I type back a quick reply:You know it!!! I’ll drag Maks along too.
Petyr’s partnership with my brother has been good so far. Profitable, stable. Between them, they’ve turned what used to be rival territories into a fortress.
Petyr has learned how to delegate more, how to breathe. I’ve learned how to stop waiting for the floor to fall out from under me.
And us? Somehow, we’re better than ever.
Petyr kept every promise he made. No more secrets between us. He swore our daughter would never be a pawn in any of his dealings, and he meant it.
For the first time in my life, IknowI’m safe. And that she is, too.
I follow the sound of laughter down the hall. It’s not often you hear that kind of noise coming from Petyr’s office, but lately, it’s been happening more and more. Lilia likes wandering downstairs now that she’s finally allowed to walk down the steps like a big girl, and she always knows how to distract her dad from his all-important work.
When I reach the doorway, I lean against the frame and suppress a grin.
Petyr’s not at his desk. He’s sitting cross-legged on the floor beside Dimitri, surrounded by a sea of brightly colored Lego blocks. Lilia is right in the middle of them, face scrunched in concentration as she balances another piece on top of an already massive tower.
It’s lopsided. Teetering dangerously to one side. But Dimitri’s holding it steady, smiling as he offers her another piece. “Here,” he says, voice still rough from those long months of disuse. “Try this one.”
She beams up at him. “Thank you, Uncle Mitya!”
Petyr chuckles under his breath. “That thing’s going to collapse before she’s halfway done.”
“Not if you stop talking and help,” I call out.
He glances over his shoulder, and a huge smirk spreads slowly across his face. “Caught us.”
My heart flutters at the sight. Even after two years, I still haven’t gotten used to Petyr’s unguarded smile.
“Hardly.” I step closer. “You’re building a skyscraper in the middle of the office. I could’ve heard you from the garden.”
Lilia looks up at me and jumps up. “Mama, we’re making a castle!” Her dark curls bounce up and down with the motion.
“Of course you are.” I crouch down beside her. “Looks very structurally ambitious.”
Petyr laughs, reaches for another block, and adds it to the top. “See? Stable as ever.”
The tower wobbles once. Twice.
Then it promptly topples over.
Bricks scatter all across the floor. Lilia gasps, hands on her cheeks like a real-life scream emoji. “Papa!”
“Not my fault,” he says, hands raised in mock innocence. “Your mother jinxed it.”
Her pout is quick, but her giggle comes quicker. Dimitri’s laughter joins hers. Low, genuine, soft around the edges. It’s a sound I don’t think any of us thought we’d ever hear again.
Dimitri’s recovery has been nothing short of a miracle. It took months of therapy, countless specialists, and a stubborn refusal to quit, but he made it. He walks with only a slight limp now, his speech slow but clear. And while he never talks about Kira, he doesn’t seem to miss her, either.
He looks at peace.
As I watch the three of them horse around together in a mess of color and laughter, something warm fills my chest. A sensation I used to think I wasn’t built for.
The feeling of beinghome.
Petyr glances up again and catches the look on my face. “What?”
“Nothing,” I say, smile still in place. “Just taking a picture in my head.”
