Page 70 of Inked in Devotion

That bothersome feeling in my chest about how Kolya was bonding with Sebastian morphed into an uglier conclusion. “You’re going to take my son away.”

He scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

“He has to be able to protect himself.” Kolya advanced another step while I slipped farther into the hallway.

“Was the attack on my apartment connected to your fiancée?”

A cloak shuttered his gaze, making it hard to decipher an answer. “Don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me!” I yelled.

Sebastian started to cry. Tears burned my gaze. Kolya’s jaw set mulishly. He was an enforcer for the bratva. I wouldn’t be able to pry the truth from him even with a crowbar. “I want you out of here.”

“No.”

“Yes.” I rocked Sebastian to quiet him enough so I could finish saying my piece. “I want Dora back in this house. I don’t want my son anywhere near you until you tell me what’s going on. Then, and only then, will I determine my next move.”

“You can’t keep him from me.”

“Oh, I can.” I tilted my chin up. “You’re only allowed one custody visit, remember⁠—”

“Don’t test me, Chloe,” he snarled.

“Watch me.”

I retreated into my room, slammed the door, and locked it.

Kolya’s shadow hovered underneath the frame. Sebastian was down to light crying. “Hold on, baby.”

Lowering him onto the sleeper, I fished my phone from his diaper bag and called the one person who might be neutral enough to tell Kolya to leave the house.

Chapter

Sixteen

Kolya

“Your wife isn’t ordering me to do shit,” I snapped at Kirill.

We were in his study at the main house. He personally fetched me from the carriage house, probably because he figured no one else could make me leave. Chloe had locked herself and Sebastian in the room and I wasn’t stupid enough to break down the door and alienate her further. As for Kirill, he was pissed. It unsettled him when his wife had a beef with me, or vice versa. I wouldn’t hurt Lucy. I respected her as the pakhan’s wife and actually thought she was a great asset to the organization.

“I’m not ordering you!” Lucy shot back. “But you must admit it’s kind of dirty of you to play house with Chloe while you’re engaged to someone else.”

“He’s not engaged to someone else,” Kirill said. “If I had my way, I’d order him to marry Cassano’s sister. Serves the bratva better.”

“Fuck you, Kirill,” I spat.

My friend merely shot me his bland look and took a sip of whiskey. I downed my tumbler of vodka. Voices sounded from the outside.

I glared at Kirill. “You called Ivan?”

“No, I did,” Lucy said.

I transferred my displeasure at Lucy. “Why?”

“Because as the previous pakhan, he might have more insight into what’s going on.”