Page 44 of Inked in Devotion

“Stop that.” Chloe laughed and swatted my back lightly.

And my son willingly went to Sorcha with a burst of giggles.

“What are you? A baby whisperer?” I derided.

“He’s just becoming more confident,” Dora said. “That’s good. But Sorcha obviously knows how to handle kids.”

“I raised Kirill,” Sorcha said.

“What?” Chloe exclaimed.

“Are you surprised because it’s hard to imagine Kirill as a snotty child?” I asked dryly.

As the three women gathered and chatted around Seva, I checked my phone. Ivan, who never texted, actually sent me several messages, and because I temporarily silenced his number, I had a few voicemails from him too.

I-man

This is Ivan.

Why aren’t you answering my calls?

Is this your number? I don’t like to ask Aralina for help.

I snorted. Yes, that would be awkward since he was contacting me to get updates on Chloe.

How’s Chloe and Sebastian?

I’d really like to see them.

In some ways I’d like to make the old man sweat a little, but it was hard to judge him given I’d left a woman pregnant and then went to jail. Besides, Ivan was pakhan at a time when the bratva was being challenged from the inside. That was the reason Kirill came back. If it wasn’t for Irina being pregnant with Aralina, I wasn’t sure if Kirill wouldn’t have left Ivan to rot and rebuild the organization later.

Me

Give me more time to settle them in.

Okay.

Have patience, old man.

I was going to add a caustic reply that Chloe had existed for years and not once had he tried to see her. But I knew he always kept tabs on her when he could.

Fine.

I tucked my phone away and joined the women.

“You didn’t have to come with me,” I told Chloe. She’d barely touched breakfast and her skin had an unhealthy color, not the radiant creaminess of last night. But I had enough brain cells to recall the words of caution in the first-time dad books. Be supportive of your partner; the lack of sleep could trigger an out-of-character personality. The thing was, I didn’t have enough knowledge of Chloe to know what her real personality was.

“It’s easier to pack up the things we need if I come with you instead of giving you a list.”

“Or we could just shop online.”

She laughed lightly. “I need my clothes. And Sebastian’s. But he grows so fast, we might need new ones soon.”

Crime scene tape was plastered across the door, but I received confirmation from Dom that we could go in. Chloe’s bodyguards were fine, but they were no longer her security—I was. I doubted Kirill would allow another faction to be inside the compound anyway, so Chloe had to get on board fast, realizing that the bratva was providing her protection.

One of the building’s maintenance crew was found dead, and it was his key card that was used to access the ventilation system.

Chloe went into the bedroom to pack Sebastian’s clothes while I disassembled the playpen. Sebastian was looking for his favorite toy this morning—Mr. Octopus—which we missed packing last night. It was sitting in the middle of the mat. I knew that much at least.