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Another thought crept in, horrifying him. As soon as Kon left, he was going to have to find out how to plan Beth’s funeral.
There was no one else to do it.
Chapter Eight
Will jiggled Beau on his lap, but her face was still twisted into the moue of displeasure that always made him anxious to fix whatever was wrong in her little world.
“What’s the matter with your hobbit?” Grant asked, taking the chair beside him.
“She’s not a hobbit.”
“Check her birth certificate,” Grant said with the air of a man who believed he was onto something. “I bet you Beau is secretly short for Bilbo.”
“You’re such a fucking doorknob,” Dex muttered.
“Beauxbatons Minerva St. Germaine Ellis,” Will reminded him.
“Yup. B-e-a-u-x-b-a-t-o-n-s—it’s pronounced Bilbo in the original French.”
Amused and irritated, Will threw a leftover dinner roll at his idiot brother. The roll hit Grant in the chest and he gaped at Will in mock offense. “You’re lucky it wasn’t buttered, doorknob.”
Konstantin ran past them, chasing his son, Ruslan, as the boy toddled around the now-almost-empty restaurant. Varushka, whose belly was round with their second child, sat across the table from Will, nodding off.
Most of their friends had left now that Beth’s wake was over, but Konstantin and his wife, Varushka, had stuck around, as had Kon’s best friends, Banner and Ambrose, and their partners, who were helping clean up. Kon and Varushka had become his lifeline when it came to taking care of Beau. It was nice to have other parents to talk to.
Not that he was actually Beau’s parent, but he was doing the job. For now.
The baby settled, and Grant wrinkled his nose at her. “Why do all babies look like trolls?”
“If anyone in this room looks like a troll, it’s not Beau,” Dex said, arching a brow at him.
“Yeah? Which of us hasn’t had a date in a while, Arabella?” Grant shot back.
“You call those dates?” She snorted. “Apparently, IQ isn’t a big prerequisite for you. The last girl you took to the club got confused when I asked her what her name was.”
“She was just surprised we let prepubescent boys in. Imagine how embarrassed she was—for you—when she found out you were a grown woman. Not well grown, but . . .”
“I’m imaging her surprise when she found out you have no dick.”
Grant started to laugh. “If you want to see it, honey, I’m sure there’s a back room here somewhere.”
“I’d take you up on that, but I’m fresh out of magnifying glasses.”
They stared each other down, eye to eye, even though Grant was sitting and Dex was standing. Both were smiling unpleasantly. It sucked that they fought so much lately, even if it did make Will laugh sometimes.
“If you’re going to keep snarking, move along. I have a sleepy baby here.”
They took his suggestion and wandered off together, still grumbling at each other as they headed back toward the bar.
“How long have those two been fucking?” Varushka asked in her thick Russian accent. “Kate and Everly never told me they were seeing each other.”
“They’re not.” He watched them at the bar, both of them with aggressive body language and scowls. “I don’t think,” he amended.
She raised her brows skeptically, but then smiled at Beau. “Such a beautiful baby.”
“She is.” He ran his thumb over her forehead where it was creased, frowning in her sleep. It felt as if she’d gained ten pounds just since she’d fallen asleep and his legs were starting to go numb—not that he’d wake her for anything. Her little bud of a mouth moved like she was drinking from her bottle, and it was completely adorable. “Is it weird that I watch her sleep?”
“Baby TV is my favorite,” she replied. “I could watch Ruslan all day. I’m not sure how I will have time to stare at them both.” She patted her round belly, smiling as though she had everything she’d ever dreamed of. It was hard to believe Konstantin had to chase her to Russia to get her back. She often stroked her collar and gazed at Kon as though she couldn’t believe her luck—which was good, because Kon was completely smitten with her.
