Tempted by Deception (Deception Trilogy #2) by Rina Kent

“What do you want to name him?” the midwife asks me in a fearful voice.

After I ordered Kolya to close down the entire floor for Lia to give birth, I assume everyone in the hospital knows who I am. This is one of the brotherhood’s rare legitimate businesses. Although most know we own it, they don’t really get to meet us—except in instances like this. I could’ve had them deliver the child at home, but I wanted her to get the care she needed as fast as possible in case of any complications.

Since the moment I learned Lia was pregnant, I’ve been studying pregnancy and birthing more than I’ve studied anything in my life, so I’m well aware of possible complications. I might have been a tad obsessive about it to the point that Lia once grumbled that I know more about it than even she does.

“What do you want to name him, Lenochka?” I ask.

Her gaze slides from him to me, her teary eyes sparking. “You’ll let me name him?”

“Yes.”

“Does it have to be a Russian name?”

I brush a stray strand of damp hair behind her ear, and I’m thankful she doesn’t flinch away like every time I try to touch her outside of sex. “Not if you don’t want that, no.”

“Won’t…Sergei be mad?” Her breath catches. She’s seen him once since that day, during his grandniece’s birthday, because he made a big fuss about it and ordered me to bring her.

She was five months pregnant at the time, and she remained quiet as he likes. She was involved in her charity activities so she seemed less trapped and more inclined to be on her best behavior around members of the brotherhood. Besides, she was more interested in leaving that place as soon as I was ready.

“Sergei doesn’t tell me what to name my son.”

She stares down at him, biting her lower lip, and I hate that gesture. It’s how she mutes herself from me, slowly but surely building a wall around herself.

“Jeremy,” she murmurs.

“Jeremy?”

“I dreamt about it a few weeks ago. I was dancing in the garden with a little boy who was maybe four or five years old named Jeremy.” She smiles, though it’s laced with sadness. “He looked so much like you.”

And she hates that. She doesn’t like the fact that her son looks like me.

“Jeremy it is.” I keep my frustration out of my voice. While it’s hard for most people to hide their emotions, I learned from my deranged parents how to perfect it.

“Thank you.” Lia smiles at me, then at him, and he fusses a little before his shrill crying fills the room. She coos at him, but he won’t stop throwing a fit.

A nurse with black skin and curly hair peeking from under her cap stands by my wife’s side. “Are you going to breastfeed or use formula?”

“She’s tired,” I say. “She should rest.”

“No. I want to breastfeed.” Lia lowers the sheet, revealing her full breasts and the engorged pink nipples that have been changing noticeably over the last trimester.

I probably shouldn’t think of them as erotic when they’re in that state for the baby, but still.

Handling Jeremy carefully, Lia places his mouth at a nipple and nature takes its course as he sucks on it. Lia strokes his head, then kisses it softly, carefully, as if she’s afraid to hurt him. “Mommy loves you so much, my angel.”

The nurse smiles with apparent awe while she covers Lia.

I feel like an intruder watching the mother and son bonding, and something in my chest aches. It’s probably the pathetic boy in me whom I thought I squashed a long time ago.

My own mother never looked at me the way Lia looks at Jeremy. I only had that affection from Aunt Annika, and even she was brutally ripped out of my life.

That’s what happens to people like me. We never get anything good. It’s payback for all the shit we’ve done in our lifetime.

We remain like that for a while as the nurse cleans Lia up before covering her in a thicker duvet. Jeremy soon falls asleep, and when the nurse attempts to take him away so she can rest, Lia shakes her head.

I sit on the bed beside Lia and she stiffens when I wrap my arm around the both of them.

“What are you doing?” she whispers.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m being a part of this family.”

She purses her lips, but instead of talking back to me, she focuses on Jeremy, who has just released her breast, his tiny lips moving in his sleep.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I retrieve it, absentmindedly rejecting Kolya’s call to focus on my wife and son.

I like that. My wife and son.

Kolya calls again, and I know he wouldn’t do it twice in a row unless something’s up. I answer, “What is it?”

There’s a sound of gunshots echoing from his end. “The Rozettis are here, Boss, and they want vengeance for that kill in Lazlo’s club.”

Fuck.

I jerk up and wrap a thick blanket around Lia. She yelps, her pupils growing into saucers as she holds Jeremy closer to her.

“Which exit is safe?” I ask Kolya.

“A. Yan and Boris are on their way to you.”

“How many?”

“A fucking army, Boss. They knew this would be their perfect opportunity.”

“How many are with you?”

“Six, but I can manage until backup arrives.”