Page 106 of Sexting my Bratva Daddies

“Oh.” I glanced down out of reflex. “I didn’t notice.”

“You have glass in your hair and a cut on your forehead.” Viktor plucked shards from my hair.

My mind flashed back to the fight, those few seconds feeling like hours. The stove. When they’d shot at me, something hit the stove, shattering the glass on the oven. It must have hit me.

“I don’t feel it.” I reached for my head.

Misha stopped me with one hand around my wrist. “You will when the adrenaline wears off. It’s okay. Don’t touch it.”

“Luka. We have to get Luka.” I turned away from them and rushed for the steps.

They ran behind me, letting me lead even though they were all faster.

I crossed the ruined living room, glass crunching under my feet, and jumped over every other step. I tore through Luka’s room and fell to my knees on the other side of the closet door. “Luka, it’s Mama.”

Nothing.

Breathe. Remember the rules. “Luka, it’s me. Thunderbird.”

Silence lasted five full seconds, then the door burst open and Luka threw his body against mine. “Mama.” Arms tight around my neck, he squeezed. “I stayed. I stayed in my spot even though I heard scary sounds. I didn’t come out till I heard the secret word.”

I slid down the wall until my ass hit the floor and pulled him into my lap. He smelled like Luka, like the bubblegum soap he loved so much, and that, more than anything, settled my nerves. “You did so good. You were so brave, and I’m so proud of you.”

“Were you scared?” He rubbed his nose back and forth over my shoulder.

“Yes.” No point in lying. “But I was brave too. Like you taught me.”

He stopped wiggling and lifted his head. “Like I taught you?”

“All the time, my baby boy. All the time.”

Leo settled in beside me. “Hey.”

Luka considered him a moment, then patted Leo’s jaw. “You fixed it?”

“Yes. We fixed it.” He nodded toward me, then Misha and Viktor behind him.

Luka nodded, apparently satisfied, and curled into a ball in my lap.

I looked at Leo over Luka’s head.

“He should stay up here for an hour or so while we clean up. Wouldn’t want him getting glass in his feet.” Or see a dead body. Misha cupped my face, bending at the waist to kiss me. “It’s over.”

It was over, and I had survived. I hadn’t just endured or existed at the fringes and hoped for the best. I had looked death in the eye and held my ground.

Leo’s hand found mine. He squeezed tight. Once. Twice. Three times. I squeezed back.

We were going to be okay.

EPILOGUE: PEYTON

One year later…

Fireflies came out just as Dad burned the first round of hot dogs.

This was our tradition. The Stirling family could not gather in the back yard without Dad swearing he wouldn’t burn anything, only for him to get distracted and everything on the grill to turn to ash.

“Record maintained.” I laughed and tossed a handful of confetti toward him, which he smacked at with a harrumph.