He didn’t try to push again, and I knew I was losing him, and that was the last thing I ever wanted.
Chapter Forty-Three
Ivan
My mother was watchingJane on the terrace when I got up one morning. It had been almost two weeks since we’d moved in, and we were adjusting well—especially my mother. She loved having Jane around, which gave Don a much needed break when I had to bring Poppy places.
Don still brought Jane to school, and whatever activities she wanted to enjoy, but when she was home, she had my mother. My mother, who wanted nothing more than to have a daughter, was over the moon. She’d ordered clothes for Jane and Poppy the day after they’d moved in and made sure every single comfort and luxury was within reach. I’d tried to tell my mother that Jane had more than enough money to take care of her own needs, but my mother wasn’t having it. She wanted to spoil these two rotten, and there was no telling my mother no when she got something in her head.
My mother set her glass of green juice down on thecounter and leveled me withthe look.“You’re in love with Poppy.”
I grunted. There was no use in denying it. My mother would just try to wiggle out another truth until we circled back to this one.
She arched a perfectly manicured brow. “That wasn’t a no.”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“Your face did,” she replied, utterly unbothered. She shrugged. “Not only that, but all of your actions, too. This isn’t just a job to you, or you wouldn’t have brought her here. Honestly…” She looked out of the window at Jane talking animatedly on FaceTime and laughed. “You don’t even need thisjob,and I couldn’t for the life of me figure it out until I saw the way you looked at her and at her ring. Unrequited love is a hard pill to swallow.”
I ground my teeth together and looked away from the woman who saw entirely too much. “Uh huh.”
“Or maybe it isn’t unrequited. But that doesn’t explain the diamond that she hates so much.”
Satisfaction curled tightly in my chest.She hated it?“Does she really?”
Mother smirked. “You haven’t asked her? You spend so much time with her alone.”
I rolled my eyes. She was prying now. She was getting exactly what she wanted. “No. I don’t want to talk to her about her engagement.”
“She doesn’t look at him the way she looks at you.”
I let out a breath. “What do you want me to say?”
“Why is she marrying him?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I wish I knew. I think it’s arranged, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’re holding over her head.”
“And if she wasn’t with him, you’d swoop in?”
I shook my head. “No, I still wouldn’t because… because I’m not good for her.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, clear and piercing. “But we both know that isn’t true. You would burn the world down before you put a scratch on that girl.”
My jaw flexed. “That’s exactly the problem.”
“No,” she corrected, “that’s exactly why you’re good for her.”
I scoffed and folded my arms tighter across my chest. “You’re romanticizing things.”
“Oh, spare me.” She waved a dismissive hand. “I was married to a man who pretended he was good for me. Pretended he could be the husband and father we needed. Look where that ended.”
I didn’t flinch, but something cold settled under my ribs.
She softened. “You, however… you don’t pretend. Youarewhat you say you are. And you’ve never lied about the kind of man you can be.”
I frowned. “Which is exactly why I shouldn’t be around her.”
“You mean because you kill people when they deserve it?” she asked, deadpan.
