“It’s okay,” he murmured. “I won’t tell.”
“Mr. Borisyuk, forgive me.”
“No, don’t. Call me Levka.”
Luerna sat back, exhausted from her panic. She cursed Rurik for not telling her they were having such esteemed guests in their home. The Borisyuks had been family friends for the last twenty years. Levka was the only son of Ivan Borisyuk and one of her brother’s best friends. But as he was ten years younger than her, she never interacted with him directly and now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him around in years.
Luerna maneuvered the baby off her breast, making sure to keep herself covered before she rested him on her shoulder to stand in proper greeting, only to find Levka’s hands out. “May I?”
“You want to hold a baby?”
He reached past her for the hand sanitizer, rubbing his big hands together before once more reaching out. “If you don’t mind.”
Luerna didn’t mind at all. She just wasn’t used to such a question from a man.
A Teen man. If that’s a thing.
She tossed him the burp rag before she held the little infant out to him. Levka was clumsy in his hold, tilting his body in different ways before the baby rested comfortably on his chest. He stared at the little face, and Luerna swore she saw amazement in his gaze.
Not exactly a teenager, is he?Luerna admitted as she studied him. Levka was probably eighteen or nineteen, but he had grown exponentially since she had last seen him. Luerna knew very little of Levka Borisyuk, the prince of wolves, including why he was in her house.
Bet he could deadlift a horse.
Luerna cleared her throat, shifting on the couch. She was disgusted by the way her hormones reacted, and quickly shut it down.
“I want kids.”
Luerna scoffed at the naivety. “You are still a kid yourself.”
Levka looked down at her. “I assure you, nothing about me is child-size.”
It made her laugh, but she cut herself off. She didn’t like how that insinuation made her wonder. She searched for the remote, any distraction she could find.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Remember you?” Luerna remembered a scrawny pubescent boy who would awkwardly stare at her when the boys ran through the house, but there wasn’t much else to remember.
“My father shipped me off to boarding school, but your brother Alexei was my best friend for a while.”
“I remember,” she said. “You weighed like thirty pounds.”
He cackled. “Yeah, I was a beanpole.”
Levka rocked the baby, an instinctive movement that Luerna watched with awe. Her own husband hadn’t held his newborns yet. He told her specifically, ‘no proud man would hold a baby.’
“A lot’s changed in the last few years. But the house is the same. You–” He was staring at her. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to get more beautiful.”
She produced a horrible donkey laugh. “Yeah, right.” There was melted chocolate in her silk pajamas, and dried milk stains splattered along her shirt and pants, his lie was unnecessary.
Suddenly self-conscious, Luerna went to stand up, having completely forgotten about the second baby between her legs. She nearly knocked him off the couch. Her heart wrenched as she grabbed him. Thankfully, the baby didn’t wake, but it didn’t stop the wave of failure from slicing into her. Luerna held him close, not sure if it was Dasha or Kolya she was holding. Self-hatred sprung a new batch of tears.
Levka quickly set the baby in the bassinet before he kneeled down beside her. “Hey. It’s okay.”
Luerna had a hand against her face as sobs came out of her uncontrolled. “I’m sorry,” she forced out. “I’m a fucking mess.”
“Don’t apologize.”
She didn’t understand why he was here, why he was being so nice to her. She wasn’t used to the type of care that sounded in his voice.
