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"Do you mean to tell me that I'm supposed to hunt down the person that assaulted me and one of us is going to – to end – on the night that we're actually hosting this thing?"
“Yes. Isn’t it perfect? This is exactly how things should be. You, by my side. Mikhail and Aria have a baby now, and he’s thepakhan, but with the three of us in our own nuclear family, do you know what that means?”
I lick my lips. "It means together, we rule."
"That's exactly right.”
“And then it means that you’re going to try to knock me up,” I say in a whisper.
“Mhm. Preferably with twins.”
I square my shoulders. “But that’s for another place and time.”
“Not too far off. But let’s focus, Harper. Let’s remember why we’re here. Something was taken from you that never should've been. Someone stole from you. Assaulted you. It was an act of violence. And you have that beautiful girl as a result, our daughter.Our. Daughter. But that's only because of who you are – strong, selfless. You survived in spite of what they did to you. All of them. You are a survivor, and I'm honored to be by your side. "
Oh, God.
"Do not make me cry. I have the most beautiful damn makeup on I've ever had in my life.” But of course my voice wobbles, and I blink back tears. I nod. "Let's do this."
We walk in hand in hand, amidst murmured greetings and appraising smiles, but I know even now there isn’t an ounce of friendliness from any of these people.
The first part of the night, Ekaterina and Polina are brilliant. They introduce me to their friends, and I remember nobody'snames. I don't want to. I'm content just being part of this family. I don't need any more than that.
I check in with the babysitter multiple times, because of course I'm afraid for Ivy. But she's fine and the sitter even sends me little videos of Ivy being adorable and precious.
Nikko meets me at the bar, buys me a drink, and hands it to me.
I frown and shake my head.
"What?"
“I want to be alert.”
He leans in and whispers in my ear, “It’s lime and soda water.”
I smile. “Bottoms up.”
Nikko smiles back and says in a low voice only meant for my ears, “We have twenty men surrounding you, in every corner of this room. Trained. Nobody's gonna hurt you, Harper."
I take another sip and when I look up, he's gone, blending into the crowd. Camouflaged.
Viktor, however, is a lot harder to camouflage with his huge, hulking frame. He joins me at the bar. "You want a drink?"
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?”
"Fantastic," he says, and for some reason, his eyes are trained in the corner of the room on someone I can’t see.
I look over to see Nikko talking to a young woman who looks pretty out of place here. She wears glasses and has kind of wild light-brown hair. She’s slender, her outfit appearing as if she’s wearing her sister’s dress-up clothes and shoes. She looks as ifa brisk gust of wind would knock her over. As I watch, he bends toward her and says something in her ear. She stiffens her spine and marches away from him. I snort to myself. I know what that's like.
Aleks appears by my side, the warmth of his hand at my back.
"They've arrived. But I have news, Princess. "
“Mmm?”
"Your brother came with them."
Jesus. "They were his friends, weren't they?"
