“Then I’ll make sure you and Alexei get yours first.”
That seems to satisfy her. She goes back to her flowers. Alexei returns to his train track planning.
I sit there for another fifteen minutes, letting them play. Making Maxim wait is deliberate. He can learn patience.
When I finally go inside, Anna is in the kitchen cutting sandwiches.
“Maxim is here,” I tell her.
Her hands still on the knife. “Why?”
“I don’t know yet. He’s waiting in my study.”
“Does he want to see the twins?”
“He didn’t say. But if he does, you can decide whether that happens.”
She sets down the knife. “If he’s going to apologize, he should apologize to them, not just you.”
“Agreed.”
“And if he’s here to cause more problems, I want him gone before they see him.”
“Also agreed.”
I head to my study. Maxim is standing by the window, looking out at the grounds. He’s dressed casually. Jeans, dark sweater. No suit. That’s unusual for him.
He turns when I enter. “Thank you for seeing me.”
“You drove all the way here. I’m curious why.”
“I came to apologize.”
I close the door and lean against my desk. “For?”
“For the dinner. For what I said to Anna. For questioning the twins’ legitimacy. For threatening to go to the Kozlovs.” He pauses. “For being an ass.”
“That’s a comprehensive list.”
“I was out of line. On all counts.”
“Yes. You were.”
He moves away from the window. “I’ve been watching you. The past few weeks. Pavel sends me updates on household matters. He mentioned you’ve been spending time with the twins. Teaching Alexei about trains. Reading to them. Playing with Mila in the garden.”
“That bothers you?”
“No. That’s what made me realize I was wrong.”
I wait for him to continue.
“I thought this was temporary,” Maxim says. “I thought you married Anna for the company, and the twins were just collateral. An inconvenience you’d tolerate until you got what you wanted. But that’s not what’s happening.”
“What’s happening?”
“You’re building a family. An actual family. Not a business arrangement. Not a transaction. You care about them.”
“They’re my children. Of course I care about them.”
