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“Maybe?” Wren laughed.

“Do you realize how much Paloma’s been waiting for this moment?” Mila asked wryly.

“All right. But not now. Right? With Gregori and the danger from him…” I shook my head. “First things first.” I cleared my throat, getting back to business with why they were really here. Done with the girl talk, which I really valued, we moved on to serious business. We discussed what I could look for and the estimated locations and timelines to consider. Between the three of us, we had a solid list of sources I could look into next. My main objectives were to track down Gregori at any of the supposed safe houses he was calling home, but Wren was adamant that I could be useful in finding that politician, Rico Johnson, too, since he was still “missing”.

I had my work cut out for me, and I looked forward to staying busy with it.

Balancing my “job” with being a mom was still something I had to do, though. Brady came home with Paloma around dinnertime, and I shoved all thoughts of surveillance feeds and hacking aside.

It was different with only the three of us, but with Brady’s enthusiasm to help make dinner, the time flew by.

Before I could slow down and sit for a moment, it was his bedtime. I snuggled up against him while he lay in bed. Ready with a book in hand, I watched him yawn.

“Swimming sure does tire you out, huh?” We’d enjoyed a swim before his bathtime routine.

“Mama, will Mr. Volkov be home later tonight?” he asked, seeming to have that on his mind such that he didn’t even acknowledge my question.

Home.

It was a tug on my heartstrings to hear him call this huge house our home.

“He will be,” I said, praying I wouldn’t make a liar of myself.

He watched me, his eyes so trusting and curious as I stroked his black hair from his brow.

“Can he be my daddy?”

Cue another swift tug on those heartstrings.

“Your daddy?”

He nodded. “So I can call him Daddy instead of calling him Mr. Volkov.”

“Well…” I let out a long breath, bracing myself for this tricky conversation. “That’s not something that only I can decide. That’s a decision we’d have to make together.”

He nodded, leaning against me. “Would he want to be my daddy?”

I smiled, stroking my hand over his hair. “Of course he’d want to be your daddy.” With his wording, he was asking about the connection between him and Nikolai, not really cluing in to his awareness of how the connection between me and Nikolai would be an important one too. “You are a wonderful boy.”

“I would like it if he was my daddy. I’ve never had one, but I like him.”

“I do, too,” I admitted, careful not to give him false hope while avoiding any elaboration.

“Mr. Volkov was holding baby Luka at the big mansion. He likes baby Luka.”

I smiled, imagining the comparison he was making. Adrik loved his son. So it came as no surprise that Brady would project something like that on himself, being a boy and wanting a father.

“I know I’m not a baby, but Mr. Volkov likes to play with me and swim with me.”

I kissed the top of his head. “You’ll always be my baby,” I reminded him.

“I know, Mama.” He hugged me tight. “But I could be his, too, can’t I?”

I rested my cheek on his head. “Like I said, that’s not a decision for me to make by myself. I think that there is a lot of room in this family for love.” I hated to feel like a liar, but I refused to put hope in his head and let him be disappointed later.

I felt so close to Nikolai, and I was finding my place as a working member of the Bratva. But this? This was far too important to rush or assume anything.

Nikolai and I would need to speak together about this. And soon.