“You would like that?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve missed him these last few months.”
Solemnly, Alexei nodded. “And how about me? Have you missed me?”
I searched his face before nodding. “You know I have.”
His lips were on mine instantly, gently parting them so the tip of his tongue slid against mine. I sighed happily, letting my body relax against his. It was the sound of our son stirring that drew us apart.
“It’s settled then,” Alexei beamed at the both of us. His whole face lit from within.
It was such a strange thing seeing this dangerously powerful man so full of love and happiness. It softened his face and made his eyes dreamy. That’s all it took to break the ice of a man like Alexei. The love of a family.
“You will come home.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that wasn’t what I had said, but at the last minute, I just smiled.
“And everything will go back to normal.”
”No, Alexei. It can’t go back to normal because our normal wasn’t healthy. We need to change and grow. But I’m willing to try. If you are?”
“I’ve already told you that I’ll do anything. I just can’t stand the thought of losing you again.”
“Good, so as long as there are no more secrets between us and Violet is gone.”
A shadow passed across his face.
My heart sank. And there it was, the thing between us wasn’t gone at all. Violet had shot me. She’d done so many horrible things to me, and Alexei still couldn’t let her go. Even knowing she had betrayed and had never loved him, he still couldn’t cut that cord.
Twisting my face away, I took a settling breath.
“Amy, look at me.”
Reluctantly, I did that.
“I will do anything to keep you and baby Nikolai in my life. Anything.” He swore.
I forced myself to smile and nod. “I know.” I lied. I didn’t believe him. So help me God, after everything that had happened, I still didn’t believe he could ever let his first love go.
And it broke my heart all over again.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Alexei
She didn’t believe me. It didn’t matter how many times I told Amy that I would do anything to make things work, she didn’t believe me.
Not that she said anything, but she couldn’t hide the look in her eyes or the times she quickly looked away. I didn’t blame her for the doubt, not for one second, but it did hurt me. In a way, I knew I deserved that pain. Amy had to learn to trust me again, and I could wait until she did.
I owed her to go slow. Still, Violet was going to be a problem I had to deal with soon. And I still didn’t know what I was going to do. If it had been anyone else, they would already be dead, but this was Violet, and it didn’t matter what she had done. I couldn’t believe deep down that she was fully to blame for all of this.
“Mr. Petrovov.” One of my men positioned outside Amy’s suite approached me as I slipped from the room to go and visit with my son. There were men outside the NICU as well. No one complained, well, not anymore anyway. They had at the beginning.
“Is everything alright?” The only reason any of these young men would talk to me was if something wasn’t.
His eyes danced away. “Your grandfather.”
My heart skidded to a stop. “Is he?” I could finish the sentence.
