Page 113 of Inked in Devotion

“Yes. I want a little girl who looks like her mama.”

The sparkle in Kolya’s eyes and the slight tilt to his mouth…I couldn’t explain it. He was talking as if we were building a family together.

“Kolya, it’s nice to dream, but we still have problems.”

I should be giddy with happiness, but anxiety was winning. You are only afraid when you have something to lose.

Kolya was building up fantasies I could only dream about but never thought I could have.

“One at a time.” He reached over and grabbed his phone and showed me a screen. A text message from Margo Winthrop.

Matchmaker

I found a loophole. Should I draw up the documents?

Yes.

“You’re marrying me, princess.”

Chapter

Twenty-Six

Chloe

“Hello.”

It was inevitable that I would encounter Aralina. She was in Lucy’s kitchen filling a doily-lined silver tray with snacks.

She looked up from the tray, and her cheeks pinkened. Aralina was the epitome of a dollface. Smooth skin, blue eyes with thick lashes, a pert nose, and rosebud lips. Her wavy, thick blonde hair cascaded around her in a cloud of gold.

She smiled shyly and gave a small wave. It was when she gestured to the basement and touched her stomach that I became painfully aware of her mutism.

I caught a glimpse of her during the attic rescue, but despite our one degree of separation, we haven’t crossed paths since then. Society pages occasionally featured my brother and her. Lucy said Theo had scaled back his appearances to avoid questions about Jeremiah, but it would be suspicious if he and Aralina didn’t attend an event or two. Speculation pieces in the media about the union also made the rounds with misogynists mentioning Aralina would make the ideal wife who wouldn’t talk back, yet possessed an impeccable bloodline.

Assholes.

I waited for my resentment to surface, but instead, I dug into my purse for a pen and paper and handed them to her.

“In case you need to tell me something,” I said.

She grinned and accepted my proffered olive branch. “We’re going through Kolya’s fan mail in the basement.”

I burst out laughing. Kolya had mentioned that Lucy had commandeered all his fan mail ever since our conversation at the restaurant. I had shut down Kolya’s autocratic announcement that I was marrying him. No way was I stealing the thunder from Theo and Aralina’s wedding. I informed him quite emphatically that proposing again within the next two weeks would get a “no.”

Was he pleased?

Nope.

But he grudgingly saw my point.

“Are the girls hungry?” I asked.

“There’s a lot of mail.”

“Let me get Sebastian from Sorcha and I can come down and help. Do you need me to grab any drinks from up here to bring?”

She shook her head. “Lucy has a fridge downstairs and Bianca brought blueberry soda.”