Page 49 of Bratva Holiday

Aleksei babbled and tossed the toy away before raising his arms, demanding to be picked up.

“I got it,” I said when Tatiana went to get up to get him.

Aleksei squealed in delight when I picked him up, clapping his hands. My smile was wide, carefree as I stared at my nephew. At his cute little face and those chubby cheeks that one could not help but be compelled to squeeze. Aleksei’s hands went to my face, pinching and grabbing, and my smile widened.

“Where’s Drea? Is she okay?” Tatiana asked, her smile just as wide as she looked at her son.

“She’s upstairs.”

Right after the games had finished, Drea had gone upstairs to lie down. She’d said she was feeling tired and exhausted and just wanted to take a shower and climb into bed. After being sick this morning from the bad sushi, it made sense that after a strenuous day, she would be feeling unwell. I’d carried her upstairs, helped her shower, and put her into bed before coming back downstairs. I didn’t want to leave her. In fact, I’d flat-out refused. But even sick, my woman was a force to be reckoned with. She’d demanded I join the family downstairs for the end-of-competition festivities. So I had.

But, she didn’t say how long for.

I loved loopholes.

I peppered Aleksei’s chubby cheeks with kisses, making him squirm and giggle, before handing him over to his mother. “She’s not feeling well. I’m going to go check on her now.”

“The chaos got to be a bit too much for her?” Autumn asked, sipping a glass of wine. “Definietly can’t blame her for that.” She chuckled.

Lukyan shrugged. “We weren’t that bad. No one broke any bones this year.”

“Your nose doesn’t count?” Tatiana laughed.

As if he’d forgotten all about it, Lukyan lightly touched the tip of his nose, wincing. “Forgot about that. Ha!”

I said my goodbyes to head upstairs, but Illayana being Illayana, couldn’t let me leave without rubbing her win in my face one more time.

“Zander, wait.” She jogged over to my side, trophy still in hand. She offered it to me. “Here. Thought you might want to say goodbye since, you know, you lucked out this year.”

I gave her a deadpan look, planted the flat of my palm right in between her forehead, and shoved her away from me. She lost her footing and landed ass first inside the playpen, arms and legs flailing.

Arturo immediately rushed over to help her.

“I’d leave her, Arturo. Since she’s acting so childish, a playpen is the perfect place for her,” I quipped, smirking.

“Oooo, burn!” Lukyan laughed.

“Shut. Up. Lukyan.” Illayana growled. “And hey, like you’re one to talk,” she threw to me as Arturo helped her to her feet. “You threw a tantrum and broke the scoreboard when you lost the first game.”

I shrugged uncaringly. “Heat of the game. What’s your excuse?”

She scowled at me.

Taking a page from Lukyan’s book, I tauntingly twinkled my fingers at her as I walked backward out of the living area.

“Hey! That’s my move!” I heard Lukyan shout. “Why is everyone stealing my moves?!”

I went to the kitchen first to get a glass of water, and then, taking the stairs two at a time, rushed up and went straight to my room. I expected to find Drea lying down, resting, but she was actually sitting up in bed.

“Baby?” I walked in, shutting the door behind me.

She smiled when she saw me, and like always, my heart pounded at the sight of her. At her beauty. At the light she brought my darkened soul.

“Hey, baby.” She greeted.

“How are you feeling?”

“A little better.”