Page 51 of Bratva Boss's Secret Baby

“I mean like a home.” The distinction matters more than I can explain. “Somewhere our daughter can grow up without armed guards at every entrance.”

Sabrina frowns slightly. “But your business?—”

“Can be managed from anywhere.” The lie comes easily, though we both know it’s not entirely true. “I want her to have safety, stability, and a childhood that doesn’t involve learning to sleep through gunshots.”

She studies my face carefully, and I wonder what she sees there. After a long moment, she nods slowly, perhaps understanding what I’m so clumsily conveying. “Okay. We can look at properties. Maybe something with a good school district nearby.”

The casual way she says “we” does something to my chest that I don’t want to examine too closely. She’s not just agreeing to let me provide a house for our daughter. She’s agreeing to build a life together, to be a family in ways that go beyond shared custody and polite cooperation. “Private school. It’s more secure.”

She shrugs. “As long as it’s not repressive to her creativity, and she isn’t living there, I’m willing to consider the idea.”

I smile for a moment, imagining quiet future discussions about our daughter’s education, friends, hobbies, and interests. Longing for that simplicity fills me as I take a breath, knowing my next words will sound like weakness to anyone in my world, but not to her. “There’s something else. I’ve been thinking about stepping back from certain aspects of my work.”

“What kind of aspects?” she asks quietly, looking almost hopeful.

I speak bluntly. “The kind that require me to be away for days at a time or put me in situations where I might not come home.”

She’s quiet for a long moment, processing. When she speaks, her voice is careful. “You’re talking about retiring?”

“Not immediately or all at once, but eventually, yes.” I reach for one of the ultrasound photos, studying the perfect profile of our daughter. “I can’t be the kind of father she needs if I’m constantly looking over my shoulder for enemies.”

She watches me trace the outline of the baby’s face with my finger. “What would you do instead?”

“Legitimate business ventures. Investments...” I trail off, not wanting to be too specific about the illegal activities I’d be leaving behind.

She nods with understanding. “Instead of whatever it is you do now.”

“Yes.”

Her expression grows more serious. “Can you just walk away? Will the people you work with just let you retire to the suburbs and coach little league?”

Her questions are fair, and they highlight problems I haven’t fully worked out yet. Walking away from my current life won’t be simple or safe. There will be people who see my withdrawal as weakness and others who view it as betrayal. Some will try to use my family against me, viewing them as leverage to force me back into the game, but none of that changes my determination to try.

I meet her gaze directly. “I’ll figure it out. Whatever it takes to give our daughter a normal life, I’ll make it happen.”

“Even if it means giving up everything you’ve built?” she asks softly.

“What I’ve built isn’t worth preserving if it puts her in danger.”

She reaches over and takes my hand, sounding like she’s near tears when she speaks again. “Our daughter is lucky to have you.”

The simple statement means more than any declaration of love could. She’s not saying she cares about me or that she wants a future together. She’s saying I’ll be a good father, which somehow matters more than any romantic sentiment at the moment.

I squeeze her hand gently. “I hope so.”

“I know so. I’ve seen how you take care of people you care about, like the way you protected me, and the way you’ve made sure Jessie is safe even though you barely know her. Our daughter will never doubt she’s loved.”

I want to tell her I love her too, moved to blurt it out, but I hold back. Sabrina doesn’t seem ready to hear such words from me, and I’m not sure I want to utter them. I can’t deny I’m in love with her, at least as much as I can love anyone, but how do I show that or prove that? It’s better to maintain my silence for the moment until I figure out those details.

That night,after we’ve returned to the estate and Sabrina has gone to bed early with a stack of pregnancy books, I sit in my study and call Maksim.

“How did the appointment go?” he asks after answering.

“It’s a girl.” I’m beaming as I say that.

I can hear the smile in his voice. “Congratulations. I assume everything else was normal?”

“Perfect. The baby’s healthy, Sabrina’s healthy, and everything is progressing exactly as it should.”

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