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The memory forms clear as day. It was years ago now, and I was on the cusp of becomingpakhan. Mila hadn’t been nearly as deathly still as Taylor is now, though. She’d tossed and turned, her sleep as fractured and broken as the nightmare that was her waking life. I’ll never forget the smear of blood at the corner of her mouth. The busted lip. The fingerprints practically tattooed across her throat.
“What are you doing?”
Speak of the devil.I turn towards the door and find Mila standing there, watching me watch Taylor.
“She fell asleep in the car,” I explain gruffly, glancing away.
“That’s not what I meant.” She strides into the room and stops at my side. “I mean, what the hell do you think you’re doing marrying one sister and romancing the other?”
“Mila—”
“No, don’t ‘Mila’ me. You use that tone any time you know you’re wrong but you’re still trying to outrank me. You may be thepakhan, but you’re still my brother.”
“So you insist on reminding me.”
“Only because you refuse to listen,” she snaps. “The baby’s yours, isn’t it?”
Denying it would be meaningless at this point, and I don’t have the energy to go through a whole song and dance. “Yes.”
“For God’s sake,” Mila breathes. “How could you—”
“You think this was planned?” When I hear how loud I sound, I wince and drop my voice lower. Even though she’s out cold, I don’t want to risk waking Taylor from her much-needed sleep. “You think Ichosethis?”
Mila arches a brow. “You expect me to believe that this is a coincidence?”
I grit my teeth and lean against the bedpost. “I met Taylor first. Nearly ran over her in Evanston. Celine and I didn’t meet until two weeks later.”
“You met herinEvanston?” Mila asks. “And that didn’t tip you off?”
“How the hell was I supposed to know? There’s a hundred thousand people jammed into that town. And it’s not like the two of them look alike.”
Mila scoffs. “Oh, sure, and it’s not like you had plenty of time to do your research, either. Gather intel.Verify relations.”
Taylor stirs a bit in her sleep. Incensed, I grab Mila’s elbow and drag her out of the room. She shakes me off when we’re on the other side of the door, her nose scrunched in disdain.
“Where’s Dima?” I ask her.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she snaps. “We were in the middle of a conversation.”
“Which I’d rather not have.”
“Tough—we need to have it. If for no other reason than to figure out damage control for thishuge fucking oversight.”
“I can handle it myself.”
“Can you?” she scoffs. “Because from where I’m standing, this whole thing is a ticking time bomb about to explode in your face.”
“Celine, I can handle,” I growl. “Taylor…I’ll find a way to handle.”
Mila holds a hand up, dangerously close to pressing against my face. “I’m still trying to wrap my brain around how you missed this. Didn’t you check the family before you even went?”
Not well enough.I grind my molars together. I know I rushed through what should have been a much more thorough reconnaissance. I just cannot afford to openly admit it.
“…Yes.”
I know she can smell the bullshit. “And didn’t Celine mention having a sister? Even casually?”
“She did,” I admit. “Often. But the woman I almost hit with my car didn’t give me her name.”
