Page 145 of Dance of Devils

I wince, dragging my gaze up to his.

“I was barely eighteen,” Kir continues. “Fresh out of boarding school, on my way to Oxford, and starting to lay the foundation of what would become this empire. Her husband, William, was vile. But I was young and hungry, and I knew what I wanted would involve doing business with people like him, at least at first.”

He takes another breath, looking out over the grounds.

“I’m not proud of the brief relationship I had with a married woman,” he says quietly. “I’ve done some terrible things in my life, Brooklyn, but even with how bad William was…” He shakes his head. “That one stands out.”

I look down, biting my lip so hard that I taste copper for a second. I don’t want to ask this next question, but not knowing the answer is killing me inside.

“Did you…” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Did you love?—”

“No.”

The answer comes fast and earnest, and it’s like oxygen to my gasping lungs. My eyes instantly lift to his, my pulse quickening.

“Not at all.” He shakes his head. “She was trying to escape William. I was trying to escape the horrors of my past. It was very brief, and then it was over.”

“You said her namewasPetra…”

He nods. “She passed away a few years later. But in the meantime…”

My mouth twists. “Freya?”

He nods. “I didn’t know, obviously. Twenty-odd years later, my nephew Damian introduced me to two professional thieves he’d made friends with: an expert lock picker and pickpocket, and a world-class hacker.” He smirks. “That would be Freya, if it wasn’t abundantly obvious from the wholeGirl With The Dragon Tattooaesthetic she doessolove to lean in to.”

“When did you find out she was…you know…”

“About a year ago.”

We both go silent for a few seconds.

“Are there…” I frown. “I mean, is Freya your only?—”

He cups my face, shaking his head as his eyes lock with mine. “To set the record straight, Idon’tdate much. Idon’tsee woman casually, and I havenotfathered any other surprise children, I can promise you that.”

I smile, biting my lip as my cheeks heat.

“I don’tlovethe idea of you with her…” I frown. “Freya’s mother, I mean. Sorry, that’s shitty. But I mean…you know…”

He shakes his head. “It’s not shitty.”

“Yeah, because petty jealousy issoattractive,” I sigh.

He smirks. “Perhaps you missedmydisplay ofpetty jealousyearlier, played out on Roman Nikitin’s face.”

I snort. “Thatwas you being petty jealous?”

Kir shrugs. “Maybe slightly more than petty.”

“Yeah,a bit,” I giggle. I lock eyes with him as I twist on his lap so that I’m facing him with my legs around his waist. “Iamsorry, though.”

Kir shakes his head. “I already told you, you have?—”

“Not for the Roman thing,” I say quickly. “Well, I mean,alsofor that.” I give him a sad look. “I mean for me being a total psycho, acting like a brat, and running out of the house.”

He flashes a dark, slightly predatory smile that makes my pulse skip. “Well, if youinsiston apologizing for it, I know a way you can do that.”

He brushes the hair away from my neck and leans in, teasing his lips over my skin before nibbling at my earlobe.