Page 110 of Crowned

“He needs this baby most of all. You can judge me. I would judge me.”

Olivia shakes her head. “Please come back inside. Please stay. You’re welcome in my house, and you always will be.”

I glance at her cottage over her shoulder, longing to be in there with her. “I shouldn’t. It would upset your sister.”

“You really think that she would think any worse of you after what she just told you? Beatrix understands better than most that love is complicated. When she sees the baby, maybe it will make her smile.”

I hesitate, glancing at Juliet. “Do I have time?”

Juliet smiles at me. “You have all the time in the world. Go on.”

Beatrix’s mouth drops open when she sees me step inside the cottage with Viktoria in my arms. “A baby? You have a baby?”

I gaze down at my daughter, the beautiful little miracle in the middle of all this. “Beatrix, the men who got you out of that place. This is their daughter.”

There are so many questions flashing over Beatrix’s face that she doesn’t seem to know which one to ask first.

“I was worried that if you saw Viktoria it would upset you, so I left her with my driver.”

“She’s beautiful,” Beatrix breathes. “Can I hold her?”

We sit down on the sofas in the living room and Beatrix rocks Viktoria in her lap. Tears drip down Beatrix’s face.

“I wanted to have a baby. I wantedhisbaby. You’re so lucky,” she whispers fiercely. Then she shakes her head. “I’m sorry, that was insensitive. You didn’t love the father of this child. You must have been so shocked when you found out you were pregnant.”

I take a deep breath. “I was, but a lot has happened since the pageant ended. The three men who held Olivia and I captive, I’m with them now.”

I tell the two sisters my story as Viktoria sleeps on. When I finish, Olivia and Beatrix exchange glances.

“They helped me because they were going to be fathers,” Beatrix says.

Olivia frowns, thinking about this for some time. “Actually, I think they did this for Lilia. At the pageant, they were all so taken with her. They thought they were in charge, and they thought they were going to vent whatever anger they had on us, but Lilia made them realize they didn’t want that, after all.”

They’re probably both right. Elyah must have felt terrible for the women he’d hurt. Kirill wanted to unstick me from my past. Konstantin understood that deeds are more powerful than words.

“She’s so beautiful, Lilia,” Beatrix says, passing the baby over to her sister.

I nod, my throat feeling tight. “She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen.”

Olivia strokes Viktoria’s cheek with the tip of her finger and glances up at me. “I need you in my life. Will they allow that?”

I lift my chin and say proudly, “Allow it? You think they can stop me?”

Olivia laughs with relief and wipes her eyes. “You really are the same Lilia. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”

* * *

All three ofmy men are waiting for me when I get out of the car that afternoon, Viktoria in my arms. Their expressions are more troubled, more hopeful than I’ve ever seen them before.

“Did you see her, Lilia? Did you all talk?” Elyah asks.

I stand in front of them, looking from one man to the next, shaking my head and glaring at them. “You… Why didn’t you tell me about this weeks ago?”

Elyah smiles ruefully.

Kirill shrugs one shoulder and reaches for the baby. “Mama is in a temper,” he murmurs, kissing the baby’s head and flashing me a mischievous look.

Konstantin’s expression is wary, and he waits.

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