Page 65 of My Ex’s Dad

I think back to the bliss and how much faster my heart beat when she replied that she loved me too.

I recall the smile on her lips as she kissed me at the Grayson Ball, nervous to be there with me but enjoying it.

And I can’t erase the pure joy that encompassed me when she confessed that she’s pregnant with my child.

“Where the hell is she?” I mutter, staring at the empty side of the bed where she should be. Then I lift my gaze to the bathroom door. She’s not in there, either. I don’t need to look to know. I’d hear her. There’s no point in checking the rest of the penthouse, because the clothes she’d arrived in yesterday are gone.

She left me.

As I drag my gaze away from where her clothes had been folded and piled on top of the chair, I notice a square of white paper.

Anton,

I didn’t want to wake you so early, but I needed to get to the bakery. We have some baking to do before we open.

Liliana

It’s a short, simple note, and it begins to appease me. It’s not like she took off without explanation. This isn’t an escape. Still, it’s not enough, either. She doesn’t add anything more, like her plans to see me again.

I sigh, letting my frustration out with the exhale.

I stare at the note, zoning out, and decide it’s not fair of me to judge her too harshly for leaving. It’s not as though she wanted to take off to avoid me. She left, early, to get to work.

A slow smile lifts my lips.

If anything, I’m proud. Her dedication to that bakery mirrors my commitment to the Bratva.

Liliana has that same drive, but in another, different manner. She’s devoted to keeping her parents’ bakery running, and based on how hard she works, I know she truly loves the craft. Or is it an art? A calling?

I get up and comfort myself with this. She isn’t avoiding me. She’s sticking with what she knows. Working. Hard. And often. I can relate, and since this child won’t be my first, I have experience balancing a new life against work.

And it’s not going to be the same.

My first attempt at family went wrong long before Roman became an adult. I let my hatred of the marriage and my distance from Elena keep me from being the father he needed, and I own my part in what he became.

It’s not going to happen this time.

Not with Liliana. It’s already so different, and it’s no wonder that I feel lighter and more carefree, more excited as I leave my building to go to my main office uptown.

Liliana will be a great mother.

Life will be good, but as I step out of the elevator into the garage, one of my guards calls out.

“Mr. Sokolov, watch⁠—”

I jerk back at the blur of motion. It comes fast at the corner of my eye, but the guards posted in the garage are on it. Or rather, on her.

Elena runs up, a wild look in her eyes, as she tries to get to me. She doesn’t accomplish it, getting yanked back and nearly tackled a few feet away from me.

“Anton, you can’t seriously do this,” she wails.

I glare at her, doing my best to keep my anger at bay. “I thought I said she was banned from my properties,” I bite out, demanding an answer.

Viktor isn’t here, since this is one of those times he’s scheduled at the gym. I don’t need him to know my orders will be seen to, though. Whatever I dictate is law around here.

“She is,” one of the men replies sternly.

“She snuck in as a member of the cleaning crew,” the other man says as he pulls her away.