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Jeremy was a quiet kid, and maybe that has to do with all the demons he witnessed me and his mother battle. He was nowhere as energetic as his little hellion sister who brought the whole house down from the time she was an infant, had my veteran ex-Spetsnaz guards chase after her as a toddler and lose, and had me, her mother, and brother wrapped around her pinkie finger.
Sure enough, when I reach the back garden, I find my daughter sitting beside the motherfucker, her hand in his, laughing at something Yan said.
My gaze strays to the beautiful woman who’s also laughing, her features bright and welcoming.
A deep breath spills out of my lungs whenever I see her. It’s a mixture of relief and wretched longing.
I’ve been married to that woman for over twenty-four years, and she’s still the only person who’s able to tame the chaos brewing inside me.
The only woman for whom I’m willing to sacrifice everything I have to see her smiling freely like that.
I just never thought I’d have to let go of my daughter instead.
Lia flat-out apologized to Creighton when we brought him with us that day. I wanted to kick the slimy bastard in the balls for pulling those twisted memories out of my wife.
She said she was sorry he’d had such a terrible childhood and parents and she regretted playing a role in that.
To my fucking surprise, he apologized back for being the biological son of the man who hurt her.
Annika looked proud as fuck. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for a scheme, a hidden motive, but there was no trace of either on his face.
Ever since then, Lia has basically adopted him as her third child. She easily fell in love with him and even started to make his favorite meals whenever he comes over.
The other day, they were texting back and forth about some stupid recipe. According to my daughter, he doesn’t reply to texts from his own friends and family.
He apparently doesn’t mind doing that with my wife.
Though Lia does have that quiet, spellbinding energy, where she’d capture anyone’s heart without even trying. A fact due to which I tried my best to keep her shielded from the world once upon a time.
I still want to lock her up so no one but me can see her, where only I’m her world as much as she is mine, but I recognize how much she needs to be out there.
My reward is having her willingly come back to me every night, to willingly seek refuge in my arms, and willingly want to spend time alone.
That’s the best gift I could ever receive.
“Try this, Creigh. I made it.” Annika scoops out what looks like some sort of appetizer and places it near his mouth.
The fucker-on-borrowed-time actually opens his lips and eats. Without a change of expression.
It’s Yan and Lia who wince, sharing a look.
“What do you think?” my daughter asks with expectant glee.
I’m ready to pummel him to the ground if he so much as changes that expression, but he nods. “Pretty good.”
“I knew it!” She glares at Yan. “See? I told you someone likes my food. It’s all about perspective.”
“You really okay there, man? Want me to call an ambulance?”
“Yan!” my wife chastises.
“No, something is wrong with the kid, Lia. He actually eats the things your food terrorist of a daughter cooks.”
“Wanna die?” my daughter asks with a murderous expression.
She got that one from me.
“Don’t call her a food terrorist,” Creighton says point-blank, earning a wide grin from Annika and a motherly smile from my wife.
