Page 49 of My Ex’s Dad

I’ll be damned if you think about taking my baby from me.

I clear my throat and sniffle, hating how quickly he manipulated me into coming, like he can keep me as his puppet and make me surrender no matter what I want.

“I’m not going to that gala with you,” I whisper hotly.

“And I’m not letting you ever get close enough to know about this baby.”

As my vow hangs in the air, though, I can’t deny that I’ll be running out of time. I’ll start to show soon, and it’s going to be impossible to keep him from the truth.

20

ANTON

The next morning, Viktor sits across from me in my office. We’ve spent most of it going over business. From setting terms on deals to opening drug operations in new territory, it’s a typical morning, running every layer of the sprawling machine that is a Bratva.

He keeps up with me, often one step ahead and already knowing what I’m about to say.

But the last thing on my list throws him off balance.

“Arrange for a gown to be made for the Grayson Ball.”

He pauses from tapping on his phone. Slowly, he lifts his face and frowns at me. “A gown?”

I nod.

“I wasn’t aware that you planned to attend.”

“The gown isn’t for me.”

He replies with a dull smirk. “You don’t say.”

I can’t hide the start of a smile.

“Unless my memory is failing me, you instructed me to RSVP declining the invitation.”

I nod again. “Your memory is working just fine.”

He opens and closes his mouth, furrowing his brow.

“That invitation and my presumptuous RSVP were before I had the chance to meet Liliana Baranova, though.”

Understanding sinks in. “Oh.”

“Oh,” I agree.

“A gown for Liliana Baranova,” he recites back to me, tapping on his phone once more. His to-do lists spawn their own sub-lists, but however he organizes them, it works. He never misses anything. Not even a beat, as he says, “I’ll contact the coordinators to update your RSVP.”

I shrug. It’s not like they’d refuse me as a guest. They count on too many donations from me to not want me there.

“If I may ask, out of pure curiosity,” he says slowly.

I lift my hand in a lazy gesture to continue. I’ll never hold his curiosity against him.

“Will Elena be in attendance at the Grayson Ball as well?”

I shrug again. “I imagine so. It’s prime hunting ground for a new man, isn’t it?”

It’s his turn to lift his shoulders and let them drop. “I suppose it is. I ask because for the last several years, on and off of course, she’s been under the impression that you’ll bring her as your plus-one.”