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“I looked everywhere for you,” he said, shaking his head before he looked at me.

“I didn’t know about the split condom. If I did, I wouldn’t have left the way I did,” I said, but when his eyes dipped to my neckline, more memories flooded back.

I guess I knew why the twins loved their breast milk so much.

“I want to see them,” he said, raising his eyes.

Fear struck my heart again, but they were his children. I considered how the children would react to him. He spoke again while I was mulling over the dilemma.

“That is non-negotiable,” he said. His icy voice made me shiver. “I missedeverything.”

This was not in my plan. Fucking fate was here to uproot me again.

“Where do you live?”

“I have homes all over, but our company is based in Russia,” he said before he stood up again.

He stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets and walked toward the balcony windows until I could no longer see his face.

“I am willing to do whatever it takes to spend time with my children. I missed your pregnancy, their birth and the most vital formative part of their young lives. They are as much mine as they are yours, Mariya,” he said, and I closed my eyes.

They were all facts that I couldn’t deny.

“Rurik, a sudden change will unsettle them. I keep them in a tight routine and ensure they have a secure and stable environment.”

“I have no intention of waiting, Mariya. If you deny me access—”

His words trailed off, leaving the threat dangling in the air between us.

“What do you want?” I said flatly.

“At this point, all I want is to see them again. Now,” he said, turning to face me while the sun shone into the room. It made him look larger than life.

I swallowed down my fear. There was no part in my past that I felt genuine fear, but the thought of losing my children terrified me.

“Will you—I mean can—have you—”

My mind was divided as I tried to verbalise a series of questions. He was a one-night stand with consequences. I didn't know him.

“I will follow your lead,” he said, cutting into my rambling. “Do you reside in Dublin?”

“For now. I was waiting until Tatiana and Alexei were a little older to move,” I said with a sigh.

He remained silent before he returned and sat down.

“Tell me everything about them,” he said earnestly, and I pulled my phone out before joining him on his couch.

I went back to the beginning, the weekly pictures of my bump that I was obsessed with. The images of their scans. Their birth and he looked at every single photo of them since then. I added a few comments for some of the pictures to give context or additional information. He laughed at some of their antics and commented on the outfits I chose for the holidays.

“I can send you all their videos. I record everything,” I said when he got to the end, but he didn't look away from the picture.

I couldn't blame him. It was one where Tatiana was hugging Alexei, and he had a huge grin on his face while she was smiling and looking up at him.

“I missed all this,” he choked out. “Look at them. My—our children.”

I wiped my eyes because I often wondered if I ever saw him again and how he would react. The men in my life were always selfish, and had I not had the twins, my heart may have hardened from the weight of my past.

“They truly are special,” I said when I could talk again.