Page 39 of My Ex’s Dad

The driver hesitates, glancing in the mirror. “Want me to track her down?”

I shake my head. I am nowhere near quitting on her, but this is a game I’ll need to play carefully.

To my surprise, Markus answers for me. “No need to track her down. I know exactly where to find her.”

“How?” I give him all of my attention.

“She works at that bakery.” Leaning forward a little, he points at it as we are driven past it. “Her parents, the Baranovas, own it.” He shrugs. “I think the mother fell and the father’s been helping her at the rehab place.”

I raise my brows, not expecting a rundown of her whole family.

“I’ve been talking with her the most. Her and the other worker, some mouthy woman named Jenni.” Markus smooths down his tie. “Between the two of them, I’ve been getting some payments on the loan we made them.”

I blink. “Loan? They owe the Bratva money?”

Markus nods. “Yeah.” Then he smirks and glances to the side for a second. “You can thank your son for that business.” He says it wryly, more annoyed than amused.

“Why, because he dated her?” I hate asking that, but I can’t go back in time and change that my son had her first.

“Yeah.” Markus frowns. “I forgot that he dated her, actually. He never talked about her often and wasn’t loyal.” He shrugs again.

“What exactly was the loan for?”

“Medical bills, I guess. Plus old appliances and renovation work on the place drained them too. Or the parents just lack that business sense, you know? Anyway, Roman set them up with an account, and now they owe.”

I groan, knowing what’s coming. “And let me guess, Roman fucked it up?”

Markus nods. “It’s like he didn’t even look at the document at all. So, after the fact, I had to take over and protect your business.”

“Can he do anything and not fuck it up?” I mutter. I already know the answer, and I refuse to waste another thought on it.

For the rest of the ride, I get more details from Markus about Liliana. The bakery. Her coworkers. The parents. Everything.

Long after I’m dropped off at my building, I keep digging into everything I’ve learned. I’m thorough with anything that captures my interest, and Liliana is no different. She snared me for a couple of nights of lust almost two months ago, and the way she’s stuck in my mind now is closer to obsession.

I spend a couple of hours going through everything I have on her and this bakery. Viktor had already gathered a fair amount when he arranged to pay for the cars after she skidded into mine. Further back than that, a cursory background check had been run on her when Roman shared an apartment with her for a while.

None of these details ever came to my attention before, and they wouldn’t have. He never introduced me to her. I never met her while she was with him. And because the loan for this bakery is a minor account, so far beneath the big deals and arrangements I personally oversee, I’d never have needed to know that one specific bakery owed the Bratva money. On any given day, we handle countless loans, bribes, and favors. So many cogs turn in this business that it’s no surprise I never knew Liliana owes me anything.

And that bothers me.

I lean back in my chair, alone in my office, and sip my drink.

I don’t want to see Liliana as someone to do business with.

I just want her.

Earlier, I tried to delude myself into believing that one more time would do the trick.

Now I’m not so sure. Without my knowing, more links have formed between us. She owes my Bratva money. Her family is indebted to me. That makes her a business partner, but I want to explore how she can be a partner in other ways.

Is that why she got so scared, thinking I’m stalking her?

I furrow my brow, musing over it all. It seemed more like she was hiding something. I can’t shake this hunch that she doesn’t realize her loan is through the Bratva, but that seems unlikely. It’s not like she’s clueless. She’s sharp and smart. And she knows Roman belongs to me.

I sigh, tired of having too many questions and not enough answers.

Nothing is settling right with Liliana, and I brace myself for focusing on her completely. I will see her again, dammit. It’s just a matter of deciding how to keep her from running again.