Page 51 of Inked in Devotion

And my son was one of them.

I’d fallen asleep on the couch. Hell, I didn’t think I slept at all; my mind trying to find a solution to my predicament. The threat seemed so far away, but if Dimitri called me, that was the first sign I should take them seriously.

The baby monitor crackled. Sebastian was cooing and making those bababa noises. That was the sound that woke me. The clock said two a.m.

I pushed up from the couch and made my way back to Chloe’s room. He had pulled up to standing. It was quite dark with minimal moonlight coming through the curtains. I caught movement on the bed. Chloe was stirring.

“Hey, Seva.” My nose twitched. “Oof, what’s that stinker?”

“I can get him,” Chloe croaked.

“No, I got him.” That seemed to be my line for the night when it came to Sebastian. I lifted him out of the crib. “Don’t move,” I ordered Chloe.

“Not moving,” she mumbled, or at least that was what I thought she said.

I carried him to the bathroom where the baby-changing pad was propped up against the wall. Changing diapers was something I realized I was good at since I was an expert at managing flailing limbs and cleanup.

I impressed Chloe when I took to changing baby diapers so quickly.

Sebastian was once again a satisfied baby and seemed content to go back to bed and coo at the crib mobile circling above him.

That stabby feeling in my chest returned.

“Thank you,” Chloe whispered behind me.

I crouched in front of her. “Not a problem, princess.”

Judging from the sleepy sounds she was making, she was fighting to stay awake, but the sands of sleep won and sucked her under.

A beam of moonlight revealed the smile curving her bow-shaped mouth. And I couldn’t resist lowering my head and feathering a kiss over her lips.

And when I rose, I’d made a decision, but I needed a plan.

Funny how when the threat to them morphed into a tangible shape, it erased all procrastination and bullshit excuses.

Chloe and Sebastian are mine.

Chapter

Eleven

Chloe

A hot guy wearing a cut-off shirt and athletic shorts was cooking breakfast. It was not a dream. It was my baby daddy.

And because of him, I slept ten hours, a luxury I didn’t remember since Sebastian came into my life. Even those three months away from my baby, those three months when I couldn’t determine if someone was coming after me, my hypervigilance prevented me from fully relaxing, resulting in fractured sleep.

But this morning I woke up refreshed. Whether it was from the other night’s insomnia, the wine, or the chamomile tea with the addition of the homeopathic drops, I wasn’t sure. But if I were honest with myself, it was largely because I trusted Kolya to keep me safe.

I trusted his skill. Not sure if I trusted my feelings or libido around him because there was no denying I was still attracted to him. Physically, he checked all my boxes. It was easy to turn that off if he was a dick or a deadbeat dad. Judging from the reports I received of his custody visits I hadn’t attended, Kolya’s qualities in the father department went above and beyond my expectations so far. And now this…

He turned around and grinned at me. “Sleep well, princess?”

His smile. His eyes. The way he said princess made me feel like a princess, except for that time in the King mansion attic when he had injected the endearment with a healthy dose of ridicule.

“You know I did.”

“Bababa…” Sebastian pounded on his high chair and grinned his four-tooth smile, his mouth smeared with traces of scrambled eggs before he returned to the important task of self-feeding.