shoulders were slumped, and he looked like he was the one who gave birth, not his wife. “She insisted we make an appearance.”
My mother rushed from her bedroom with a bottle ofhand sanitizer, and a massive grin stretched across her face. “Finally!”
“Don’t even think about touching her until I get eyes on my favorite brother,” she warned my mother.
My mother froze mid–sanitizer squirt. “Favorite?”
Carina arched a brow and pointed a finger at me. “The half-dead one. Move.”
Ace dropped onto the nearest couch and groaned, wordless and exhausted. I had no idea how Carina wasn’t fainting from sleep deprivation, but Ace looked like he’d been run over by a semi.
Twice.
She marched straight toward me, hands on hips, looking all of five-foot-two and terrifying as fuck.
“You look like shit,” she declared.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“I mean it,” she went on. “You look like someone threw you down a flight of stairs and then backed a truck over you.”
Ace snorted. “He kind of did get thrown around and shocked?—”
She shot him a look, and he shut up. Was I that whipped when it came to Poppy?
She crouched down in front of me, eyes narrowing. “Why aren’t you in bed? Why aren’t you in the hospital? And why”—she flicked a hand toward Jane—“is this child letting you act like a dumbass?”
Jane lifted her hands. “Oh, don’t drag me into this. I’ve tried to stop him. I literally threatened to get his mother.”
That got my mother’s attention. “Get me for what?”
I threw my head back. I was surrounded by women who could kill me faster than any of Donovan’s men.
“He’s trying to go after Poppy tonight,” Jane tattled instantly. “He thinks she’s planning something.”
“Oh for God’s sake,” Carina muttered. “Of course she’s planning something. Have you seen the pictures? That girl didn’t dress like a power-hungry assassin tonight for fun.”
My stomach churned.
“You saw the photos?” I asked.
Carina made a face. “Saw them? I screenshotted them, sent them to Dimitri, Ace, Audrey, Alexei, Griffin, all of Audrey’s friends—hell, even the group chat with all ofherbook club girls. They think she looks like a mafia queen.”
Great.
“Carina,” I tried again, “she’s going to do something dangerous.”
“No shit,” she said bluntly. “Women don’t show up at fake engagement parties in red lipstick and a cape unless they’re about to stab a man.”
Ace rubbed his face. “This is why I said we should have stayed home.”
Carina ignored him completely. “Ivan, you can barely stand.”
“I don’t care,” I growled. “I can’t let her get herself killed or thrown into jail.”
