Meanwhile, I didn’t know what they were telling people about my absence from the city and the society events I usually attended with them. It was possible my reputation had already suffered some damage.
And then I reminded myself that I didn’t care. That it wasn’t my responsibility to back up whatever lies they were surely telling. It had given me a whole new appreciation for the grace that Emzee had always shown ever since people first started shitting on her back at Wayland-Blaine Academy. The guilt I felt over being the genesis of all that bullying might never leave me, but I felt like I was on a path to redemption at last. And it was a path I intended to stay on.
Speaking of bullies, Emzee hadn’t been thrilled when I relayed the insults my mom and dad had hurled at the entire Zoric family, but I had reassured her that my parents’ opinions had nothing to do with our future together. That their plot to coerce me into marrying Claudia had been futile.
I knew my parents loved me, in their way, and that in trying to protect themselves and their legacy they were also trying to protect me…but I had no room in my life for that kind of love and protection anymore. Emzee and the baby were all I needed.
At least I had been welcomed back into the Zoric family fold with open arms. I wasn’t sure exactly what Emzee had told her brothers about our divorce, but I knew they were aware of her pregnancy, and the fact that she and I were back together for good.
The evening before the party, Emzee and I went over to Stefan and Tori’s place for an early dinner and to visit the new addition to the family. Luka and Brooklyn were there, too.
“A baby changes everything,” Stefan was whispering. “It really clarifies your priorities.”
We were all staring down at the crib, where baby Nina was swaddled carefully in a circus animal print blanket. She looked drowsily up at all of us, half asleep and gurgling softly.
“She looks so peaceful,” Emzee said.
“Oh, sure. She looks peaceful now, but she was up all night screaming her sweet little head off,” Tori told us.
Both she and Stefan had dark circles under their eyes.
“I’m just trying to get as much sleep as I can before my little one comes,” Brooklyn said, rubbing her round belly. “Zoric babies are loud when they don’t get what they want.” She winked at Luka. “Just like their fathers.”
“You like it when I’m loud,” Luka said with a grin. “Or was that the other way around—I like it whenyou’reloud?”
“Oh, stop it,” Brooklyn slapped his arm, grinning.
Stefan cleared his throat and looked at his watch.
“Aren’t you ladies going to be late for your appointment?” he asked. He and Luka had arranged for the wives to get mani-pedis while the rest of us kept an eye on Baby Zoric.
“You’re right, we’d better get going,” Tori said.
We all tiptoed back out to the living room, and Brooklyn and Tori began gathering up their things. “Are you sure you won’t join us, Em?”
Brooklyn clasped her hands over her chest. “Pretty please? We never get to see you anymore. I’m dying without our lunch dates.”
“I wish I could,” Emzee said. “But I’m not technically off the clock just yet.”
“Oh, come on,” Brooklyn wheedled. “You’ve been working so hard—look at the bags under your eyes. Your new boss is running you into the ground. You deserve a break.”
It was true that Emzee looked tired, but for once, I couldn’t blame Andrew for it. She hadn’t been sleeping lately because of what was happening with the Bratva. That and her morning sickness. But she hadn’t told her sisters-in-law about her pregnancy yet.
“I really need to get this project taken care of,” Emzee said apologetically. “Plus, I don’t want to miss a single second with Nina, especially now that I’m in New York all the time. You two enjoy. Let me take advantage of all the baby snuggles I can get while I’m still in town.”
“I’m sure she’d love some quality time with Auntie Em,” Tori agreed. “See you soon. We won’t be long.”
The minute she and Brooklyn were out the door, the conversation turned serious, the tone of the room shifting significantly.
“Okay,” Luka said. “Time to get down to business.”
Technically, Emzee hadn’t been lying—she did have a project to take care of. Sending Tori and Brooklyn to the salon had been Stefan’s way of getting the wives out of the house so that the Zoric siblings (and I) could have a family meeting about the situation with the Russians.
We sat around the dining room table, baby monitor propped up in the center so Stefan could keep an eye on Nina.
“These are the DRM board members we still need to convince,” Stefan said, passing around a sheet of paper with a list of names on it. “They’re not in favor of a sale, and we have to get them to come around without telling them too much.”
“I’ll get it done,” Luka said, reviewing the list. “Leave it to me.”
