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“A window bit me.” I crouched beside them. “Very rude. I intend to have a stern conversation with it.”

She touched one finger near the shallow cut, careful not to press it. “You need a bandage.”

“I’ll survive. Thank you, though.”

She shook her head, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into the room. “Miss Helen has unicorn ones.”

Miss Helen sat in the window seat with her knitting and gave us a thorough inspection over the top of her glasses. “I see the outing went well.”

“No one died. I consider that an excellent outing.” I allowed Nora to push me onto a footstool shaped like a mushroom. Where did we even find such a monstrosity? I sent a look toward Maksim, but he had a hand over his eyes, his shoulders shaking. Laughing at me. The bastard was laughing at me.

Roman closed the curtains after checking the window lock. Maksim removed Anika’s vest, then ran both hands over her shoulders as though he needed to verify for himself that she remained unharmed.

Nora returned with a first-aid box and climbed onto my lap. “Hold still.”

My heart fucking died at the way she patted my shoulder, trusting me completely. My chest twisted, every emotion I’d ever felt slamming into me and growing at an alarming rate. She had Anika’s hair and bright, intelligent eyes.

She tore open a bandage with a purple unicorn printed across it. Her little tongue appeared between her teeth when she lined it up on my cheek. Half the adhesive landed on my beard, but I accepted it with dignity and grace, especially when her palm patted my cheek, followed by a tiny peck of a kiss on the tip of my nose. My heart. Oh fuck, there went my heart, right into this little girl’s hands. I blinked, then did it again when the room went blurry around me.

“Beautiful.” Anika pressed her lips together, fighting a laugh.

“Jealous?” I angled my face toward her. “Nora, do you have another one for your mother?”

“She’s not hurt.” Nora’s nose scrunched when she studied Anika, then turned to Roman. “But he is.” She climbed down and advanced on him with another bandage.

Roman didn’t hesitate to drop to a knee, but then his entire body froze when Nora bent and kissed his knuckles. She placed a pink unicorn bandage over the cut on his hand, then beamed at him before twirling away. “Your turn.” She spun right over to Maksim’s feet and held up her arms. “Up.”

Maksim stared at her as though she’d thrown an explosive device. “I’m not injured.”

“I have to check.” She stretched higher, opening and closing her hands until he gave in and picked her up. She held his face between her hands and turned it from side to side, her tongue poked out between her teeth. Maksim followed her inspection without complaint, one arm firm beneath her while the other supported her back. “No boo-boos.” She almost sounded disappointed.

“I told you.” He tapped the end of her nose. “Thank you.”

“Here, you can have this for being brave.” She peeled a gold star off the sheet and pressed it to his chest.

Fucking hell, we were all done for. If only our enemies had known that all it took to take us down was a toddling four-year-old girl with band-aids and star stickers.

Maksim melted right before my eyes, every line in his body softening.

My eyes burned, but I’d be fucked if I cried in front of them. Though, from the way Roman was blinking, he was damned close to giving in himself.

Anika watched it all from the bed. The worry hadn’t left her face, but warmth softened it as Nora settled against Maksim like she’d been doing it for years. I wanted Anika to keep watching. We’d given her plenty of reasons to see monsters when she studied us. Nora, with her unicorns and kisses and her fearlessness, offered another possibility.

I’d protected children before. They were all over this estate and under my explicit protection. This was different. Nora didn’t care about our names, our money, or the men who lowered their eyes when we passed. She saw injuries and wanted to fix them. She accepted us because her mother returned with us, and her trust felt more valuable than anything we’d ever purchased.

Nora patted Maksim’s cheek. “Are you a prince too?”

“No.” He answered too quickly, and she frowned at him.

“What about him?” She pointed at Roman, who still hadn’t managed to get up off his knees.

I didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely not.”

Anika groaned. “Nora, baby. Please stop interrogating the mafia men about royalty.”

Nora’s mouth formed a perfect circle. “But, Mommy, they’re the three princes from your story.”

We all went deathly still once we swung around to stare at Anika.