Page 15 of Rufus

She had just looked so sad at that moment, he hadn’t been able to resist.

But knowing the reason for Molly’s wistful expression earlier had now given him a purpose that would hopefully result in him having a legitimate reason to see her again.

All he had to do was find her brother, who had been only a few weeks old when he disappeared with their mother.

All!

Despite his confidence when he spoke to Molly on the subject, Rufus knew that looking for Ronan Harper after all these years was going to be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Which didn’t mean Rufus wasn’t going to do everything he could, and ask Linus to use every one of his hacker skills, to search for Molly’s now seventeen-year-old brother.

CHAPTER FIVE

“It suits you.”

Rufus turned to look at his daughter as she joined him in Lilybeth’s nursery. He was standing in front of the window, holding the baby in his arms and pointing out and naming the surrounding buildings to her.

Not that Lilybeth understood a word he was saying or was even interested in the London landmarks, but she’d seemed to like the sound of his voice before she fell asleep, and so he had just kept talking. He was just happy to be here and holding her.

Mia and Lilybeth had been discharged from hospital yesterday afternoon. Rufus had given the family the rest of the day and the night together before visiting first thing this morning.

Darius had taken advantage of Rufus’s arrival to collect Honey from the shelter and bring her home to meet Lilybeth.

Before being adopted by Darius and Mia, the Golden Labrador had been trained to relieve stress in humans. Darius had been suffering from PTSD when he and Mia first met, and Honey had been amazing in helping him deal with that. Rufus knew that the dog would now be Lilybeth’s perfect protector.

“You look good holding a baby in your arms,” Mia said, explaining her earlier remark, her smile relaxed as she came farther into the room. “I’m curious… Why did you never remarry and have more children?” she prompted as she tidied the nursery from where she had fed and changed Lilybeth before going to her bathroom to tidy her own appearance.

Rufus felt a painful tightening in his chest. “Possibly because my wife and daughter were killed in a vehicular pileup on a motorway which developed into a fire that destroyed them and my whole fucking reason for— Fuck! Damn,” he substituted, wincing as he looked down at the still-sleeping Lilybeth. “I apologize,” he told Mia earnestly. “For the remark and the swearing.”

“You’re allowed to feel as if fate cheated you of the life you should have had,” she consoled, her hand warm on his arm.

“But maybe not to swear so much about it in front of you or my granddaughter.” He grimaced. “The truth is, I buried myself in my work.” He felt the need for honesty after his previous outburst. “By the time I raised my head, twenty years had passed, and Nikolai bloody Volkov, of all people, was introducing me to my miraculously still-very-much-alive daughter. I can’t apologize for swearing this time.” He scowled. “The arrogance of that bast—man, is enough to make a saint swear.”

Mia chuckled. “I have a completely different opinion of him. Because he gave us back to each other,” she added huskily.

And in the two years since that time, the arrogant Russian never lost an opportunity to remind Rufus of that fact whenever Mia and Darius invited them to the same social event or dinner. Which they did a lot.

Rufus was completely certain of his place in Mia’s affections. He also knew she looked at Nikolai as an honorary uncle. After years of her having no family at all, he couldn’t begrudge her that relationship.

“Darius and I have also asked him to be Lilybeth’s godfather,” Mia added calmly.

“He’s second to the head of the Russian bratva in London, not the Italian Mafia,” Rufus muttered.

Mia gave another chuckle. “He and Daisy came to visit us last night. We asked them both then, and they have accepted.”

Daisy Volkov, in contrast to her arsehole of a husband, was one of the nicest women Rufus had ever met. How the hell she ever ended up married to the man who was known for being the killer called the Wolf in his native Russia as well as here, was a mystery to Rufus.

He nodded. “Good choice.”

Rufus knew, despite Nikolai’s enjoyment of annoying him, that the Volkovs would make excellent and protective godparents for Lilybeth. He would willingly approve of anyone who wanted to keep Mia and Lilybeth safe.

“You didn’t really answer my question,” Mia reminded softly.

No, he hadn’t.

But the answer he’d given her was literally the truth. He had spent almost half his lifetime feeling numb inside after being told his wife and daughter were dead. They were both just gone, and he would never see either of them again.

Even the thought of dating again, let alone having more children, had made him feel ill.

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