Page 45 of Echoes of Sin

“Of you taking her. She’s all I have. I’m a single mom, I’m doing okay, but I’m still living from paycheck to paycheck. I’m not a college graduate and if I lose my job then I have nothing to fall back on. Compared to a rich businessman who can give her everything she wants, I’m nothing. If you wanted to fight for custody, then I’m sure the judge would award it to you rather than a college dropout teen mom. She’s my daughter.”

“She’s my child too!” That was the long and the fucking short of it. I had a child in this world, and I didn’t know about her, didn’t know her. Not one fucking thing, and it was Brooke’s fault.

“And what does that mean, Ilya? She shares some of your DNA, but you still haven’t asked one damn question about her because you’re so busy proving that you’re somehow the wounded party here.” She took a step forward, paused, and closed her eyes as if she was trying to find patience. “Guess what? She also shares DNA with the man who wants me dead, so what does that mean?”

My nostrils flared with my own growing anger. “And if I wanted you dead, you would be.”

“And that’s exactly why you don’t know about her. Your life is dangerous, and I can’t count on you to keep her safe when your life intrudes into ours. We were doing fine before you turned up.” She leveled me with an accusatory glare.

I inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing that anger wasn’t the path forward. “Okay, fine, I was a stupid kid, and an asshole, I own that. But none of that changes the fact that she is my daughter too.” I staggered back a step as the words echoed in the air and sank deep into my bones, into my fucking soul. She was my daughter. I had a kid. I was someone’s father. “She needs her father, dammit.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Again. My daughter needs a good man in her life, a kind man who is generous with his time and his patience. She needs a good father, a present father.”

“And that’s not me?” I held my breath as I waited for her to tell me what a huge piece of shit I was, how I was unfit to breathe the same air as my own damn daughter.

“Right now? No, it isn’t. That doesn’t mean that will be true forever, but right now, she isn’t your priority, and the last thing she needs is more people leaving her.”

I suspected Brooke was speaking for herself as much as for our daughter. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She chuckled lightly, but there was no trace of humor in the sound, instead it was dark and angry. “Only time will tell. Be angry with me all you want, just remember that it was your lack of giving a fuck that’s to blame for your ignorance.”

I wanted to beat myself up. I wanted to scream at the universe, rage at the unfairness of it all. I’d missed so many years, so many milestones. Those were years I couldn’t get back, not ever. “What does she know about me?”

Brooke said nothing, which was probably an answer in itself.

“I want to meet her.” My heart thundered as I stated my desire to meet my own damn child. I had to be introduced to my child. Father would be so disappointed.

“No,” she answered quickly, shaking her head.

“You can’t do this!” I exclaimed. Realizing that losing my temper was not going to help, I moderated my tone. “Surely you can let me see her?”

“Your uncle wants me dead. Does he know about her? Is that how you found out?”

A cold chill went through my body. I hoped to god that Oleg didn’t know about Karina. But she could be in danger too, I had to be honest. “No, that call was Dmitri. I sent him to check on your brother, to make sure everything was okay.” I decided telling her I sent my second-in-command because I was worried she might have told her cop brother she’d been kidnapped, was not the best idea in the circumstances. Honesty only goes so far.

“Is everything okay?” she asked hesitantly.

I nodded. “Dmitri is waiting outside keeping an eye on the property. Again, I didn’t tell her that the initial reason was more because I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do about my daughter. But now having the property surveilled made sense, in case Oleg had decided to send one of his men to kidnap Brooke’s daughter as leverage. Our daughter, as leverage.

“Ilya, if you want to meet her, I won’t keep you away. When the time is right.” She didn’t waver when my gaze slammed into hers. “But right now there is the small matter of someone wanting me dead. Possibly you too.” Her voice shook with every syllable, but she was trying to be strong.

“That’s why you were so desperate to make a call.”

She nodded, “Ryan and his wife took Karina to spend the weekend at the Hamptons. I’d already called him on Friday afternoon asking if he could collect her from school because I was working late. But I knew if I didn’t call over the weekend then he’d get worried,” she paused and gave a weak smile, “Not Karina, she’s a tough independent child. I was counting on her having so much fun with her cousins not to miss my nightly phone call.”

I suddenly felt bad then, that I might have inadvertently made my daughter scared. “I’m sorry, you have to understand—”

She cut me off, “I should be sorry. It’s all a mess. Karina is fine, I spoke to her when I called Ryan to tell him I had to go on a business trip and ask whether he’d be able to keep her for a few more days.”

“I’m a business trip?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s not entirely a lie,” Brooke stated.

I had so many questions I wanted to ask about our daughter, but my main concern was my uncle. “Oleg. He may not know she’s my child, but we have to assume he knows she exists, and he’ll use whatever leverage he has to get his way.”

All the color drained from her face instantly. “That thug who threatened me a few weeks ago, the man I thought you’d sent… He mentioned my daughter. We have to get to Karina. Now. I won’t let anything happen to my baby, Ilya.” A new fire burned bright, and I knew there was no arguing with her, but I had to try.

“It could be a trap.”

---