36
SOFIA
Iwoke up and found Anya sitting in a chair next to the bed.
Blinking quickly, I sat up and groaned.
The nausea. That sickening dread of needing to puke. Being captured and beaten and then told I was loved hadn’t changed how fickle my stomach was.
“Here!” Anya was startled at how quickly I sat up and groaned as I covered my mouth. “Claire says it’ll help.” She thrust a small plate of salted crackers at me. Once I took it, she held out a glass of water. “Nibble and sip,” she instructed.
I nodded weakly and tried to do that as I breathed easier.In and out.As if I could will the sickness into submission.
“You’re okay,” I said, watching her as she scooted the chair closer.
“Me?” She huffed incredulously. “You’re the one who was taken and hurt and dealing with morning sickness and…” Her eyes got glossy as she reached for my free hand. “You’ve got no room to worry about me.”
“But I do.”
She shook her head. “But you were…” She lowered her gaze for a moment and sighed. “I’m so sorry, Sofia. I didn’t think it was dangerous to take you to the facility. It wasn’t some whim. Iknewhow important it was for you to sign those papers and get Esmeralda out of there. I didn’t think that it would be that risky if we had guards and went there and came right back. I?—”
I squeezed her fingers. “It’s okay now.”
She blew out a deep breath.
“But you’ve got a lot to learn, you know?” I sat back and hated how I’d only just woken up but still felt so tired. “It wasn’t a simple matter of deciding where my cousin should be and who’d make it happen. These politics between our families are so…”
“Fucked up,” she surmised wryly.
I nodded. “I couldn’t let any Orlov participate in any decision in Esmeralda’s care because of the rivalry. And I shouldn’t have been outside the Orlov’s guard until my uncle was at least addressed.”
“I’m so sorry,” she repeated.
“I forgive you.”
She smirked. “I guess Roman’s philosophy sort of does work.”
“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission?” I asked, deadpan. “Yeah, I don’t recommend that.”
“He probably only thinks like that with all his women.” She rolled her eyes.
I sat up more, relieved that she was here and that we could get on better terms after that incident. “You weren’t hurt?”
She shook her head. “No. The guards got me back in the car. They called in that you were taken, and my father was… upset.”
“That his future grandchild was taken?”
She shook her head. “Thatyouwere taken. I’ve overheard him and Claire talking about my brother and how obsessed he was with you. I know I’m still getting a crash course on Mafia politics and all.” She made a funny, immature face at that. “But I’ve also mastered a crash course on how my father isn’t a monster.”
I laughed once. “Oh, I know that too. He’s not.Iknow what a monster is really like. And your father is nothing like my uncle.”
She smiled slightly. “Then I’m glad my brother is slacking off on his responsibility to be here and comfort you so he can be busy planning on how to make sure your uncle will never be near you again.” She patted my hand. “I can sit here and keep you company for now.”
I smiled back the best I could.
She cleared her throat. “And I can update you on everything you’ll be begging to know.” Sitting up straighter, like reporting to duty, she nodded once. “First of all, I went in to sign those authorization papers. The guards were determined to bring me home, and I refused. I insisted on getting into the hospice before leaving. It took some finagling and persuasion. I had to call Roman and have him help me. He came and charmed the staff into acceptinghissignatures, as a temporary proxy or something? I don’t know. But well, you know how he is. Mr. Ladies’ Man. I’m sure he paid them off too.” She shrugged. “We got Esmeralda signed off for, though.”
I cried softly, big, fat, happy tears, and she leaned over to hug me.
