My throat tightens.
“I missed you too, baby,” I whisper, pressing my face into his hair and breathing him in like he’s oxygen.
He winds back to look at me, his small hands cupping my cheeks. “Am I gonna live with you now?”
The question cracks straight through me.
I nod quickly, emotions clinging to my throat. “Yes. Yes, you are.”
His eyes widen. “Forever?”
“Forever. I promise.” I brush his hair back from his forehead. “We’re never going to be apart again, okay? Mommy’s not leaving you ever again.”
He studies my face like he’s making sure I mean it. Then he hugs me again, even tighter this time.
“Good,” he says.
I laugh through the tears threatening to spill and kiss the top of his head.
Kirill watches us, the corner of his mouth twitching as he takes the bag from Camille’s hand.
A few minutes later, we’re back at the car, strapping Milo into the backseat. But before Kirill gets in, he pauses and turns toward Camille one last time, where she’s still standing frozen in the doorway.
“You are not to come anywhere near my wife or our son, you understand me?” His voice drops lower, colder. “I have killed a woman for less.”
Every bit of color drains from her face.
He doesn’t say anything after that, just gets into the car. And as we pull away, with Milo safely in the backseat beside me, I know I have everything I need now.
Everything and more.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
KIRILL
“This house is ginormous!”
Milo presses his face to the window as the car rolls slowly up the long driveway.
“Are you rich?” he asks with complete seriousness.
I laugh under my breath at the bluntness only a kid can get away with. “Some have called it that.”
“Wow…” He leans forward between the seats, looking from the house to Sloane beside him and back again. “Will I really live here with Mommy?”
“That’s right.”
I catch Sloane’s gaze in the rearview, and the pure happiness on her face makes this all worth it. She deserves everything she has never been given. And I will make sure she gets it.
When the car stops, Milo hops out the second I open his door. He looks at the stretch of the house, trying to take in the entire place in one glance.
“This is so cool. I bet playing hide-and-seek here is epic.”
Sloane laughs, peering over with glassy eyes.
As we head toward the front steps, Milo looks up at me again. “Do you live here alone?”
“Not exactly. I have a son,” I tell him as we reach the door. “And lots of people who help keep this place clean.”
