Page 53 of Inked in Devotion

My childhood didn’t exactly count. I remembered we had a nanny. Duncan provided as much as he could get past his psychotic wife. Because wasn’t that how Ivan came into our life? Esther approached the bratva to do a hit on Mom while she was six months pregnant with me. Ivan couldn’t fathom killing a pregnant woman, so he ratted Esther out to Duncan. The Kings and the Zahkarovs had been associates for a long time.

“Dadada,” Sebastian babbled suddenly.

My heart stopped and kick-started. I stared at my son and then at Kolya.

Kolya’s jaw unhinged, his eyes falling to our son and then, when they met mine, they were unusually shiny.

“Say it again,” Kolya choked, hoisting Sebastian out of his chair.

“Dada!” He clapped his hands.

Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I rose to my feet and stood beside Kolya. He was still sitting, but he dragged me close before putting both hands around Sebastian again.

“That’s so unfair.” I gave a watery laugh. “But why does that make me so happy?” Even seated, Kolya was at eye level. He finished blowing raspberries into Sebastian’s belly and raised him up so he was staring down on us.

He was kicking his legs and obviously enjoying Daddy’s attention.

Kolya ripped his gaze away from Sebastian to stare at me. “That looks like tears of joy, not jealousy.”

I punched him lightly on the arm. “Of course it is…Kolya…”

And then he kissed me. It was brief, but I felt the zing all the way to the soles of my feet. It wasn’t lust. It wasn’t love, but it was something. A connection. A positive charge in the electricity zipping through my body.

He pulled away. “He’ll say mama soon.”

“Bababa,” Sebastian babbled.

I squeezed Kolya’s shoulder. “I’m not worried.” Then I smirked. “Babies have an easier time saying dada first before mama, so don’t get cocky.”

After breakfast, Kolya interrogated me about Sebastian’s care, like feeding schedules, bath times, and any development training. And I said interrogated because that was what it felt like. The feeding schedule he wrote on an index card and stuck it to the refrigerator.

Kolya’s handwriting was appealing. He varied from block letters to cursive.

“Is that your real penmanship?” I asked.

He merely grinned at me. Aha! So he might have different writing styles depending on who he wanted to be. In our interactions when it came to Sebastian, I saw traces of Nic in Kolya. The teasing glint in his eyes, the heartbreaking smile. The tenderness in his voice last night.

Dora had gone into the shelter to continue her interviews. I touched base with the foreman doing the renovation. So far, I hadn’t received word of candidates or contractors backing out. At this point, I didn’t care.

It was almost noon. Sebastian was taking a nap. Kolya was around the property somewhere installing additional security cameras.

When my phone buzzed, I saw it was Theo…finally.

“Hello.”

“Hey…how are you and Sebastian doing?”

“I should be the one asking how you are doing?”

He gave a tired chuckle. “Yeah, it has been a roller coaster for the past twenty-four hours.”

“Is there anything I should do? I think the last directive was to lie low.”

“I don’t want to control your movements,” he said with a trace of regret. “This was what you were avoiding, right? Why you didn’t want to be a King?”

“Too late for regrets now, so I’m asking. Is there anything I should do? Any statement? I still don’t want Sebastian dragged into this.”

“That’s off the table, don’t worry,” Theo said firmly. “I’ve made it clear the children are a no-go. No attempt at pictures or the press is going to face the full force of our legal department.”