“Can we keep building this while we wait?”
“Of course.”
They dive back into the construction set, talking over each other about what pieces go where.
Nadia comes back into the room and sits beside me on the couch. “That went better than expected,” she says quietly.
“It did.”
“He was good with them.”
“I know.”
“You okay?”
I watch Cassian’s sons playing with the toys their father brought them, and I don’t know how to answer that question.
“I don’t know,” I say finally. “I really don’t know.”
27
CASSIAN
It’s beenfour days since I met my sons properly. Four days of thinking about nothing else. The way Finn laughed when the construction set finally worked. The way Liam watched me with those serious eyes that are exactly like mine.
I arrive at the estate at three exactly.
Julian answers the door. He steps aside to let me in without saying a word.
Aurelia’s in the sitting room with the boys. She’s wearing a navy dress today, fitted at the waist, hem hitting just above her knees. Not the casual clothes from Saturday. The dress shows her figure in ways that make it hard to focus.
I force my eyes to the twins.
Finn sees me first, and his face lights up. “Da! You came back!” He runs over and crashes into my legs.
The impact nearly knocks me backward, but I catch him, one hand on his shoulder. “I said I would.”
“Can we finish the car today?”
“That’s the plan.”
Liam approaches more slowly. Stops a few feet away and looks up at me. “Hi.”
“Hi, Liam.”
“We’ve been working on it. But we left the hard parts for you.”
Pride swells in my chest. They waited for me. Saved the complicated pieces because they wanted to build them together.
“Smart thinking.”
Aurelia stands. “I’ll get the model kit.”
She walks past me, and I catch her perfume. It hits me the same way it did six years ago on that plane.
I sit on the floor where we were last time. Both boys settle in close, one on each side. Finn immediately starts talking about what they’ve done since Saturday. Liam listens and occasionally corrects details Finn gets wrong.
Aurelia returns with the model kit and sets it on the coffee table. She sits on the couch, legs crossed at the ankle, that dress pulling tight across her thighs when she adjusts her position.
