Page 53 of Ruin

Max couldn’t hide his surprise. “You sure?”

They were short on men. Very short. Half of their crew was either in the hospital or recovering at home with broken bones and other injuries that rendered them unable to work. Plus, Roman had assigned Georgy to Ruby and Olivia so they could go to the park from time to time, get ice cream, do the little things that kept them from feeling like prisoners.

Olivia liked Georgiy and Ruby seemed at ease in his company.

Sacrificing even one of their remaining men was a gamble, the assaults from Igor and Russia hitting them harder as their ranks thinned.

But Erik was the key to finding Igor.

Roman was sure of it.

“I’m sure,” Roman said.

Ending Igor was the way to win over the spies. Then he would deal with Russia.

But he had to find Igor first.

27

RUBY

Ruby picked up the toys strewn over the floor of Olivia’s room while Olivia climbed into bed. In the old days, back in their tiny apartment, Ruby would never have cleaned up after her daughter. She would have made Olivia clean up after herself, reasoning that it was the only way for Olivia to learn responsibility.

Now Ruby was more than happy to dote on Olivia, reasserting herself as Olivia’s mother, taking pleasure in all the little tasks that had once seemed mundane and monotonous.

She would have to be careful of that. Olivia had been through a lot but routine and discipline were important. Ruby could spoil her for a while but eventually she’d have to start imposing rules again.

She turned off the big light and walked to Olivia’s bed to flip on the projector. Colorful boats and fish danced across the walls and ceiling and Ruby pulled up Olivia’s covers.

“Arms.” Olivia lifted her arms and Ruby folded the covers under Olivia’s armpits.

Olivia dropped her small arms with a smile, clearly as happy to be back in their nighttime routine as Ruby.

She’d given Olivia a bath like she did every night, sitting on the floor and happily listening to Olivia’s chatter as she drew on the wall with the washable bath markers Roman had bought her. Simple things like washing Olivia’s hair, using the sprayer to rinse it as Olivia tipped her head back, issuing instructions as Olivia washed her tiny body, gave Ruby the purest kind of joy.

Then Olivia had put on her pajamas all by herself and Ruby had combed her hair, blowing it dry a little before bed so she didn’t get her pillow wet. Olivia hated to sleep on a wet pillow.

“WantMagic Treehouse?”

Olivia nodded with a smile and Ruby scooted up against the headboard and started reading. It had become part of their nighttime ritual, and Ruby tried not to think about their little apartment in Manhattan, Olivia’s toys and clothes abandoned when Ruby had been kidnapped and Adam had taken custody of Olivia.

She hadn’t had the bandwidth to think about it before, but she would need to call the property management company.

She read softly, getting lost in the story right along with Olivia, who asked questions at first, then slowly quieted as she drifted off to sleep.

Ruby kept going for another five minutes, both to make sure Olivia was asleep and because she wanted to soak in the moment with her daughter just a little while longer.

Finally she marked their place in the book and eased off the bed, careful not to wake Olivia.

Ruby bent down to kiss her warm cheek, Olivia’s breath emerging softly from her lips, and felt like she might burst with the love that filled her chest.

She would do anything for her daughter, anything to keep her safe.

Funny how that definition had changed. A few months ago, keeping Olivia safe would have meant keeping her away from Roman. Now being with Roman seemed like the safest place in the world.

For both of them.

She picked up the baby monitor and closed the door halfway behind her. She still carried it with her anytime Olivia was in her room, even when she was with Vera. Ruby didn’t know if she’d ever feel comfortable again without eyes on her daughter, and definitely not without the security to which she’d grown accustomed: the two men in front of Roman’s building, Max always somewhere nearby, Roman himself perfectly capable of protecting Ruby and Olivia.

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