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"I think the threat against both of you remains very real,” he says at last.

I reach for his hand without thinking, threading our fingers together. “We can't live scared forever.”

“No,” he agrees, tightening his grip around mine. “But we can remain careful.”

I squeeze his hand gently. “Well,” I say after a moment, forcing some lightness back into my voice, “today we're watchin’ little girls dance around a stage, and nobody is gonna ruin that. Bless their hearts if they try.”

To my surprise, Alexei actually laughs. The deep sound rumbles through his chest beneath my hand, and he looks almost startled by it himself.

I grin. “There he is.”

His brow furrows. “There who is?”

“The man capable of smilin’ before coffee.”

His brow furrows. “I smile.”

I snort. “Honey, no you don't. You occasionally look less irritated.”

Before I can dodge him, Alexei wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me back against him. I squeal, laughing as he buries his face against my neck.

“Irritated?” he repeats, sounding deeply offended.

“Mhmm,” I say, fighting another laugh.

“Interesting.”

I laugh harder when he presses a kiss to my temple.

A loud knock interrupts us.

“Papa?” Ivy calls through the door. “Agatha made pancakes!”

Alexei closes his eyes with the long-suffering expression of a man who knows privacy in a house with a six-year-old is a myth.

I can't help laughing. “Looks like breakfast is ready.”

Another knock rattles the door.

“And Winston stole bacon!” Ivy reports in a horrified voice.

Alexei releases a theatrical sigh. “Of course he did.”

16

ALEXEI

Ivy knocks again, louder this time, as if the door separating us might personally be responsible for Winston’s latest crime. Maggie laughs while pulling on her robe, and the sound moves through the bedroom with the kind of warmth I haven’t known in years.

“Papa?” Ivy calls. “Are you coming? Agatha said Winston can’t have any more bacon because he already had enough for a grown man.”

Maggie ties her robe and glances back at me. “That dog weighs six pounds.”

“He lacks discipline,” I say, reaching for my shirt.

“Funny. He acts just like somebody else I know.”

I pause with the shirt in my hands and look at her. “Are you accusing me of stealing bacon?”