I fix Mila’s blankets. Adjust Alexei’s pillow. Stand there for a moment watching them sleep.
My children.
Three months ago, I didn’t know they existed. Now they’re the reason I’m restructuring a three-year acquisition plan.
Pavel thinks that makes me weak.
Maybe it does. Or maybe it just makes me something other than what I was before.
I leave their rooms and walk toward mine. Anna’s door is closed. A line of light shows underneath. She’s still awake.
I knock.
“Come in.”
She’s sitting up in bed with a book. Hair loose. Wearing reading glasses I didn’t know she needed. She sets the book down when she sees me. “You’re home.”
“I said I would be.”
“It’s four thirty in the morning.”
“Business took longer than expected.”
“What kind of business takes until four thirty?”
I don’t answer. Just stand there in her doorway trying to figure out what I’m doing.
She takes off her glasses. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you look like you’ve been through something. And you’re standing in my doorway at four thirty in the morning instead of going to bed.”
“I wanted to check on the twins.”
“You could have done that without knocking on my door.”
She’s right. I could have.
“I’ll let you sleep,” I say.
“Luca.”
I stop.
“Thank you. For coming home. Alexei really will want that dragon book in the morning.”
“I know. I’ll be there.”
I close her door and go to my own room.
I lie down but don’t sleep. I just stare at the ceiling and think about partnership agreements and profit-sharing models and how much a four-year-old saying “Papa” can change three years of planning.
22
ANNA
I seehim before he sees me.
