Page 44 of Mountain Daddy

I’m shaking. I’m torn. He’s the monster I ran from.

I can't breathe. Can't think. Can't process the fact that Nikolai Vetrov is shooting glances at my son with a question in his eyes.

Our son.

God, what if he figures it out? What if he already has?

“Rosa,” Nikolai doesn't take his eyes off me. “Take the boy somewhere else. We need to talk.”

Rosa sees it. The inferno between us. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go get some burgers. You must be hungry.”

“But Mama?—”

“Just for a little while,” I say sweetly. “I’ll be right here.”

Nikolai watches Chleo go. The bell chimes. The door closes. Then it’s just us.

Me. Him.

And everything I’ve been running from.

“What did he mean?” Nikolai's voice is deadly quiet. “About having no money?”

I wrap my arms around myself and hold tight. Keep myself from shattering under his eye.

“It’s nothing,” I lie.”Just… business is slow.”

“Try again.”

His voice cuts through me. My spine snaps straight like it remembers who he is. Five years gone, and he still does this to me.

Still makes me want to obey before my brain catches up. Almost makes me forget why I ran.

“The bakery's closing,” I admit. “End of the month. The landlord doubled the rent and I can't... I can't make it work.”

His jaw ticks. “How much do you owe?”

“It doesn't matter. You can't just?—”

“How much, Lilly?”

The way he says my name. Like he owns it. Like he owns me.

“Fifteen thousand,” I whisper. “But Nikolai, you can't?—”

“Fifteen thousand.” He says it like it's pocket change. Like it's nothing. “That's what's keeping you awake at night?”

“I'm fine.”

“You're not fine. You're barely holding on.” He takes a step closer. Then another.

“You ran from me. Disappeared without a word. And now I find you here, struggling to keep food on the table for your kid.”

My kid.

He hasn’t figured it out.

Or has he? And he’s toying with me.

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