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Her chin lifted, her breath ghosting over my cheek. She scoured my face, no doubt looking for a lie. Her gaze dropped to my mouth, then lifted to my eyes. “Why do I want to kiss you? After everything that’s happened, I should hate you and want to run away.”

“You can kiss me anytime you want. I’ll never complain so long as it’s you choosing.” I traced the line of her jaw with my knuckles.

Her lips pressed against mine, and I ran my hand around to the back of her head, holding her there as she opened beneath me. I remembered this, the sweet, honeyed taste of her lips and the soft, breathy sounds she made. And when she gripped my shoulders and leaned into me, I’d have been more than happy to sink onto the grass and show her exactly how much I’d missed her.

When she ended the kiss, I rained a line of soft kisses along her jaw and down her neck. “Just so you know, Roman has cameras out here. He and Maksim probably saw us kissing.”

Anika jerked away with a gasp, then backhanded my chest with a squeak. “You asshole.” She hit my shoulder again. “You absolute fucking asshole. You should have told me that sooner. I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” I captured her flailing hands but kept my grip loose while running my fingers over the bruises. My stomach cramped at the sight, regret a hot, angry mess I’d have to deal with at some point. “You should, but you don’t.” Thank god she didn’t.

Footsteps approached, and Anika ripped her hands out of mine so fast she nearly left scratches on my palms.

One of Maksim’s guards approached, stopping several feet away. He clasped his hands behind his back and inclined his head. “Pakhan Popov, the car has cleared the gate.”

“Nora’s here.” I’d barely gotten the words out when Anika took off at a run.

She slowed after several strides, whirling to me. “I don’t know where to go. Take me to her.”

If the guard found the order odd, he wisely kept it to himself.

I motioned toward the correct path. “This way. I’ll take you straight to her.” Roman’s men had orders to take Nora and Helen inside, directly to rooms we’d secured ourselves.

We’d barely reached the end of the path where the flowers thinned and a circular drive led to the side door where I was headed when another guard came around the opposite corner at a flat run. “Pakhan.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Anika stopped beside me. “This better not be about Nora.”

He shook his head, ignoring me to address Anika, which was pretty fucking surprising but almost made me smile. “There’s a woman at the front gate. She demands we turn over Anika Petrova.”

9

ANIKA

I blinked at the guard before snorting and waving him off. “Wonderful. You guys have guns, gates, and enough scary Russians to populate a small country. Deal with her. I’m going to see my daughter.”

Kirill caught my hand when I started down another path and tugged me toward the house. “This way, darling. Through that door.”

“I know that.” I absolutely fucking didn’t.

He chuckled. “You were headed to the pool.”

“Then stop building your house like a fucking resort.” His laugh followed me as I hurried toward the side entrance, but even Kirill was smart enough not to make another joke when we reached the door. A woman in dark slacks stood outside with Miss Helen beside her, and for one horrible second, I couldn’t see Nora.

Then a tiny voice squealed, “Mommy!”

My heart stopped as Nora came barreling out from behind Miss Helen with her curls bouncing, wearing pink pajama pants with yellow moons and the unicorn sweatshirt I’d bought at a thrift store because she’d insisted the stain on the sleeve gave her superpowers.

I dropped to my knees with barely enough time to open my arms before every bit of her flew into my arms, her body slamming into my chest. “Oh, baby.” I wrapped myself around her so tightly she squeaked, forcing me to loosen my grip. I buried my face in her curls, breathing in the strawberry shampoo and the faint peanut butter smell that seemed to follow her everywhere. “Let me look at you.”

“I’m okay.” Her voice was muffled in my neck, and she wiggled out of my arms.

“I need to see.” I had to look her over with my own eyes, touch her face, her shoulders, even her knees, to make sure she didn’t have a single scratch on her.

Nora grabbed my cheeks with both hands. “The big man knew about moonbeam, and he said it real serious. Like this.” She dropped her voice into something closer to Batman than one of Roman’s soldiers. “Moonbeam.”

A laugh escaped, and it felt so good I didn’t even try to stop it.

Nora grinned. “He said they weren’t spies, but I think they are.”