Page 73 of My Ex’s Dad

One year later…

Liliana smiles at Viktor as he holds Luka. My son is still sleeping, oblivious that it’s the day of his baptism, but that might be for the best right now.

I sigh, watching my wife and child from across the church, wondering if I look half as happy as I feel.

“He looks so innocent,” Jenni quips as she comes to stand next to me in the vestibule of the church. I’ve gotten to know this good friend of Liliana’s over the last year, and I’m grateful she’s here to become my son’s godmother. She’s not just a friend but a resource I can count on.

From the start, after I sat her down and made sure she understood how much Liliana means to me, she’s been my eyes and ears at the bakery. If she ever sensed some kind of danger near, she’d alert me. I never expected her to act as a confidante or share Liliana’s secrets with me. Liliana needs her friend. Someone not within the Bratva. It helps that Jenni knows who I am and what I represent.

“Don’t jinx it,” I tell her.

As if on cue, Luka fusses and cries.

“I swear, it’s like he has a radar,” Liliana says.

Jenni pats my back and leaves me to go assist—if she can. Luka prefers me or his mother, and if that’s the way it’s going to be, so be it.

Luka’s been a challenging baby so far, but no matter how much sleep deprivation he is going to cause us, I will never stop loving him or wanting to make his life a good one.

Liliana doubted we could pull this off today, too, especially with Luka going through a growth spurt and keeping us up all night with cluster feeding, but she doesn’t look the least bit tired.

I smile as I admire her. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in our lives, I will never fail to see her beauty and savor her goodness. I still can’t tell if she has such a pure and hardworking heart because she wasn’t born within the world of crime, or if it’s just who she is. All I can do is know I’m the luckiest man alive to have the right to call her my wife.

She’s radiant, glowing as a new mother. Her body is curvy and as delectable as ever, even after she lost some weight to morning sickness toward the end. Her appetite took a harder hit when her mother, then her father, passed away over the last year.

It’s a blessing that they lived to witness our wedding, but not even a week afterward, her mother sickened with an infection she just couldn’t beat. Her father followed her not long after. Two days after Liliana buried her mother, he died of a heart attack no one saw coming.

While her pregnancy was a smooth experience overall, the loss of her parents was a time of much grief. Our marriage is stronger because of it though. I truly believe that she came to love me even more, and saw me as the partner she’s always wanted and needed because of how her parents simply couldn’t live without each other. That was the binding love that she’d always hoped to have, and despite the losses, and the danger that lurks on the periphery, we’re closer together than ever before.

“Need anything?” Margarita, pausing as she enters. Her arm is linked with one of my guards she’s been dating since the incident with Roman at the bakery.

“Why do you ask?” I joke, standing upright and smoothing my hand over my suit. “I didn’t fall asleep standing up again, did I?”

The guard huffs and shakes his head. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Luka’s baptism?” Margarita asks.

“No. The day that the boss can lighten up and be loose enough to crack a joke.” He smiles as he says it, which takes the sting out of his words, but it’s all good. Life is good.

I laugh with them before they move further into the church. It’s already filling up with guests and well-wishers, many who were in attendance at the grand wedding ceremony that made Liliana Mrs. Sokolova. It hardly matters who’s here though. The only ones I’m focused on are my son and wife.

I sigh happily, marveling at how of all the men in the world she wanted to choose me, to pick a life with me.

“I heard that,” Viktor says.

He comes up behind me, having handed Luka over to Jenni. So far, she’s having more luck keeping the baby quiet. I narrow my eyes, studying her method. Bounce in her step, check. Slight sway, check. But she also stops short after the sway before she turns to pace the other way. Maybe that’s the trick.

“Heard what?” I ask as my assistant and friend stands with me. I yawn again.

“That you’ve harnessed the ability to crack jokes now.” He smirks at me, then watches Luka. He’s not just the godfather but the besotted uncle.

I shrug. “Blame it on Liliana,” I say around another yawn. “She makes life brighter.”

“She sure has thawed you out,” Viktor admits kindly. “And I mean that in a good way. If I had to guess, it’s like she’s given you a new take on life.”

“She has.” I wake up at her approaching me, looking like a goddess. Like my queen. “And I plan to make sure she never regrets it.”

Viktor steps away as Liliana reaches me. I pull her in for a hug, unable to keep my hands off her for long. But she protests, shaking her head so her golden hair sways over her shoulders. “No, no, no.” She steps back and exhales a long breath.