His (Ties That Bind 2)

“What calls? Why did Alexei say they’d all come after you? Does that mean not just Vasily?”

He gets up and goes to where the duffel bag is. He digs through it to take out the folder that contains the information on my mother as well as a print-out of what was on that drive.

“What do you have to do, Lev?”

A ding signals an email on his phone. He shifts his attention to it, punches something in, then puts his phone down and looks at me.

“I’m going to turn over evidence to William von Brandt’s contact at the FBI.”

13

Lev

Josh finishes up his eggs and rubs his belly before he slips away from the table. Kat and I both watch him as he toddles over to me, Wally dangling from one hand while he studies the spread of documents I’ve been stuffing into the manila envelope.

“What are you doing?” he asks curiously.

“I have to send out a package.” My eyes meet Kat’s across the room, and she can’t hide her nerves.

We both know this is a last-resort option. I don’t need to tell her that I’m doing this just in case I don’t come back today.

“Can I help?” Josh asks.

“I’ll tell you what, buddy.” I scoop him up and set him on the bed beside me. “Why don’t you wait here for a second? I have the perfect job for you. But it’s top secret, okay? Just between us guys. Can you handle that?”

He giggles and eyeballs his mom, who is suddenly pretending not to hear. When I walk over and grab my mother’s trinket box from the nightstand, I sneak a glance at Kat as she disappears into the bathroom to wash up. She knows we’re up to no good, but she’s just as much a silent participant in these shenanigans.

I kneel in front of Josh and open the box, and his eyes go wide as he studies the jewelry inside.

“What do you think your mom would like?” I ask him. “Can you help me pick something out?”

He nods eagerly, his stubby fingers pulling out a bracelet and then a ring to examine them. It’s hard not to get choked up when I see that ring. It was the same piece my father gave to my mother many years ago as a symbol of their love. A vintage blue sapphire ring from the 1920s that still sparkles like the day he gave it to her, or at least, that’s what I’d like to believe.

“Blue,” Josh says. “I think Mommy will like this one.”

A grin tugs at my lips as I lean closer and give him a conspiratorial whisper. “I think you’re right, buddy.”

He hands the ring over to me, and I stuff it into my pocket with a wink just as Kat reappears with a hairbrush in her hand. She eyes us both cautiously and then comes to sit on the other side of Josh.

“Should I even ask what you boys are up to?”

Josh shakes his head, his expression dead serious. “No. Top secret.”

“That’s right.” I ruffle the hair on his head with a smile. “Bro code.”

Kat rolls her eyes and then glances at the box in Josh’s lap. “Is that your mother’s?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so,” she says softly.

Josh pulls out the locket and pries it open with his fingers, squinting to examine the small photo.

“Mommy, look it’s me.” Josh points at the boy in the photo, and we both laugh.

“No, honey, that’s Lev.”

“Lev?” Josh’s brows scrunch together as he studies the photo beside it. The one with my mother and father too.

“Do you have a daddy, Lev?” When he looks at me, it’s the most innocent of questions, but it hits me like a fucking missile to the chest. “Because I don’t have a daddy.”

Something squeezes my hand, and when I look down, I realize it’s Kat. When our eyes collide, there’s a softness in hers as she nods her approval. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. The moment that changes everything.

“Actually, sweetheart.” Kat kneels before him to meet him at eye level. “That’s something we want to talk to you about. Do you remember when I told you that some boys have daddies at home and some don’t?”

“Yes.” Josh nods.

“Well.” She swallows and looks up at me. “You do have a daddy. Lev is your daddy.”

For a full minute, it feels like I could hear a pin dropping while I wait for Josh to say something. And when he turns to me, his face lit with happiness, he surprises us both when he sets down the box and crawls into my lap to give me a hug.

“I like Lev,” he says. “Lev is my daddy.”

It’s such a simple thing, but it feels like the proudest moment of my life as I hug him back, my throat almost too hoarse to speak.