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It made me wish I had gone for a second round the night before.
“Good morning, sweetie,” Mila murmured to Kat, walking over to lean in and kiss her on the forehead. Kat giggled and said it back to her, returning to her coloring.
A part of me hoped Mila would extend the kindness to me and do the same, but she continued over to the coffee maker. She reached for a mug and poured the dark roast blend before adding her cream and sugar.
She sat down at the table next to Kat and across from me. Sipping from her mug, she peered over the edge of it. “I need to see my father.”
Bristling at the request, I clenched my jaw, prepared to deny her. Based on our current security situation and not knowing who was plotting what, I didn’t want her stepping out in the middle of it.
But my brothers and I had been wondering what Grigory’s plans were regarding leaving Miami. We caught wind that he would be going, but we were in the dark about what was next. What did he want?
There was a chance a visit with him could give us the answers we wanted.
If Grigory was using Mila as a source of information to try and bring us down, then we’d only be sending her in to report back. She had been curious about our business and where I was going most nights, which could be disguised as her farming information. Or she was just concerned. There was no way of knowing yet.
But when Grigory first revealed Mila as my arranged bride, he slapped her. She resisted him just like I had resisted the whole affair.
None of it made any sense. Where did Mila’s eagerness to be together come from? I seemed to have more pieces of the puzzle with jagged edges that didn’t fit.
My eyes drifted over to Kat as she colored, humming to herself again. She giggled and looked at her mother.
“Daddy tried to make a face with the blueberries in my pancakes. It looked funny.”
Mila perked up once she spoke and offered her daughter an amused look in return. “It was nice of him to do that for you.”
Kat nodded, scratching the paper with her crayons.
If only my wife could be as open and transparent as our toddler. Everything would be much easier to handle.
Chapter 16 - Mila
A small smile pulled on my lips at the sight of Nikolai talking with Kat at the table while they ate. She looked happy around him, having warmed up faster than I had expected. Standing from my place in the doorway, I watched for a moment, warmed by the image.
Kat was safer with him than I had been with my own father. I wouldn’t dare leave her alone with him, but with Nikolai, she seemed right at home.
I was glad she was blissfully unaware of everything else. I didn’t want her to know that her father often left during the night, scarcely telling me why, and that there were others they had to protect us from. That her father was a cold, closed book to me. I only wanted her to know the version of her dad he presented to her. That Nikolai was kind and tender, glad to be a father and tend to his little girl.
He was a worthy father, but he still had to prove himself as a husband.
As I padded into the room, Nikolai noticed, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he finished the last of his food and drank his coffee.
I gave Kat a kiss on the forehead, wishing her a good morning as I always did. Finished with her food, she was happy to sit there and color.
When I pulled back up, Nikolai gave me an odd look before he returned his eyes to his mug.
Ignoring him, the smell of coffee lured me over to the pot of it on the counter, and I poured myself a mug full. With everything I wanted added to it, I slipped in next to Kat and took a careful sip from it. The warm fluid relaxed me.
“I need to see my father.”
Nikolai tensed at my words, and he eyed me. His jaw clenched.
I certainly didn’t want to see him, but I needed to find out when he’d be leaving. That would be one less thing to worry about, and I’d be able to give Kat and Nikolai my all. Whether he chose to accept it or not.
For whatever reason, it seemed to drag his mood right down. He kept his sourness trained squarely on me. I didn’t know what the issue was.
Instead of answering me right away, he looked over at Kat and watched as she colored. He seemed deep in thought, even as Kat told me about the pancakes and blueberries.
“I have work to attend to, but I’ll be back later to see you before bed,” Nikolai said to Kat. “Maybe I’ll pick you something up on the way home.”
