Page 118 of Inked in Devotion

“Yep.”

That gave us another reprieve from talking about sensitive matters. I gave Sebastian his stuffed octopus to keep him busy while I made quick work of his diaper.

“Oof, what’s that smell?” Lucy called out.

“Wait until you have one of them,” Bianca told her. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Oh, I’m used to it,” Sloane announced. “And they’re not babies either.”

I kept forgetting she worked in an assisted-living home. I was about to slip on Sebastian’s shorts when Aralina peered closer.

“Did I miss a spot?” I coralled Sebastian’s ankles and lifted them up. My son thought I was playing and burst into excited giggles.

She pointed at the birthmark on the back of Sebastian’s leg. “Yes, it appeared later. It’s like a crescent moon, isn’t it? I don’t know if it’s going to fade as he gets older.”

Aralina kept staring at it, and it unnerved me.

“Is something wrong?”

When she didn’t respond, I touched her shoulder, startling her. She mouthed sorry and thumbed behind her, indicating she was going to return to the fray.

I didn’t have time to dwell on her response because Sebastian started fussing.

I sighed. “You can’t be hungry again.”

“Growing boy,” Bianca called out.

He sure was.

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

Chloe

“We’re almost ready for the grand opening,” Dora told me. We finalized our operating procedures for Renewed Hope so we could send it off to Theo’s legal team for approval.

I rounded my desk and dragged the second chair that was in front of it beside me. “Are you okay with being the CEO?”

“I am.” She peered at me with concerned eyes. “But are you okay with this? It was our plan⁠—”

“But I’m not ready; you’ve been at this longer than I have.” I squeezed her hand briefly. “I’ve been looking at this all wrong. I thought being the face of the foundation meant I was done hiding, so I pushed to open one. But I have to consider what’s best for the NGO. Sebastian and I—we have built-in detractors.”

Detractors were putting it mildly.

“Marena wasn’t my fault,” I continued. “We still don’t know why she targeted me. But my life is about to get more complicated and I can’t risk the foundation.”

“You’re marrying Kolya?”

“Maybe.” I watched for her reaction. “I don’t see disapproval.”

“I have a skewed perception of the bratva. I don’t know the reason you ejected Kolya from the house. All I can see is how he’s been a great dad to Sebastian.”

“And we didn’t need Marena to tell us that.” That faker. She’d set out to undermine Kolya from the beginning.

“Let’s not mention her again,” Dora said. “But we repeated all our background checks given these recent threats, and Theo had instructed his HR department to do high-level vetting.”

Anyone with huge debts was scrutinized further.