◆ The Alpha's Firstborn ◆

[ Briggstown, Venezuela ]

◆ MAGNUS ◆

"Send me the details tomorrow."

"Sure."

"Not sure when I'll get back. Talk to the EPs and make sure he shows up first thing. Hundred percent sober."

"Yeah. Got it."

"Keep him on a leash." I ended the call before tossing the phone onto the nightstand, too groggy to wait for a reply or a quick goodbye.

With a sigh, I rubbed the remnants of sleeplessness out of my eyes before focusing on the beachfront view in front of me. It should calm me down, but it didn't.

We were still on vacation. But like always, the job followed me wherever, no matter the time of day. It shouldn't bother me anymore, but, my wife was my priority right now.

This trip to another continent was meant to be a quick one. A test run of some sort. A little experiment. Just something to rekindle old feelings and hopefully get us out of the seemingly ceaseless shambles our relationship had become.

I didn't expect Evie would fall in love with this place. Her choice to stay a whole month in this private property caught me off-guard. A pleasant surprise, though. I initially thought she wouldn't want to stay a while. A silver lining after that hellish week I spent with Ilya and my brothers in Serbia.

This new property also didn't cost me much. Far from the city. Private enough. A pretty good deal for a foreign couple.

It's a 4,400-square foot lot with a fully furnished two-floor house. Bulletproof glass windows. Three bedrooms. Four bathrooms. The basement also had brand new gym equipment.

Plus a "panic room" just in case. Evonne and I didn't like testing fate or pushing our luck. More than a decade of being together—sometimes apart—had briefed us well on the uncertainties of this life we're trying to live.

"Who was that?"

"Jenson," I sighed while my palm stroked her bare thigh.

Her flawless skin looked even paler on the dark covers. Her lashes hid the curiosity in her beautiful eyes as the huge blinds kept the bedroom dim. "Should I call Adrien again?" Evonne lazily sat up on the bed. Her lush hair looked fairly tousled and partly covered her nudity, a blatant reminder of what we just did.

"Just another Tuesday bender." I kept up a poker face and stretched my arms as I sat beside her. "But if you want to talk some sense into him again, g'ahead."

"He really fell hard for that girl."

"Looks like it." I wiped the sheen of sweat off my face. The salty breeze mixed with the warm, stale air in the room. One of the windows was left ajar. I walked away from the bed to lock it.

Evonne tutted and stayed put on the bed.

As the calm waves scattered bubbles along the shoreline, my lips remained pressed together to hold in a sigh. Banging on about her brother's sobriety issues would only ruin the rest of our day. I'd rather keep the other comments to myself.

The lines of worry around her eyes and pinkish lips annoyed me a bit, but that's just her being the ever-loving sister that she was. Quite funny to think she wasn't even remotely related to the Jablonskys by blood. Yet she treated them like she owed them everything she had now.

"Should I find him a new doctor? I know a good one. Veteran in the field." Evonne tied up her long hair into a bun. Her lavender nightdress covered up her slender figure now, making me wish I stayed in bed with her.

"A shrink?" I murmured while suppressing the disdain bubbling up inside me.

The absentee parents should be the ones worrying about their problematic son. Not her. Evonne often believed the kid was her cross to bear in this lifetime. The way I saw it, Adrien's behavioral problems made her feel useful and needed.

"What makes you think it would work this time?"

"Alright. Let's can it." She stepped closer to me to give me a hug from behind. We stood before the large windows now. Her cold hand caressed my forearm while her slim arms tightened around my waist, the soothing gesture slowly ridding me of my negative thoughts.

"You worry too much. Adrien's not a teenager anymore."

"He's not as mentally strong as Jenson. He likes to pretend he doesn't give a damn, but...the truth's the complete opposite."

"Sounds like there's no need to find him a new shrink." I grinned at her when she tilted my face so we could be eye-to-eye. We stared at each other for a while.

"You'll get it. Someday." Evonne sighed.

"Get what? A shrink?" I smirked while deciphering the tinge of sadness in her attentive eyes. My reply was a dumb joke. The stupidest one to come out of my mouth.

It didn't even make her smile for a second. She knew I just didn't want the conversation to shift to a more serious and personal topic.

Having kids still hadn't made it to my list of priorities. Not even in my Top 10. Having unprotected sex with me every day since we got here only meant she wanted to broach the subject now.

Fixing our marriage was important to me as much as her happiness, but if it meant discussing babies and child-rearing, I'd gladly walk out of the room now.

"No chance? At all?" Her grip on my hand pinned me on the floor. Evonne squinted at me, her raspy voice drifting off to a soft murmur. "What about next year?"

"Perhaps."

She beamed. Her smile bared her white and perfect teeth—a rare sight this year. "Are you serious?"

"Sure."

Her amusement faded into a fake half-grin. "Really?"

"If you're a thousand percent sure it's what you want next year, fine by me," was my next lie. I still opposed the idea for a lot of reasons. Not just personal ones.

Considering our families' backgrounds, we shouldn't bring a child into this world because of the risks. Too many to count.

Hailing from a family of greedy, vindictive mobsters was high up on the list, aside from our age. We could afford hundreds of surrogates, but, Evonne wouldn't want to go that route. It would only trigger another months-long depression for her. Maybe even something worse.

"Thank you, darling." She giggled and wrapped her arms around me again. Her hug tightened when I didn't say anything. She sounded genuinely grateful.

Crushing every bit of her hope with my pessimism would only make me feel like shit all week. I didn't want to spoil this vacation for her. So I hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.

Her heartbeat pounded against my upper abdomen. Pure excitement, clearly. But she didn't smell out of the ordinary. No pregnancy hormones yet.

It wasn't a scent I was 100% familiar with, but if there's anything new about her body and overall physical health, my nose would be the first to know.

"How's Mykaela?"

"Haven't talked to her. Told Jenson to find her in New York."

"Isn't he too busy with the show?" Evonne frowned when she looked me in the eye again. "How would he find her by himself? He hasn't even met her."

"He's working on it."

"Do you even have a recent photo of her? Or her last known address in New York?"

"Jenson has it. I heard she still gets modeling jobs from time to time."

"Seems like a nice, hardworking girl," Evonne muttered with a faint smile while her fingers traced my hairline. "Pretty, too. Tall. Dark hair. Green eyes. Like you and Ilya."

"Yeah." It was all I could say.

Well, the description was accurate. Good enough proof that the girl was related to Ilya. Not a definitive proof of paternity, but, if the girl turned out to have uncanny abilities like me, then she could very well be Ilya's long-lost daughter.

"Did you even try to call her?" Evonne pulled away and let go of me, her frown drawing faint lines on her forehead.

"She changed her number."

"When is Jenson flying to New York?"

"Soon as possible," I sighed, checking my phone for new messages. "Ilya wants to talk to her about the will."

"You read it?"

"He's legally set aside a hefty inheritance for her."

Evonne squinted and frowned. "I don't get it." She scoffed and sat on the edge of the bed. "You said, he told you he's only met and talked to her once. And the first time he saw her in person, she was practically just a baby."

"Beats me, too."

"Alexei and Sacha know yet?"

"Most likely." I scrolled through my emails. I didn't care for my brothers' opinions but surely they hated the thought of having to share their inheritance with a total stranger they'd never even met.

"You really have to go back to Belgrade?"

I nodded. "Soon."

Evie swore, the look on her face now showing serious concern. Some annoyance, too.

"Truth?" I stepped closer to my wife, her muted voice prompting me to analyze her scent. It smelled of some fear and anxiety, but, nothing I'm not used to whenever we discussed that narcissistic criminal I once called my father. "Ilya wants both of us there. Alexei's engagement party's next month."

An awkward silence filled the bedroom when Evie didn't react. As though completely shocked. Evonne barely moved on the bed, her squinting gaze pinned on something on the wall. Then she sighed out loud and palmed her face.

My heart ached. I understood her worries. It wasn't just an overreaction on her part—she's well aware of the risks.

As long as Ilya and his enemies were alive and breathing, our safety and privacy remained a serious issue.

"If you don't want me to go, I won't." I crouched beside the bed to touch her hair, tucking some loose strands behind her pinkish ears.

Her scent and louder intakes of breath told me she was about to start sobbing now. "Fine." She sniveled and stared into my eyes. The tears already reached her slightly swollen lips.

Fine?

I eyed her, growing unbearably curious. The hint of desperation in her shaky voice had me imagining a few more reasons behind her tears. "What d'you mean?"

"We'll go. But I want a baby now."

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