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With a woman like that wandering the halls of my hotel, Grigory Lukin could take his arranged marriage and shove it.
Chapter 3 - Mila
It’s a small world.
The words slammed into the side of my skull, reverberating there like the haunting echo it was. The reminder that no matter how much time had passed, I would never be able to truly stay away from those I ran from.
It was impossible to breathe in that hall as I scurried away, heart pounding in my chest. My steps were messy and uncalculated, but I couldn’t stay and look him in the eyes any longer.
Skin crawling, I couldn’t get the image of his face out of my head. There was no mistaking it was him. Kat’s father.
Nikolai.
To make matters worse, he was just as attractive as I remembered—maybe even more so.
I wondered if he recognized me too.
Needing a moment to gather myself, I leaned against the nearest wall and concentrated on my breathing. My pulse rang in my ears and made me feel like I was trapped inside a tunnel, with light and dark on either end.
A familiar chime from inside my purse pulled my attention away from Nikolai, and I plunged my hand inside to grab it. The screen was already lit up with Maria’s name as the contact. Unlocking it, I scanned the message and furrowed my brows in question.
The text she sent had the hotel dad was staying at, but she didn’t say anything about his new treatment or his health. It was simply the building name and address.
It was somewhat annoying for my aunt to be the middleman in the situation, but I refused to let my father have my number. God only knows how often he would blow my phone up with texts and calls, either to ream me out for leaving or to whine for sympathy.
I closed my eyes to push away the negative thoughts. He was dying, and I told myself I would see him just one last time, even if it had my stomach in knots. It was the least I could do, and I didn’t need to ruin it.
Sighing, I tucked the phone away and regained myself, remembering that the daycare wasn’t too far away, and I needed to pick Kat up sooner rather than later. I promised her that we’d go to the pool and restaurant in the hotel since I didn’t want her to feel like it was anything other than a vacation.
Some vacation,I thought to myself, pulling away from the wall.
“Mila!”
Shivers ran down my spine at once, freezing me in place. My legs filled with lead, and I couldn’t move.
I could never forget that voice. Mostly American with the slightest hint of his Russian heritage. Reluctantly, I slowly turned to look over my shoulder.
Nikolai approached me with a new recognition that lightened his features, smiling at me as if not a single day had passed.
Before he could see the daycare not far from where I stood, I cut the space between us and offered him a light smile.
“How did you remember me?” I asked, concentrating on making my tone sound normal, rather than shaky and apprehensive.
Nikolai’s elation to see me came as a mild surprise, and it brought a friendly look over his face that bolstered his charm tenfold. I swallowed against the lump in my throat.
“You are hard to forget,” Nikolai hummed, not afraid to glide closer with his charming smile.
God, he was breathtaking. It seemed impossible for him to be even more mouth-watering than before, but he defied everything I knew to be true. His ridiculous beauty made it difficult to look at him.
I couldn’t ignore the warmth that spread through my cheeks, alarmed by how carefree he seemed, despite how I had ghosted him three years prior. It felt more like seeing an old friend after a stretch apart rather than the father of my child. The one who was none the wiser about the fact.
Nikolai didn’t seem bitter at all, and it was strange to see.
That familiar desire filled his eyes, and Nikolai slid a hand against my waist, gazing down at me like I was a long-lost jewel he found at last. The corner of his lip tugged upward, and his words brushed against my lips carefully.
“You must have dinner with me,” Nikolai said, rather than asking.
The smooth drawl of his words made my chest flutter, and my mind seemed to empty itself at once, only to fill with a dreamy haze.
