Page 33 of Mountain Daddy (Broken Boss Daddies #1)

THE LEGACY

NIKOLAI

I sip my coffee. Black, strong enough to wake the dead and watch my children play in the backyard.

Three years.

Three years of peace.

Three years of waking up next to Lilly without checking for a gun under my pillow first.

My daughter squeals as Chloe swings her from the back. Anastasia. Named after my grandmother. We call her Ana. Three years old and already as fierce as her mother. As stubborn as me.

“More!” she demands, her little fists grabbing to the ropes when he stops swinging.

He winces but complies. Eight years old now and already protective of his sister’s demands.

She giggles, fearless. Dark curls dancing in the breeze. My eyes. Lilly's smile. The best of both of us wrapped in pink overalls with dirt on the knees.

I take another sip of coffee. Let the bitter warmth slide down my throat.

I never thought I'd have this.

Never thought I'd survive long enough to see my son grow tall.

Never imagined I'd have a daughter with Lilly's laugh.

Never believed I'd live in a house with a white fence and fucking wind chimes on the porch.

Yet here we are. The cabin's long gone.

Sold two years ago when we bought this place on the edge of town. Close enough for Lilly's bakery. Far enough for privacy. Four bedrooms. A yard with space for a dog and two kids and all the ghosts of the man I used to be.

I watch them now arrange sticks in a square. He's patient with her. Kind in a way I never learned to be until I met Chleo.

Ana's not having it though. She wants to build it her way—three sticks balanced precariously. More sculpture than structure. Determined little thing. Gets that from me.

“No, Ana,” Chleo explains. “It'll fall down if you do it that way.”

“My castle,” she insists, bottom lip pushing out in a pout that's pure Lilly.

I smile into my coffee.

Chleo sighs, sounding exactly like me when I'm trying not to lose my temper. “Fine. We'll do it your way.”

And they do. The castle is a disaster. It falls immediately. Ana laughs like it's the funniest thing she's ever seen.

Chleo just shakes his head, already rebuilding.

That's my son. Builder. Fixer.

The floorboards creak behind me. Soft footsteps. The scent of vanilla and sleep-warm skin.

I don't turn. Don't need to. My body knows her presence before my eyes confirm it.

Lilly.

Her arms slide around my waist from behind. Her cheek presses between my shoulder blades. Heat blooms where she touches me.

“Morning,” she murmurs, voice still rough with sleep.

I reach back, cup her hip with one hand. “Morning, Mrs. Vetrov.”

She laughs, soft and low. “Three years of marriage and you still say that like you're surprised.”

“I am.” I turn, finally looking at her. “Every damn day.”

She's wearing my t-shirt. Black. Too big. Hanging to mid-thigh. Her hair's a mess of curls around her face. No makeup. Pillow creases still marking her cheek.

Most beautiful fucking thing I've ever seen.

“Coffee?” I offer, already reaching for a second mug.

“Please.” She slides onto the barstool at the kitchen island, legs crossing. The shirt rides up. Just enough to tease.

I pour her coffee. Add cream. Two sugars. Slide it across to her. She gets some coffee on her lip.

I lean down. Kiss her clean. Taste coffee and mint toothpaste and Lilly. My wife. My life.

Her hand slides up my chest, rests over my heart. Coffee? Abandoned.

“Sleep well?” I ask against her lips.

“Mmm. Would have slept better if someone hadn't kept me up past midnight.”

I grin. Can't help it. “Complaints?”

“Not a one.” She kisses me again, deeper this time. Her tongue teases mine.

I'm about to suggest we send the kids to Rosa's for the morning when a crash from outside pulls us apart.

“Ana!” Chleo's voice, sharp with alarm.

We both move at once. Parental instinct overriding everything else.

Through the window, we see Ana sitting on the ground, tears welling in her eyes. A small cut on her knee. Nothing serious. Chleo's already kneeling beside her, checking her over.

“I'll go,” Lilly says, already heading for the back door.

I watch her go. Watch her crouch beside our daughter. Watch Ana's tears dry almost instantly when Lilly kisses her knee better.

My family.

My heart outside my body.

Walking around in the world.

Vulnerable.

Precious.

Sometimes I still wake up in cold sweats. Dreams of men coming for them. Dreams of blood on bakery floors. Dreams of what I'd do—what I'd become again—if anyone threatened them.

But the dreams come less often now.

I rinse my coffee mug in the sink. Watch through the window as Lilly helps the kids rebuild their castle. Bigger this time. Sturdier.

I'm still watching them when I hear a car on the gravel driveway. The sound sets off old alarms in my head. Instincts that never fully die.

I move to the front window. Look out.

Relax.

Maksim's black Audi.

But not the car that catches my attention. It's who's getting out of the passenger side.

Rosa.

Her wild curls unmistakable even from here. Wearing a sundress. Laughing at something Maksim's said.

Well, well, well.

This is new.

I open the front door before they reach the porch.

“Wasn't expecting company,” I say, leaning against the doorframe. Arms crossed. Eyebrow raised.

Maksim shrugs, casual as ever. “Was in the neighborhood.”

“In the neighborhood,” I repeat. “Two hours from your place.”

Rosa grins, not even pretending to be embarrassed. “My car broke down. Your knight in shining armor here stopped to help.”

“Knight in shining armor?” I can't keep the amusement from my voice. “Maksim?”

“What can I say?” Maksim claps me on the shoulder as he passes. “I'm a fucking gentleman.”

I note the way his hand lingers at Rosa's lower back as she steps inside. The way she leans into it slightly.

Interesting.

“Lilly's out back with the kids,” I tell them, closing the door. “I'll let her know we have visitors.”

“No need,” Lilly says, appearing in the hallway with Ana on her hip. Chleo trailing behind. “I heard a car.”

Her eyes widen when she sees Rosa and Maksim standing together in our entryway.

“Rosa!” She shifts Ana to her other hip. “What are you doing here with...?”

She leaves the question hanging, but her eyes dart between them with obvious curiosity.

“My car died on Route 16,” Rosa explains, reaching out to tickle Ana's chin. “Maksim happened to be driving by.”

“Happened to be driving by,” Lilly repeats, shooting me a look that says she's not buying it either.

Maksim, for his part, looks completely unaffected by our scrutiny. But I notice the way his eyes soften when they land on Rosa.

Ana wriggles in Lilly's arms, reaching for Maksim. “Uncle Max! Up!”

He takes her without hesitation. This man who once broke a man's neck with his bare hands. Now letting my daughter tug at his beard and giggle.

“Hey, munchkin,” he says, voice gentler than most people would believe possible. “You gotten bigger since last week?”

“I'm this many!” She holds up three fingers proudly.

“That's a lot of many,” he agrees seriously.

“Well,” Lilly interrupts. “You'll have to stay for breakfast. Both of you.”

She shoots me another look. One that tells me she’s up to no good.

“We'd love to stay,” he says, ignoring her comment. “If it's not an imposition.”

“Not at all,” Lilly insists. “Family breakfast. It'll be nice.”

Rosa and Maksim agree. Walk past us, the kids tagging along.

“Sweetheart.” I grab Lilly before she causes a mess. “Don’t interfere.”

“Who said anything about interfering?” she gives me a grin I know all too well.

My wife? She’s up to no good. She rushes off to the kitchen, not looking back.

I hang back. Just for a moment.

Watch them go.

My family.

Extended now.

Growing in ways I never anticipated.

Lilly glances back. Catches me watching. Her smile softens, knowing.

She gets it. Gets me. Always has.

We both know what this is. What we've built here.

Something neither of us thought possible.

Peace.

Home.

Life.

I push off from the wall. Follow them into the kitchen. Into the noise and warmth and chaos of a Sunday morning with people I love.

Into the life I never thought I'd live.

But the only one that matters.