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She hits me gently with a couch cushion. “We don’t have to get emotional. It’s a cold, hard, emotionless fact. You’ve done great things with your life. You have a beautiful family and an amazing house. You have someone who loves you and wants to take care of you. It’s admirable. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous.”
“You’ll find someone like that, too, Lana. And you have Brady and Lily. They’re incredible.”
“The best,” she agrees with a tender smile. “I’m just so proud of how far you’ve come. I don’t know if I have a right to be proud. I doubted your choices every step of the way.”
“I appreciate you acknowledging how much of a pain in the butt you were.”
She laughs. “I was. But it was only because I loved you. Because I wanted what was best for you. And now… look at you.”
“Look at me. Shacking up with my baby daddy in his beach house. I’m every father’s dream, aren’t I?”
“Hey.” Lana kicks my knee, a serious look on her face. “You know Dad would be proud of you, too. He was so happy you all were able to clear the air between you before he passed.”
It’s been ten months since Dad passed away. The day after I handed Viktoria my mother’s locket necklace, I called my dad.
“Whether you agree with me or not, you are my dad,”I told him.“You’re the dad I’ve known my entire life, and you’re the dad I chose when given a choice. So… deal with it.”
It wasn’t exactly an elegant speech, but after a long pause, he agreed.“Okay.”
That was that.
Yuliana and I visited him a few more times before the cancer started getting the best of him. At the end, I went by myself, standing by his bed with Lana and Alexis as the machines around him beeped less and less frequently. When he passed, I cried and comforted my sisters, but there was no regret. No ill will. That’s all I could really ask for.
“I still can’t believe you gave me your cut of the inheritance Dad left,” Lana says. “You could have saved it for Yuliana.”
I gesture around the magnificent living room with the spectacular beachside views. “You’re right. She will grow up so needy without that money.”
“You know what I mean,” she snaps at my sarcasm. “It was your money.”
“I didn’t need it. And the more financially independent you can be, the more you can focus on finding a nice guy you love.”
“Are you worried I’m going to turn into a gold digger or something?” she asks, one eyebrow arched in a challenge.
I look directly into her eyes. “That is entirely what I’m afraid of.”
“You and Alexis have no faith in me!” she protests. “Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson about marrying a man for his money. I got Lily and Brady out of the deal, so it wasn’t a mistake. But it’s not something I plan to repeat anytime soon.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that. Some women aren’t as wise.”
Viktoria Kozlov comes to mind. Though, I suppose it’s Viktoria Lenin now.
When Sasha and Viktoria’s wedding invitation came in the mail six months after I last saw them at the party, Kirill hung it on the fridge.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “We aren’t going to that, right?”
He snorted. “God no. I just want to have another visual reminder of what a massive bullet I dodged.”
“You need a reminder that you made the right choice? Is the sight of me not enough?”
Kirill looked me over, pretending to consider the question. “Take off your clothes. Maybe that would help jog my memory.”
I slapped his arm, but within ten minutes, my clothes were indeed off and we were enthusiastically reminding each other of exactly how lucky we were.
“Gross. Now, you’re the one with the dopey smile.” Lana stretches out and nudges my leg with her foot. “What are you thinking about?”
I clear my throat and my dirty thoughts quickly. “Nothing.”
“Liar! You were thinking about your date tonight with Kirill. You were thinking about boinking him on his yacht.”
