Page 97 of Nanny for the Bratva Daddies

“She’s strong,” I say after a sip. “I had the doctor run every test I could think of. Ivan’s men were here, but I’m pretty confident they didn’t do anything to her. There are still a couple of tests that we’re waiting on results for but this is good.”

“Promising,” Daniil nods.

“I uh…” Zasha clasps his hands together and clears his throat. His face is flooded with nerves, and there’s a quiet caution in his eyes when he speaks. I pray he isn’t about to deliver more bad news.

“I’ve been thinking.” Zasha wets his lips. “About everything. My time in captivity, my time with you, and being cared for by you, Fyodor. And Naomi.”

Naomi. Her name makes my heart somersault against my ribs.

“It’s changed a lot for me. Mainly my perspective. Before this, I fought so hard for my family because I killed my father and no one knew. Then my mother, in her shame and grief, took her own life because she was ashamed of me.” His voice cracks slightly.

“I’ve been carrying that with me ever since, and I have done everything I can think of to try and make her proud of me. But in doing that, I think I lost myself in trying to live for my parents and what they would have wanted rather than living for myself.”

“Mm,” I hum softly. “I know that feeling. I’m sorry about your mother.”

“You tried to help her,” Daniil says, his brows vanishing behind his glasses. “You can’t blame yourself for her reaction.”

“I do,” Zasha replies honestly. “And I always will. But I’ve decided this leadership thing is not for me. It never was. I reached out to my men now that I no longer need to hide, and I’ve seen how they’ve been struggling in my absence. Those people are still, somehow, loyal to me, and I don’t deserve it.”

Zasha sucks in a deep breath and locks eyes with me.

“But you do. So, I am giving myself to you. Me and my men and all the serving families under my banner deserve to be part of a bigger family that will save them. That saved me. So, Fyodor. You have my loyalty. If you will have me.”

His offer takes me by surprise. With my father out of the picture and Ivan’s treachery revealed, I expected Zasha to return to his family and become nothing more than a distant friend. Instead, he’s here. With me.

“I accept.” There’s no other answer. The pain he has been through at the hands of my father and still he tried to reach me through all that horrible pain. He fought for me and protected Daniil. Zasha has my loyalty.

“It seems we have all faced such a heavy punishment for the crimes of our parents,” I murmur, turning my attention back to Dariya. “Some of us still carry that terrible weight because of it.”

“Naomi included,” Daniil points out cautiously over the top of his coffee.

Naomi.

“Yes,” I agree, my voice just above a whisper.

The pain that consumed me when I learned she was a spy intent on harming my family was a pain I can barely stomach to recall. But given Zasha’s returning memories and my father’s wicked story about her mother going to Ivan with a terrible plan, it seems she was telling the truth.

She did not betray me.

I was too wrapped up in anger and grief to listen to her when she had more than earned that. I should have trusted her and given her space to tell me her truth. Instead, I cast her aside and sent her off to die at Daniil’s hand.

Part of me, I think, was aware Daniil would be unable to harm her. I think that’s why I agreed to it quickly.

Given everything that’s happened, I have no idea how to even begin apologizing to her. There’s been a terrible breach of trust but this world we live in means it can be repaired.

“We will find her,” I say, glancing up at the two of them. “And I will make it right. Not just because she carries our child. But because I love her and she…she never breathed a word about anything to anyone.” Given how wickedly evil that woman sounds, I can overlook Naomi telling her mother about Zasha.

My gaze drifts to Dariya and I squeeze her hand gently.

“We will make it right.”

“Excellent.” Daniil surges to life suddenly and scoots to the edge of his seat. “Because I finally found out where she might be.”

“Where?” Zasha demands.

“Ivan has a private island. It’s buried under a lot of documents and really old files but after digging through all of Vladimir's stuff, it came to light. I don’t know what he did to get an entire fucking island written out of every history book but the fucker’s so old I wouldn’t be surprised if it was removed before he even got his hands on it. If he wants to hide someone, especially a person, it has to be there.”

Daniil busies himself with his phone as he talks.

---