“What matters the most is that I wouldn’t have listened to my father. I love Mikhail, and I love the chance to be here and help him with his family however I can.”
“Oh, so he’s not telling you to spend time with me, huh?”
“No.” I shook my head. “He hasn’t. I told him from the beginning that he’s not the boss of me. He’s the boss around here, but he is very much aware that I want to be in charge of my life as much as I can be.”
“I like that perspective. I’ve never had any say in what I want.”
I stood, stretching from the stiff posture that came with sitting on that piano bench for too long. “Then explore and learn how to find your voice. Find your place. That’s what I’m doing.” I held my hands out in a wide shrug. “You and I are alike in that matter, Anya. I’m clueless about so much of this world, and it sounds like your view of it was colored too. We can figure it out and keep moving forward together.”
She stood. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
I hugged her, closing my eyes at the warmth in my heart from her embrace. “I’m glad I’m here, too. And I don’t plan to ever leave.”
We exited the room together. “Does this mean you’ll marry my father?”
“Would you like that?”
She nodded and rested her head against me. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a mother!”
“I wouldn’t replace her,” I warned.
“There’s nothing to replace. She was never there for me.”
It saddened me that she’d been lacking parental love for so long. Every day, we grew closer together. Our bond gave me more and more confidence that I belonged in this family. Yet, I didn’t want to ever assume too much or overstep.
“I will say that I love your father and I would enjoy starting a family with him.”
“Or adding on to the one we have,” she said, smiling easily.
“I’ve always wondered if and when I would be able to do that, though,” I admitted. “With my studies, then with my career, it seemed so impossible for so long to figure out how to make time for that.”
“It’s not like you’ve truly retired. You were helping the guys in the kitchen yesterday.”
She was right. I had stepped in to stitch them for a little bit of a scuffle they’d gotten into. That didn’t feel like work. It was just my instinct to help. That part of me would never die.
Once we parted ways, with her going to read and study for an assignment and for me to start putting away more clothes of what had been delivered, more gifts from Mikhail, I couldn’t stop thinking about all that we’d shared.
Not having to deal with a career seemed like such a lousy way to think about it, but it was true. Holding down a job often cut into a woman’s desire and ability to focus on a family.
Not every woman has to think like that in terms ofthefamily.
I smirked to myself as I folded more clothes to put away. The joy of sharing a walk-in closet with Mikhail would never fail to make me giddy.
But I’m his woman,I reminded myself happily.
For the first time since losing my parents, my future wasn’t a big, open question mark anymore.
This was my home, and these people, all of them, were my newfound family I’d help to protect.
37
MIKHAIL
The search for Jack Harroun continued.
All the dead ends that popped up pissed me off, and I didn’t take any men off the hunt. It wasn’t as though I had to split my interests, though. Niko Popov seemed to be careful and watching me, waiting to make a move of sabotaging my businesses like usual. Roberto Giovanni was no doubt cleaning up the mess and picking up the pieces of destruction after I’d hit back and killed his men last week.
On the home front, I was still pacing myself and holding back from fully focusing on Claire. I was reluctant to put all my energy and concentration into proposing and marrying her. A honeymoon phase would be the highest reward of the year, but I wanted to do that when I didn’t have anyone connected to her still lurking at large as a threat.
