Page 31 of The Billionaire Dating Dad

“I’m not asking for an answer now, Dimitri,” May said. “I’ve had nothing but time to think about Maddie and wanting her to have the family I had growing up.”

“May…”

“I was wrong to deny her the opportunity to know you. But she needs both parents. Seeing her happy made me sure being a family is the right decision.”

“What about love, May? Doesn’t Maddie… we deserve to be in a family that loves each other?”

“You’re right. We don’t have love, but we don’t hate each other either. And we both care for and want the best thing for our daughter. Love can grow, Dimitri. You falling in love with Maddie is proof of that.”

Our daughter. Those two words drew blood. Maddie was theirs. Would always be theirs. The woman downstairs would do anything to protect her family. Violet knew without a doubt Dimitri would too.

If she hadn’t answered the call for a nanny, if he hadn’t forced her to stay… if she hadn’t lost her heart — if it wasn’t for Violet, maybe Dimitri wouldn’t hesitate to give his daughter what she wanted most. Her mother and father.

Dimitri sighed and Violet heard the conflict in that single sound. “Maddie will be with us soon —”

“Think about it?”

Violet wiped a tear that spilled onto her cheek and hurried to her room. Dimitri’s answer wasn’t a no. He was selfless when it came to Maddie and his family. His hesitation hurt like hell but his position wasn’t an easy one. May didn’t know it when she made her proposal, but Dimitri and his siblings didn’t have two doting parents to love them.Had he always longed for that?

Although she wanted to scream into the universe, she needed to do something far more gut-wrenching. Something that would rip apart the deepest fabric of her soul.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Dimitri

When Violet didn’t come down for breakfast, Dimitri went in search of her. She was the one piece of solace he needed when he was being pulled in different directions. He didn’t question his feelings for her or who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The opposite was true.

He wanted with every fiber of his being to give May what she asked for especially after she’d fought so hard to return to their daughter. And there was a time when he would risk his own happiness. Before Violet returned to his life he would’ve done anything to give Maddie everything he thought she needed.

But what his daughter needed most was love. Violet showed him that. She taught him that love and family weren't limited to blood. That family was who he chose and what his heart wanted. Dimitri’s heart called out to her.

Knocking on her bedroom door, he paused when the door swung open, revealing an empty room, his heart chilled as he entered the space and found it empty.

“Violet!” His pulse raced as he went to the bathroom. Empty. Dimitri swept his hand roughly through his hair.

“Mr. Popova,” Beth entered the room. “Are you alright?”

No God Damn it he wasn’t alright. “She’s gone. Violet is gone.” He went to the dressing table where she kept her makeup and perfume. But they were all gone and in the place of her things was a letter. Dimitri recognized her handwriting from the sticky notes she had written in Maddie’s lunch box. He picked up the paper. It smelled of vanilla and they were spots where the paper was wrinkled from moisture. Tears, he corrected.

Dear Dimitri,

Words cannot express how hard it was to write this letter. I’ve never felt happier than I have these last few months with you. But as much as I would love to keep you both to myself, that would be selfish. May’s return gives you what I can’t, a chance at a proper family and Maddie a chance at being with both her parents. I would never deny her that.

Tell Maddie I love her. I will cherish the memories we created forever.

Love,

Violet.

He ran downstairswith Beth on his heels. His heart, his world shattered with every step. How could she just leave him without a word? He crumpled the letter in his fist. How could what they shared boil down to a fucking letter?

He yanked the front door open. She was gone. His chest tightened as if he’d received a physical blow.

“What’s going on?” May asked from the doorway.

Dimitri turned but he could barely muster any words much less a coherent sentence. Anger rode hard on the heels of his disbelief.

“Violet left,” Beth answered.

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