Page 115 of Single Mom's Daddies
I pull Ivy closer, breathing in the scent of her hair, trying not to let my body shake too hard. She’s safe. The kids won’t stop clinging. And I don’t want them to.
I don’t care that my knees are numb from kneeling on cold tile, or that my shoulder is starting to throb from where I banged into the doorframe earlier. Ivy is wrapped around me like she’s trying to merge us into one person. Mila has her arms looped around my waist, her face buried in my side. Alex keeps patting my hair, whispering, “We were brave.”
“You were,” I tell them, stroking Ivy’s curls. “You weresobrave.”
Ivy motions for me to kneel so she can whisper, “I told them it was a game. But it wasn’t a game, was it?”
What the hell do I say to that?
Thinking fast, I smile at my baby girl. “It was. There were winners and losers, and today, we won.”
The kids cheer, and I say a silent prayer, hoping they can hang on to their innocence one more day. Melanie watches us from a step back. She looks tired, drawn.
But she’s smiling too. “You were right to go. Those guys needed backup.”
I eek out a laugh. I’m not sure if she’s right, but I’ll take the compliment.
The sound of boots draws near. I lift my head, hand tensing to the gun in my pocket, but then the panic room door opens and all three of the Orlov brothers are there. All of them bleeding, bruised, moving like their bones ache—but alive.
Roman comes to me first, dropping to his knees without a word and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. He buries his face in Ivy’s hair, holding her like he can’t breathe unless she’s in his arms.
Victor sinks down beside us and presses a kiss to my forehead, then Ivy’s. “You okay?”
She nods, still clinging.
Nikolai crouches beside Alex and ruffles his hair. “Heard you held the line in here.”
Alex grins, fierce and proud. “Didn’t even cry.”
Victor looks at me. Really looks. “You didn’t stay put.”
“You didn’t ask me to.”
He smiles—slow, a little broken. “Fair.”
Roman reaches out and strokes my cheek, his hand shaking. “You could’ve died.”
“But I didn’t.”
He nods once, but his eyes are wild, like the truth is still trying to settle inside him.
I look at each of them—these men who’ve killed and bled andfoughtfor this family, for this compound, for me.
And I realize something. I’ve known it for a while, but now I can say it. Out loud. For real. I sit back a little so I can see their faces. “If I’m yours,” I say, “you’re mine. All of you.”
The slow, wicked smile on Nik’s face tells me everything.
34
ROMAN
I lean forward,press a kiss to Saffron’s forehead, and murmur, “You always were.”
The chaos is behind us now. At least for the moment.
Saffron’s hand is in mine, her breathing starting to calm. Ivy clings to her hip, half-asleep. That kid’s been through enough in her short lifetime that she can apparently sleep through anything. Mila’s resting against Victor’s chest, and Alex has already nodded off, curled up beside Nikolai.
Saffron doesn’t askwhatshe always was. She already knows.
