Page 67 of Forgotten Vows

“I told Daddy that you love him.”

Oh, my sweet boy.

“Do you?”

I smiled. “Well, I suppose I must if you declared it to be true.”

He gave me a sleepy smile. “I love him. Not like I love you. But I love Daddy, too.”

I nodded. “I was hoping you might.”

“But you aren’t like Mr. Luka and Gabriella.”

I sighed.We once were.“Like what?”

“In love?” he guessed, scrunching his face before yawning again. I expected him to be extra tired after the chaos of the day.

Yeah, we were once in love like that.I shrugged before leaning down to kiss his forehead again. “Maybe one day, we will be together again.”

Now a real smile lifted his lips. He closed his eyes and relaxed, as if he wanted to fall asleep with that thought on his mind.

I sat in the chair in his room until he dozed off. I, too, was tired, but I was also riled up and eager for Ivan to return.

When he did, I had just stepped out of Lev’s room. He entered my room and stopped short. Breathing in deeply, he seemed to soak in the sight of me. “Honey, I’m home,” he drawled sarcastically.

I smirked. “Funny.”

Instead of asking how it went or if he’d killed the men who'd targeted our son, I raised my brows and waited to see what he’d say.

“Is he asleep?”

I nodded.

“I figured. He had to be so tired from the adrenaline crash.”

“Yeah. He was sleepy all evening.” I licked my lips, wishing we were a normal couple who didn’t simply skirt around the seriousness of what he’d gone out to do tonight. But then, this was our normal. This was the life I hadn’t wanted Lev to go through, but here we were.

It is what it is, Raisa. It is what it is.

I sighed, hating that I was stuck debating whether I could approach him.

“Luka is waiting for me.”

I let my shoulders sag with a sigh. “So was I.”

He gave me a sad look. “I know. But Luka is expecting me to answer him about how it went.”

I shrugged one shoulder before hugging myself. “Yeah, me too.”

“Raisa…” He took one step toward me.

“Go. Go on.” I shooed him with a dismissive wave. “I know. You’ve got to report to him. He’s the boss. I know. I know.”

“I will be back in a little bit.”

That’s becoming your new catchphrase. Be back soon.I rolled my eyes as he came close to kiss me, then backed up and left before it could get too heated.

Knowing Lev would be safe, I took the monitor that Gabriella offered me last week. It was an extra that she didn’t use when Andre was born, and I appreciated the means of checking on my son. He wasn’t a baby. But if anything happened and he was looking for me, I wanted to know.