Page 108 of Warlord’s Empire

“That’s not hard,” she said, her cheeks dimpling with mischief.

He deserved the rebuke. Kissing the back of her hand, he said, “I will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to earn your trust. This time I will do it right.”

“No more kidnapping?” Her tone sounded disappointed.

He carefully chose his words. “If I thought you were in danger, and you agreed with my assessment, a kidnapping might be in order.”

She nodded. “I suppose that’s reasonable.” Her eyes shone with happiness and he knew he was on the road to forgiveness. “Now that we’ve sorted that out, I have one question.”

“What’s that?”

“What should we name our daughter?”

Chapter Forty-Seven

Radik watched Saskia fuss over their infant daughter from the doorway. Though there was a cradle, the baby was sound asleep on their bed. He could tell Saskia wanted her to wake up for a cuddle because she was gently jiggling the bed next to the baby and making cooing sounds at her.

He’d been living with Saskia in her suite at the mansion. Her apartment in Prague was being rebuilt after the attack. The local media reported it as a gas leak explosion. He wasn’t sure if it was Jozef’s people or Branislav’s that had arranged the story.

Rory, short for Aurelia, was born twelve days ago. After coming home from the neonatal unit two days after her birth, she’d done nothing but thrive – growing, crying, burping, and sleeping. She was robust but relatively quiet, or so Leeza and Shaun assured him. He had watched little Rory scream her demands, so he wasn’t sure about the ‘quiet’ assessment, but he’d agreed, nonetheless.

He chuckled when Saskia gently tickled Rory’s foot, causing the baby to pull her leg away and make a grumbling sound in her sleep.

“Leave her alone and come to me, angel,” he said to Saskia who looked at him with a raised brow.

“Why should I do that?”

“Because I will reward you.”

She tilted her head. “I’m not a dog to come whenever you beckon me with a treat. You’ll have to do better than that.”

He nodded seriously. “What if I told you the reward is a large black coffee and an oatcake from your favourite bakery?”

With the speed of a gazelle, she constructed a barrier of pillows around Rory and zipped towards the bedroom door in search of her coffee. Radik took hold of her arm as she passed him, stopping her.

“I require payment for my effort.”

She smiled, pressing her lips to his before looking around him for the goods. The woman was single-minded, but he loved her for it. Spotting her coffee on the table, she scooped it up and took a long sip, closing her eyes with a sigh as she swallowed. “Heavenly caffeine.”

“How are you feeling today?”

“Better,” she told him, sinking onto the couch with her drink cradled in her hands. “There’s no more pain and the bleeding has pretty much stopped. The stitches are almost completely dissolved.”

Shaun had given him a crash course in women’s health after the birth of his daughter. It had been a lot to take in, but ultimately, he’d been grateful for her instruction. It allowed him to be a better partner as Saskia healed.

As he sat on the couch next to Saskia, his phone vibrated. Pulling it from his pocket, he looked at it. “Jozef is coming to see us.”

“Is Shaun coming too?” Saskia asked hopefully.

Shaun loved seeing and talking about the baby, which gave Saskia someone to moon over her with.

“I don’t think so,” Radik said. “I believe this is business.”

“Branislav?”

Radik nodded and stood to open the door for Jozef.

Thank you for seeing me on short notice. His gaze went to Saskia. I have news on Branislav.