Page 76 of Inked in Devotion

There had to be an explanation for this.

“Kolya?”

I sighed. It was Dora.

I opened the door an inch as if ready to block the woman in case she thought she could resume being Sebastian’s caregiver. The incident alone was a big red flag that would push custody in my favor, and I could demand to have the arbitration date moved forward.

But a part of me didn’t want to use this incident to harm Chloe.

“What?”

“Is Sebastian okay?”

“He is.”

She looked troubled.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” I opened the door wider and leveled her with a piercing stare. The stare I used in interrogation, because fuck her, I was out of patience for excuses.

Dora’s eyes clouded with something akin to fear. Though I expected a similar reaction, dread crowned my heart in a thorny vise. It was a feeling I wasn’t used to experiencing. A feeling that crept up on me ever since Chloe and Sebastian entered my life. It was about attachment. I protected the bratva. Sure, I showed concern—for Kirill, for Ivan, and especially Aralina, but the fatalistic nature of the bratva tempered it. People died. Sometimes unexpectedly. Aralina nearly died in the house fire, and then again on the rooftop.

We could only hope for non-violent endings, but I didn’t want the same for Chloe. For Sebastian, I was still coming to terms with it because he was a Petrov.

The old woman rolled her lips as if trying to find the right words.

Impatient, I said, “Does Chloe disassociate like that? Because I’ve caught her once and wrote that incident off. It was strange because I attributed it to the attack on her apartment and lack of sleep. But what happened out there—” I pointed at the living room “—was more than boiling water on the stove and forgetting.”

There. I said more words than I normally did and gave her more time to confess.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Dora said. “I thought the fallout between you two⁠—”

“The fuck? Stop putting the blame on me⁠—”

“You didn’t let me finish!” Dora snapped. “She’s been forgetful and more agitated as of late. The only time I’ve seen her zone out was in the apartment, and it wasn’t even alarming. It’s like she had her mind on something and forgot why she went into the kitchen. We’ve seen this postpartum.” Her face took on cynical lines. “You wouldn’t understand the trials of being a new mother⁠—”

“You mean she has postpartum depression?”

“Marena doesn’t think so. She thinks Chloe is just overwhelmed with what’s going on in her life.”

“Is Marena even qualified to assess mental health?”

Dora glared at me. “Don’t make me sound stupid, Kolya! Of course I know that. We found her a psychiatrist, and she had her first session the other day.” She blew out a breath. “Maybe the pills have an adverse effect.”

“She was prescribed pills? Who’s her doctor? And for what?” Fuck this. I should just get the facts from Chloe. “Watch Sebastian. Is she in her room?” I shouldered past Dora to go to Chloe’s room.

“She left.”

I froze and slowly turned. That fear. That fear that I wasn’t supposed to feel exploded from the anchor-weighing sensation in my gut and turned my blood to ice. “What?”

“She said she needed to get away.”

“You let her leave in this weather?” I headed to her room as if I didn’t believe her. The house was empty. “She’s afraid of storms.”

“I couldn’t stop her, okay? She even took my car because her purse and keys were in Sebastian’s nursery.”

Chloe didn’t want to face me. “What the hell were you thinking?” I snatched out my phone and dialed Chloe. A phone rang in the nursery.

Fuck!