Page 35

Kirill stepped into my path. “You can love her and still want to strangle her.”

I pressed the heels of my hands against my forehead. This was all too much too soon. “I don’t even know why she did it. Was this her version of kindness or another motherfucking breadcrumb she thought she could drop whenever she pleased?”

“It could be both.” Maksim smoothed a hand down the back of my head, then kneaded the tight knot of muscles bunching there. “When you decide you’re ready, we’ll ask her.”

There was a dangerous lilt to his voice that promised he might not be gentle in the asking, but once again, he gave me a choice. It didn’t erase the kidnapping, the threats, or the way they’d dragged me into this house, but it did help shift the anger.

Roman shifted his weight against my other side. “There is one question we need answered.” He brushed his knuckles over my arm, the touch featherlight. “Are there any other candidates for Nora’s father?”

Heat climbed into my neck, although shame had nothing to do with it. “No. I hadn’t been with anyone for months before the masquerade, and I didn’t sleep with anyone else until after Nora was born.” A sniff clogged the back of my throat. “One of you is her father.”

Kirill stared at the door, his usual restless energy focused. “She has Roman’s eyes.”

“That’s not a paternity test.” Roman scoffed and rubbed his knuckles up my arm again.

Kirill shook his head. “She made Maksim’s exact face while studying him.” He touched the bandage on his cheek, eyes softening. “I don’t care whose features she has.”

Their bickering should’ve irritated me. Instead, the tight feeling in my chest eased. They were searching for themselves in her, and somehow none of them sounded afraid of what they’d find.

Maksim’s attention settled on me. “A test would give us the biological answer.”

“I don’t want one.” Kirill snapped his head around to glare at Maksim.

Roman sighed. “Neither do I.”

Maksim gave them both a patient stare. “I wasn’t finished. A test would give us an answer, but it wouldn’t decide what happens next. Only you can do that.”

He directed that last part at me, making sure I understood my own agency in this predicament, and that frightened me more than I was ready to accept. “What happens if we test? Does one of you become Dad and the other two stand off to the side? Do we tell Nora she gets to keep one?”

“No.” Kirill’s answer overlapped my question, the sharp bark of it charging the air in the room. “She gets all of us.”

Roman rubbed his thumb over the ridiculous bandage. “Biology matters for medical history. We can give her doctor all three family histories and treat every known hereditary risk as relevant.” His head lifted, and several slow blinks cleared the sheen from his eyes. “I don’t need an answer. I don’t want one. Nora is ours if you’ll allow it.”

I didn’t have words for the feelings beating around in my chest. There was nothing but a gutted feeling of the most intense sort that pulled a sob up and out. Kirill wrapped his arms around me and pressed my face to his chest. Roman remained at my side, one hand between my shoulder blades, and Maksim kept rubbing the knots from my neck.

I eased back a fraction. “No test. Not now and not later. We can give her the medical information when needed, but I’m not dividing her between all of you.”

Maksim touched my chin, guiding my face around to meet his eyes. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. She deserves people who love her. If you mean what you said, then she has three fathers. We’ll tell her together.” I sniffed back the onslaught of tears and rubbed my cheek over Kirill’s chest.

We returned to Nora’s room, and she bounded over, hands clasped beneath her chin. “Do you know now?”

“Yes.” I sat on the edge of the couch that took up a large section of the living area and patted it. Nora climbed up beside me and kicked her feet. “Nora, honey, you’re in a very unique situation here. You see, all three of them want to be your daddy.”

“Oh.” She tipped her head back. “Does that mean I get to keep all of them?” Grinning, she pointed at Kirill. “And does he still get to be a prince?”

“I’m very fond of my title.” Kirill splayed a hand over his chest. “You get to choose, Nora. You can call us whatever makes you the most comfortable.”

“Can I have pancakes if I have three daddies?” Hope brightened her eyes when she peeked at me through her lashes. “And more bedtime stories so everyone has a chance to read to me?”

There was my precious little girl. Already wrapping them around her tiny little finger.

“Yes.” I nodded, my smile matching hers. “You can have pancakes and extra stories. I’m sure they’d all be happy to read to you.”

She cheered and leaped off the couch, racing to her bag to pull out her favorite books. By the time she fell asleep that night, she’d convinced Kirill to read two stories, persuaded Roman that monsters required a second inspection beneath the bed, and made Maksim promise that the guards wouldn’t arrest the tooth fairy when she showed up once her loose tooth finally came out.

I watched each negotiation from the window, amazed at how quickly three men who controlled an empire succumbed to a little girl in pink pajamas. Safety wrapped around me with the warmth of a heavy blanket, followed by a heady rush of desire. They consumed every thought once I tucked Nora into bed and sang her favorite lullaby before making my way to the private sitting room at the end of the hall where they waited for me.