“I think we should take you to the doctor,” Misha said seriously the next day.

No. Don’t bother. I hate hospitals. It just reminds me of Mom.

That was what Seri wanted to say, but she couldn’t.

Because like a stupid little fool, she had stayed up most of the night crying into her pillow, crying under the shower, in the tub, crying so hard that she seemed to have fooled her mind into thinking pain was the only thing she craved.

And so when Seri woke up, it was to a raging fever that left her feeling utterly debilitated and woozy.

Sergei touched her forehead. “What do you think, baby girl?” he asked gently. “Do you want to go to the hospital?”

She managed to shake her head.

“Want us to call Vassi?”

She shook her head, not because she didn’t want Vassi taking care of her but because she felt like she didn’t deserve it.

Earlier, she had woken up in the middle of the night, and the first thing she did was to check her phone, hoping that she would see a text message from Vassi.

Instead, she saw Maximilian’s, and it had been labeled as read.

Seri had known right away only one person could have read it, just as she knew what that person could be thinking now. She had tried calling Vassi frantically after that, but when her call kept getting forwarded to voice mail, Seri knew that it was his way of telling her to leave him alone.

And so she had.

“You’re sure?” Sergei asked skeptically. “You know you always seem to get well more quickly when Vassi’s around.”

Seri managed to shake her head again, but this time the act completely wiped her out and she tiredly closed her eyes.

She was just going to sleep, she thought as she snuggled deeper under the covers.

At least when she slept, the pain stopped.

When she woke up, the first thing she did was to check the time. One in the afternoon, she thought drowsily. Vassi should be home by now. So where was he? She looked around her bedroom, hoping but failing to catch a glimpse of him or even any clue that he had at least come by to check on her.

Seri’s heart sank.

He should be back by now, shouldn’t he?

If he wasn’t back, then where was he and who was he with?

But if he was back, and he wasn’t here, then did it mean he was still furious about Maximilian’s message? Did he think she was playing around with both of them?

Seri sniffed back tears, and she was so lost in her misery that she didn’t even hear her bedroom door opening or closing. By the time she realized she wasn’t alone, Vassi was already standing next to her bed, looking freshly showered and gorgeous in a gray sweater and an old pair of jogging pants.

What took you so long? I thought you weren’t going to check on me! I thought you were mad at me! Why do you look so beautiful? Why do I have to be sick?

Seri wanted to say all these things and more, but in the end, relief and her feverish condition had her doing something else entirely.

She burst into tears.

“What the---why are you crying?” As Vassi sat on the edge of her bed, he was surprised when she immediately laid her head on his lap and cried harder.

She raised watery eyes to him. “Sorry.” She wished she had the strength to say more, but just keeping her head up was already making her feel weak, and in the end all she could do was apologize again. “Really…sorry.”

Vassi’s chest clenched at the rare sight of Seri being so vulnerable, and he found himself releasing a strained sigh. “Ah, leech.” He stroked her hair, and when her sobs still didn’t subside, he sighed again before giving them what both they wanted and to hell with the consequences.

Right now, Seri needed him, and in the end that was what he lived for: to be whatever she needed.

So Vassi scooped her onto his lap, and Seri immediately snuggled closer to him, rubbing her face against his chest as she breathed in the scent of him.

Vassi shook his head as he watched her, thinking that she had always been like this. Seri rarely fell sick even when they were young, but when she did, she often turned into the sweetest and weakest little kitten.

“Text,” she mumbled.

He stiffened. “Let’s not talk about it.”

She shook her head weakly. “Don’t get…mad.”

He scowled. How in hell would he not get mad, seeing some bastard making the moves on his Seri?

Seri chose that exact moment to rub her cheek against his chest. “Please?”

He stared down broodingly at her. She was too damn affectionate, always had been whenever she was sick. What if Seri happened to fall ill and neither he nor the rest of his family was around? What if it was just the other guy close by?

No one would be able to resist taking advantage of her if she was like this.

Especially not that guy, Vassi thought, recalling the way the guy had worded his text. It was fucking obvious that he wanted Seri, and he was certain the other guy was the kind who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

Dammit.

The thought made him scowl and he heard himself say, “You must get better, Seri.”

“Mm.”

“If you get sick again, make sure I’m the only one who’s around. Not any other guy, or I’ll kill you.” But even he was aware of how his tone was at odds with the tender way he was brushing the hair from her face.

“Mm.” If she hadn’t been too tired, she would have laughed out loud. Did Vassi realize how ludicrous his words sounded?

“And if you can’t help getting sick and none of us are around, you can only go to a women’s hospital.” As he spoke, Vassi mentally resolved to check a list of women’s hospitals in the area, and if there happened to be none, well, he would just persuade Fyodor to have one built. It was for Seri’s sake anyway.

She forced her eyes to open. “V-Vassi?”

“Yes?”

“Are you…jealous?”

Pause.

“Yes.”

His tone was laced with self-disgust, but even so she knew he was actually speaking the truth, and her heart made a little leap of joy.

Vassi was jealous.

Over her!

Turning to him, she said earnestly, “Don’t misunderstand…text.”

“So you’re saying nothing’s going on between you?”

She nodded.

“If so, then why did you kiss him?”

Oh.

Realizing she had fallen into his trap and knowing that she could no longer tell him the truth about the kiss being accidental, she said weakly, ‘I didn’t…kiss him. He kissed…me.” And inside her head, she issued Maximilian a silent apology for the lie.

“Bastard.”

She mentally winced, thinking, Really, really sorry, Max. But you don’t love him like I do anyway, so it’s better that he’s mad at you than at me.

“I’m going to kill that son of a---”

Realizing she had to distract Vassi before he made good on his threat, she quickly changed the subject, mumbling, “I t-thought you…weren’t going to…check on me.”

He snorted. “Like that’s possible.”

“I thought you were mad.”

His lips twitched, and he chided her gently, “Between the two of us, solnishka moya, who do you think has a stronger tendency to hold grudges?”

Instead of answering, Seri simply snuggled closer to him, and he chuckled because this was just like her, too.

Seri’s headache started to lessen dramatically the longer she spent in Vassi’s arms. Love was amazing, she thought sleepily. Who would have thought being near Vassi was enough to make her feel better?

She rubbed her face against his chest, liking the feel of cotton against the hard muscles.

Over her head, Seri heard him murmur in amusement, “You’re like a kitten when you do that.”

A kitten? Seri opened her eyes and gathered enough energy to look up. He was smiling down at her, and before she realized what she was doing, she curled her right hand into a fist, like a paw, and as she slowly waved it up and down, she said sleepily, “Meow.” Her eyelids drifted shut right after, making her miss the stunned expression on Vassi’s face.

Meow.

Vassi couldn’t get the image of a kitten-like Seri out of his mind.

Meow.

She had never done that before, and it was so damn…HOT.

His dick more than agreed, and Vassi didn’t know whether he was thankful or not that Seri seemed too out of her head with her fever to realize what was trying to poke through her pajamas. Instead, she was too busy squirming on his lap, trying to find a good position to sleep in, and all the while unaware of what those sexy little movements were doing to his body.

It took everything in Vassi not to clasp her by the waist and grind her pussy down his groin. She’s ill, he reminded himself. Only the shittiest guys would exploit someone made defenseless by her illness.

He knew this, but the problem was, his dick didn’t care.

It had grown into a full-blown erection, and every nerve in his body was stretched taut, his control just one stroke away from snapping.

Gnashing his teeth, he forced himself to move and lifted her off his lap. She mewled in protest, just like a sexy little kitten, and damn if he didn’t want to kiss her mouth and see if she could also purr just as good.

Meow.

Ignoring her soft, irritated grumbles, which were almost as cute as her mewls, he tucked her under the covers.

As he straightened, the door behind him opened.

“How is she?” Misha asked.

“Still hot,” he answered briefly.

On his other side, Sergei had his iPhone out, and a glance on the screen showed Fyodor on FaceTime, a concerned frown on his face.

“I wish I can stay to help out, but I need to stay overnight at the university,” Misha muttered tautly.

“And I need to join Papa in California by tonight,” Sergei said. “You think you can look after Seri on your own?”

“Of course.” He rolled his eyes at the look of concern on his brothers’ faces. “I’m not on my own here, and the two of you know it. We have a full-time staff, and yes, I will ask for their help if I have a need for it.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes.” And he was. He was certain he could get Seri better, but what he was not certain was whether he could keep his hands to himself while she recuperated.

He had promised to himself to never cross the line with Seri. He was determined that she would stay a virgin until she realized that she was only infatuated with him. He had been counting on his brothers’ presence to keep him in check. But now that he knew he was going to be left alone the entire night with a sweet, kitten-like Seri?

A stream of curses filled his mind once more.

It was going to be a fucking long day.