Tripping (Iced #2) - Kristine Allen Page 0,51

family. My sister Kira, and her husband, Ogun.” Dmitry introduced the girls to his family. Jericho elbowed him.

“Hey! They’re my family too.” Jericho pouted and interjected. “Kira is my cousin,” he explained as he jokingly elbowed Dmitry out of the way.

Crimson laughed, and I saw Dmitry’s attention zone in on her. Bleu’s sister was a grown-ass woman, but I wanted to warn her about Dmitry. He was as big a player as I had been.

“You two are awful,” Kira said with a shake of her head. “It’s really nice to meet you,” she said with a smile to Bleu. I’d met her before when we had played Chicago years ago, but that was before she’d gotten married. “As my brother said, this is my husband.”

“So do you still live back in Chicago?” Bleu asked her. She knew Dmitry was from the area because we’d talked a little about the team.

“No, I moved to Iowa for school and then got lucky enough to find a job at a veterinary clinic that I love.”

“You’re a vet? That’s awesome. I admire you. I’d be terrified to try to help something that couldn’t tell me what is wrong,” Bleu said. Kira gave her an open and kind smile.

“It can be a challenge, but the rewards are amazing.”

Kira’s husband was quiet and had a dark look about him. It was rumored that Dmitry and Kira’s family had mafia ties, but no one dared actually say that. I wondered if he was connected to them.

“It was a good game,” he said to Dmitry before he turned to me. Eerie ice-blue eyes that seemed to see right through everyone held my gaze before he reached out a hand to shake. A shiver skated down my spine when we made contact.

The corner of his lips kicked up, and I’d swear he knew what had happened just then. Then as he held my hand a little longer than was normal, he narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. For a second he looked slightly dazed, then he seemed to shake out of it.

“Your son is gonna be a helluva player one day,” he said so quietly, I wasn’t sure if anyone could hear him. Hell, I wasn’t sure if I heard him correctly. Bleu’s stiffening form next to me told me she had.

“I don’t have a son,” I corrected him. “You must be thinking of Bergström,” I said as I motioned to the man filing out of the room with his family. His son was patting him on the cheek as he babbled some kind of baby talk.

Ogun’s head canted in the opposite direction as he continued to hold my hand in a firm grip. If anyone noticed the awkwardness building with each second he continued to hold my hand, they didn’t let on.

“I’m sure that’s it. Sorry,” he said, though he didn’t sound like he believed his own words. He dropped my hand, and I flexed my fingers to work out the tingling that had started. It was the weirdest encounter I think I’d ever had.

“Are you two joining us at the Iron Dog?” I asked. Ogun deferred to his wife, and it was uncanny how much his expression changed. He went from a dark, gruff, almost scary dude to one who was obviously crazy about his wife.

“That sounds like fun. Dmitry and Jericho mentioned it earlier, but we said we’d see how the game went. If you had lost, we needed to make sure we took one of their vehicles. I’m not having them puke in ours after they try to drink away their sorrows.” She laughed as she motioned to her brother and cousin.

“Damn, sis. Way to have faith in us.” Dmitry slapped his palm over his chest as if he’d been mortally wounded.

Kira snorted. Ogun ducked his head into his wife’s hair to hide a smile.

“Well, let’s get going then. Time’s a wasting!” Jericho loudly announced. We all left the building and divided up into our vehicles to head to the Dog. Crimson ended up taking Dmitry up on his offer of a ride. I shot him a warning glance, and he gave me an innocent what’s the problem look.

Bleu was quiet until we left the lot. At first I thought she was worried about her sister with D. Then she turned to me. “Do you have a kid you didn’t tell me about?”

Her question shocked me, and I was momentarily speechless. I couldn’t believe she’d think I wouldn’t tell her something like that if