I shift Lilia higher on my shoulder, pat her back. She lets out a tiny burp that makes both of us snort under our breath.
“I wanted to tell you something,” he says eventually. “About Dimitri.”
I straighten. “What about him?”
“I’ve been talking with a new medical team,” Petyr explains. “Neurologists, physical therapists, people who specialize in long-term rehabilitation. They’re good. Better than what the hospital’s been giving him.”
That catches my attention. “You think they can help him?”
“I do,” he says. “But they’ll need to move him here.”
I blink. “Here? Into the house?”
He nods. “It’s the safest option. They’ll have everything they need set up downstairs. Constant supervision, full access to his care. He’ll never be left alone again.”
For a moment, I don’t say anything. I picture Dimitri, the way Petyr told me he used to be: smiling, quick with his sarcasm, alive in ways his younger brother rarely let himself be.
Then I picture him as he is now. Still, fragile, living proof of how cruel this world can be.
And then I think of Kira.
After everything that came out, it’s hard not to. The way she’d been lying to everyone. How she’d kept telling us he was too sick to improve. Turns out, she hadn’t even visited him in months.
She could’ve walked into that hospital room any day and finished the job she started.
My throat tightens. “He’s been so vulnerable all this time,” I whisper. “If she’d gone back there?—”
“She didn’t,” Petyr says. His tone softens. “We were lucky.”
Lucky. That word doesn’t sit right with me. Not when Kira’s betrayal could’ve destroyed what little family we have left. Dimitri may not be my brother, but he’s Petyr’s. That means he’s family to me, too.
But Petyr is right. It’s the truth. Wewerelucky. And we can’t risk relying on luck again.
I glance at Lilia in my arms. Her breathing stays soft and steady. “If moving him here keeps him safe,” I say finally, “then it’s the right call.”
Petyr exhales slowly, like he’d been waiting for me to say it. “I’ll have the rooms cleared out tomorrow. The doctors will start bringing in equipment by the end of the week.”
I nod. “Good. He deserves better than what Kira gave him.”
“She fooled all of us,” Petyr says. “But she won’t get another chance.”
Silence stretches between us again. Not the uneasy kind that used to linger after our fights. This one’s quieter, the kind that comes when two people understand something without needing to say it.
Finally, I glance back at him. A smile tugs at my lips. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
He meets my eyes. “He’s my brother,” he says. “I should’ve done it sooner.”
I don’t argue. I just nod and reach over to brush a lock of hair from Lilia’s forehead.
I rock her in my arms until she gives a sleepy sigh. The sound is soft enough to melt me. She’s already drifting off, and her lashes flutter as she nestles closer.
I press a kiss to her head, breathe in that powdery baby scent, and carefully lower her into the crib.
Petyr reaches inside and strokes her hair. His touch is so gentle with her, it’s unreal. Every time I see them together like this, warmth spreads into me, thick and gooey.
Her dad loves her. He will protect her in ways mine didn’t with me.
He will keep her safe.
