𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

61

~ ilya ~

I waited for their incessant chattering to end and for her to come to bed.

With a sigh, I continued to hear Phoenix, Katarina and Lavinia cackle in the other room. They had been inseparable since dinner. I was suspicious by the lowering of their voices whenever Aleksey or I walked by. A nagging feeling in my stomach told me they were up to no good.

Apparently, any living being apart from the three women themselves was banished from their room. Mikhail was already asleep in the adjacent room and Aleksey had long disappeared to his room on the floor beneath.

Viktoria, who had been gurgling beside me, was now fast asleep on my chest. She was the exact picture of Viktor: brownish hair (that he'd got from our mother) and bright eyes. I smiled at the tight fist around my index finger.

To my relief, the loud voices quietened. I glanced at the clock, which read 01:32. It was about time. Soon, there was a light pattering of footsteps outside the door before Phoenix poked her head in.

"Ilya," she whispered loudly, a slight slur to her words.

I narrowed my eyes. Had they been drinking?

"Are you awake?" she continued.

Now, she was standing in front of me, eyes wide as she regarded me and the baby.

"Aw, Ilya," she cooed, stroking my hair, "this is adorable!"

Swatting her hand away with annoyance, I rose carefully from the bed, cradling Viktoria, or Tori as she was now known, against my chest.

"Get in the bed. You should be asleep before I get back," I warned before leaving the room.

As I approached the guest bedroom, I found Rina stumbling out.

"Ilya!" she exclaimed, brightly.

I shushed her fiercely, feeling the baby moved against me.

"Oh!" she said, voice reducing to a dramatic whisper, "Can I hold her?"

Glaring, I ordered, "Go to bed, Rina."

Pouting, she opened her mouth to protest.

"Now."

Muttering under her breath, the sulking blonde moved towards the elevator.

With a sigh, I walked into Lavinia's room. Clearing my throat, I handed her her daughter.

"Oh," she started, turning to face me. She smiled. "Спасибо за заботу о ней, Дмитрий." [Thank you for looking after her, Dimitri.]

She seemed completely sober. I figured she didn't drink because she was breastfeeding.

"Было приятно," I told her sincerely. [It was a pleasure] Watching the child's antics was certainly more entertaining than listening into their strange conversations.

After she took Tori, I returned to my room. I cursed exasperatedly finding that the troublemaker had vanished. Storming back into the hallway, I found her creeping out of Mikhail's room.

Having not yet spotted me, she tip-toed back towards Lavinia's room.

Coming up silently behind her, I slapped a hand over her mouth, knowing the dramatic woman would scream.

"Shut up," I hissed into her ear.

She glared over her shoulder. "Letmgeydbosbhdi."

Reluctantly, I lifted my hand a millimetre up.