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“For now, they can make their guesses. They’ll get an explanation once I’ve got Petyr in the palm of my hand.”
He shakes his head. “I still don’t like this. In case you needed a reminder of where I stand.”
“You’re more scared of the Babai than Paige was,” I snort.
Konstantin’s brows leap nearly to his hairline. “You told Paige about the Babai? Jesus H., man, were you drunk? High? Concussed?”
“None of the above,” I say. “She walked outside while I was talking to them and demanded to know who they were. I decided that she deserved to know.”
“Fucking hell, brother.” Konstantin runs a hand through his hair. “It’s déjà vu all over again. This is exactly what happened with Maksim when he fell in love with Cyrille.”
I’d forgotten that part. Or maybe I just blocked it out. I used to take it personally when Maksim chose to share his plans with Cyrille before he shared them with me. Am I doing the same thing to Konstantin?
I might be, and I’m not sure what to say. Because I won’t apologize for it. Knowing Konstantin, he wouldn’t ask me to anyway.
“What does it feel like?” he asks unexpectedly. “Falling in love, being in love.”
I hesitate to choose my words carefully before answering. “I’m not as good at the ‘being in love.’ That part is new. But the falling… That’s appropriately named. Because that’s exactly what it feels like. Like you’re falling and you have no control.”
“So it’s terrifying?” Konstantin deciphers.
Usually, I wouldn’t admit as much, but there’s no denying the truth. “Yeah. Extremely fucking terrifying.”
He laughs, and I laugh along with him. It’s crazy that we’re having this conversation at all. I think we both realize it, because a beat later, both our smiles fade in sync.
“Do you think Petyr knows by now?” he asks quietly. “About your twin heirs?”
“I’m counting on it.”
“Fuck,” he breathes.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Fuck.”
58
PAIGE
I’m antsy in the car after a routine check-up with Dr. Mathers the next day. “Thanks for driving me to my appointment.” I lean over the console and kiss Misha. He wraps a hand around the back of my neck and holds me there, deepening the kiss until I start to get the squirmy butterflies.
Finally, I break away, breathless. “If you keep that up, I’ll never go inside.”
His eyes are still closed as he smiles. “Good.”
“No, not good! You need to get to work, and I need to eat.” I kiss him quickly on the cheek and back out of the car. “I’m starving.”
He groans and places his hands on the wheel. “Fine. Go feed those babies of mine. We’ll pick up where we left off later.”
I stand in the drive and watch him pull away with a huge, goofy smile on my face.
I’m still wearing that smile when I walk into the kitchen and find Nessa standing at the stove, stirring around something thick and sludgy that looks like it requires some serious muscle power.
“Paige, dear!” she greets. “How did the doctor’s appointment go?”
I walk to the island and try to keep my nose from wrinkling against the oppressively bitter smell as I hoist myself onto one of the bar stools. “Great! Everything is good with the babies. They’re healthy.”
She exhales with relief. “How wonderful. I was praying about it all day. Did you find out the sex of the babies?”
I give her a sympathetic smile. “No, sorry. We’re still waiting.”
