Page 68 of Black Ledger

And I’d never seen this child on any video footage.

Ever.

Not a single instance on camera in eight years… how?

Unless they knew I had hacked their surveillance systems. Was this a trap for me? Severin was clever enough for it.

“Oh, she’s not Severin’s either,” Nika said, examining my face.

Was I that obvious?

Probably. I had taken a full step backward as if I’d been hit.

The one saving grace was that I was supposed to be Severin’s fiancée, so it was legitimate for me to be concerned about a bastard child.

But Nika had just said the girl was a Volkov… then who else could it be?

Instead of playing this guessing game, I asked, “Who’s her father, Aleksandr?”

“Oh, God, no,” Nika laughed. “She’s Mikhail’s daughter.”

Mikhail. I exhaled a relieved breath. Somehow, it was important that Severin hadn’t gotten another girl pregnant, even though I had every intention of killing him. He didn’t belong to me, and I didn’t want to lay claim to him, and yet…

Somehow this mattered.

In the awkward silence, Nika continued, “Her mother died in childbirth, and because Mikhail travels so much to Russia, she lives here.”

“I didn’t know Mikhail had a—” What was the appropriate name for a baby momma?

“Apparently he was rather devastated when his wife died.”

“I mean it feels like an appropriate thing to be devastated about.”

Nika nodded, the vein in her jaw pulsing. “Yes, of course.”

Oh, that was a big reaction. Nika didn’t like me implying she didn’t have empathy for Mikhail’s deep grief.

I turned back to the girl, Svetlana. “I am not marrying Mikhail. Why would you think I’d become your new mom?”

I wasn’t sure if that was an age-appropriate question. I seriously knew nothing about children. It was a problem.

“Because he’s not my father,” Svetlana spat. “Severin is⁠—”

“Sveta is very attached to Severin,” Nika cut in quickly.

“I see…” I said slowly, looking back at the little blonde hellion.

“Hurt my dad, and I will hurt you,” Svetlana said through her teeth before turning on her heel and stomping out.

“Noted,” I called after her, then turned to Nika. “She’s a little fireball, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she’s very protective of anyone she cares about.”

A very Severin thing. Maybe the child was his, not by parentage but temperament.

Wonderful. I sighed. When I did kill Severin, I was certain this little girl would one day hunt me down and try to end me for it. And by then, I might welcome it.

“Oh, you’re early,” a low, velvety voice echoed from up the stairs.