I wrapped my fingers around the warm ceramic. “She gets plenty of stubbornness from both sides.”
He smiled faintly at that. “I deserve your anger, Ella. All of it. I know I’ve caused you immeasurable pain.”
“Pain doesn’t begin to cover it,” I whispered. “I thought I killed you. Do you understand what that did to me? Living with that for eight years?”
His eyes met mine, filled with regret. “I’m sorry. If there had been any other way...” He trailed off, shaking his head. “My father would have never stopped. This was the only path I saw to freedom—for all of us.”
“And now? What path do you see now?” I asked, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice.
Mikhail took a deep breath. “I still love you, Ella. I never stopped.” His words hung in the air between us. “I want us to try again—to be the family we were meant to be before all this happened.”
I stared at him, stunned. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.” He leaned forward, his voice earnest. “We could get married, give Nora the life she deserves with both her parents. Once my father is dealt with, we could go anywhere, start fresh.”
“Married?” I repeated the word, feeling foreign on my tongue. “Mikhail, you’ve been a ghost for eight years. I’ve built a life without you.”
“A life in hiding,” he countered gently. “Always looking over your shoulder.”
I thought about Wolf Creek, about the bakery, about Jake. “It wasn’t all hiding. There were good parts too.”
Something flashed in Mikhail’s eyes—understanding, perhaps jealousy. “Jake Brennen.”
I didn’t confirm or deny it, but my silence was enough of an answer.
“I see the way he looks at you,” Mikhail continued. “The way he stepped between us earlier. He cares for you.”
“He’s been here,” I said. “When things got hard, when I was afraid, he showed up. Not just with words or promises, but with actions.”
Mikhail nodded slowly. “I understand. But, Ella, think about what we could give Nora together. A complete family. Her heritage, her birthright.”
“Her birthright?” I laughed without humor. “You mean the criminal empire your father built? The danger that comes with the Petrova name? That’s not what I want for her.”
“No, not that.” He reached across the table, his fingers stopping just short of touching mine. “The good parts. The art, the music, the history. Her Russian roots, her Irish heritage from you. All of it together.”
I pulled my hands back. “Nora doesn’t need any of that to be whole. She needs to be safe and loved.”
“And she is loved,” Mikhail insisted. “By both of us. I may not have been there, but there hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought about her, worried for her, loved her from afar.”
I studied his face in the dim light. The years had changed him—hardened some features, softened others. But his eyes were the same, dark and intense, capable of making me feel like the only person in theworld.
“I can’t just erase the past,” I said finally. “I can’t pretend those years of fear didn’t happen.”
“I’m not asking you to,” he said. “I’m asking for a chance to make amends. To be the man I should have been from the start.”
A floorboard creaked behind us, and we both turned to see Jake standing in the doorway. His face was carefully blank, but I could see the tension in his shoulders.
“Everything okay in here?” he asked, his voice low.
“Fine,” I said quickly. “Just talking.”
Jake’s eyes moved from me to Mikhail and back. “My watch now. You should get some rest.”
Mikhail stood, nodding respectfully to Jake. “Of course. Thank you for your vigilance.” He paused beside my chair. “Think about what I said, Ella. Please.”
After he left, Jake took the seat across from me. Neither of us spoke for a long moment.
“He wants you back,” Jake said finally. It wasn’t a question.
