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Adora’s voice slices through the laughter. “I wanna meet her. I bet she’s pretty.” Her eyes widen. “Can we do a tea party together?”

Great. Now a kid is planning my future too.

“Probably not, sweetheart,” I tell her gently. “She’s not gonna wanna have a tea party with me.”

She pouts, clearly disappointed. “But how do you know if you don’t ask her?”

“Oh, don’t go breaking her heart,” Elara says lightly.

I release a sigh. “Seems like that’s what I’m good at with the whole female population.”

She laughs. “Well, we’re a forgiving bunch, if you play your cards right.”

“Speak for yourself,” Iseult intercepts, arching a brow. “I hold a grudge.”

“You’ll like Dinara, then,” I grumble, half to myself.

“I think I would.” Her grin widens. “I should introduce myself next time I see her. Maybe teach her a few ways to really get under your skin.”

“Don’t worry, she already knows just how to do that,” I tell her, the sting of it all still fresh in my chest.

My father interrupts before I can think of anything else to say. “You don’t need some Marinov. I’ll find you a fine woman, someone who isn’t tied to that family.” His Irish brogue grows with irritation and his jaw tightens.

“You have to let it go, Dad,” Iseult says, calm but firm. “You both do.” She looks between my father and me. “Nothing will bring Mom back. Being angry at a woman who didn’t do anything to us isn’t going to help anyone. Yes, Sergey was a son of a…but he’s gone. I made sure of that,” she adds, her jaw setting. “We have to let this go or it will eat us alive.”

I know she’s right. Back then, I wouldn’t have listened. But now, with a clearer mind and all the years I’ve spent without the one woman I’ve desperately wanted, I’m able to.

“Fine.” My father throws his hands in the air. “Maybe you’re right.” He sucks in a deep breath, his shoulders sagging with resignation as he returns his attention to me. “As long as she makes you happy, son, you do what you want with this girl. Marry her, don’t marry her. But just give me some grandkids, will ya?” He looks at Eriu and Iseult. “All of you.”

Tynan is the only one with kids so far, and Dad’s taken well to the role of grandpa.

Iseult smiles at him, her expression softening.

The rest of the dinner is mercifully uneventful, the tension easing into small talk and laughter. But I can’t shake the weight of the questions that linger.

I wonder, for the hundredth time, if it’s even possible to move forward with Dinara. To build a future together, the one I’ve wanted since the moment we first met. To take all this—our families, our past, the ghosts that haunt us—and somehow make it our own.

But I know the truth: it’s not just about what I want. It’s about whether she’s willing to take the chance and forgive me.

* * *

DINARA

Two days.

Two days since I saw him with her. Since jealousy clawed its way through me, sharp and relentless.

Seeing him again was hard. Seeing him with someone else? Unbearable.

Because no matter how much time passes, he still has this hold on me. This power to drag me back in, to make me forget everything except how it feels to be his.

But none of it matters. Him with someone else is irrelevant. It doesn’t change the truth: we can never go back. I can’t trust him. Not after everything.

What happened in that bathroom? That was a mistake. Nothing more. One I won’t make again.

My heels hit the floor with a sigh of relief as I kick them off, the exhaustion of the day pulling at me.

Today, I asked Konstantin to teach me more about how he runs his legitimate businesses, and he was more than happy to oblige. He owns an investment firm, along with many other businesses, including a portfolio of high-end hotels and casinos across the globe. He’s sharp, calculated, and he knows exactly what he’s doing. I wanted to learn from him, to understand how a mind like his operates. Maybe even build something of my own one day.