“Okay. You be careful too.”
“Always, beautiful.”
After we hang up, I do something I never thought I’d do. I go through and clean out my phone, deleting the women in my contacts and all the photos I’ve been sent, not feeling even slightly apprehensive about doing it. My cock has finally calmed down, and none of the women in the photos even make it twitch. All I can think about is how awful I’d feel if Evie ever saw any of it. I can’t erase my past, but that doesn’t mean I want to throw it in her face. Once it’s scrubbed, I grab my keys and leave.
It doesn’t take long to get to Vasily’s. I nod at the guards when they open the gate for me, and when I knock on the door, I start laughing at the sound of Dmitri’s voice yelling my name. As soon as Nina opens the door, he comes running at me, throwing his little arms around my neck and squealing when I pick him up and spin him around.
“Uncle Valeri!” he yells in Russian.
I hold his squirming three-year-old body and kiss his cheek while Nina laughs at his excitement. Keeping a tight hold on him, I pull her into a side hug and kiss the top of her head, noticing the small baby bump that seems to get a little bigger every time I see her.
“How are you doing? Still feeling okay?”
“I’m good. The morning sickness has gone away, thank god.” She smiles up at me and laughs. “Vasily showed me the picture. Who is she? We’re all dying to know.”
I groan and look at Dmitri. “This family can’t keep a secret, Dima. You remember that when you start dating.”
He just laughs, and when I set him down, he runs off with Ruslan, the large Tibetan Mastiff that Vasily rescued when he was just a pup. I follow Nina into the kitchen and smile when she doesn’t even ask and just starts fixing me a plate of leftovers.
“Have you got it out of him yet?” Vasily asks, walking in and pulling his wife in for a kiss while laying a protective hand on her belly.
“My interrogation techniques aren’t as good as yours.”
Vasily turns her around and wraps an arm around her upper chest, holding her tightly against him. “Come on, little brother, out with it. Who’s the girl with glasses that you had breakfast with? Ilya and Nikolai said she was very sweet and definitely not some girl you just picked up at a club.”
“Sounds like you guys have it all figured out already,” I say, laughing at the look Nina gives me.
“Please tell us. We’ve been dying for you to meet someone. At least tell us something about her.”
Knowing they’re never going to stop until they get some info, I take the plate of food from the microwave and grab a fork. “Her name is Evie Finch, she’ll be twenty-one tomorrow, and I met her because she accidentally rear-ended me.”
Nina squeals and claps her hands. “That’s so romantic!”
I laugh. “Hitting my brand-new Aston Martin is romantic?”
“No, the fact that you didn’t even care that she hit it is what’s so romantic. Even telling the story, you’re smiling and not at all pissed about it.”
“Very true,” Vasily says, eyeing me like he can read my every thought. “This is very unlike him. So when do we get to meet her?”
“I just met her a few days ago, and she knows nothing about the Medvedev family.” I groan and lean against their island. “I asked her where she wanted me to take her for her birthday, and she mentioned that she’s never been to Inferno. I could tell she really wanted to go, and I couldn’t say no.” I groan and ignore their amused faces. “What the hell am I going to do?”
“Invite us to come along so we can help,” Nina says, making Vasily laugh.
“You see what a smart woman I married?” He kisses her cheek, and I have to remind myself that this is the same brother I’ve seen gut a man on more than one occasion.
“She is very smart,” I agree, “but don’t you think it might freak Evie out to be bombarded by everyone?”
“We can be subtle,” Nina assures me.
“Since when?”
She laughs and smacks my arm. “I’m serious. We’ll just be there, with Volodya and Maddie of course.”
“Of course,” I say around a mouthful of food.
She ignores my sarcasm. “And we’ll just happen to run into you. I swear we won’t be invasive. We’ll give you your space. Won’t we?” She tilts her head to look up at Vasily.
He gives her a big smile and kisses her. “Absolutely.”
