88

When we returned home, we had a serious conversation waiting with the kids. Honestly, I was a little afraid of it, because I didn’t know what to expect from Masha.

“So, little gang,” I address the children, and Masha rolls her eyes in her usual manner. “Anya and I talked, figured out a lot, and now we’re together as a couple. We’ve also decided it makes sense to end our bet.”

“Great,” Masha muttered, while Luka visibly drooped. “So now you’re trying to politely tell us to get off your territory. We get it…”

“No! Masha, you need to learn not to interrupt adults!” I look sternly at the blonde. “We actually wanted to tell you the opposite! You can stay with us as long as you want. No, not even like that… we’d LIKE you to stay with us.”

“What’s with the generosity?” our almost-daughter narrows her eyes suspiciously.

“Well, you’re not unhappy with us, are you?” Anya gently joins in.

“No,” the blonde snorts. “We’re not cursed, not beaten, and you pay for everything. What’s there to complain about?”

“Exactly. And we like having you with us, taking care of you. Let it stay that way,” Anya smiles at Luka, and he beams back with his toothless smile.

But with Masha, it wasn’t that simple. She went silent and thoughtful, staring at one spot.

“I… I can’t,” the girl sighed. “I’d be very grateful if you kept Luka for the winter. But I… Mom is sick…”

I see the boy tense, listening to his sister. For the first time, it seemed to me that this sensitive, sweet kid got angry at Masha.

“Let’s tell them!” he declared firmly, and I saw a flicker of fear in the girl’s eyes.

“No, Lukas!” the little one snapped. “It’s none of their business!”

“Come on, Masha!” the boy looked at her pleadingly, but his sister was unshakable.

“I said no!”

“We can help, Masha,” I say to the girl, but she doesn’t want to hear a word.

I didn’t pressure or insist. I’d find out all the information about them soon anyway. So I carefully changed the subject, and we didn’t return to the issue.

For the upcoming event, I wanted to take the kids to my brother’s so they could be supervised by the nanny, but Masha flatly refused, saying she was perfectly capable of watching them herself. Considering the mother they’ve lived with, that wasn’t exactly surprising. So the kids would stay in the apartment on their own for the evening.

I put on my tuxedo and tie the bow tie around my neck, stepping out of the wardrobe. For a second, my breath catches when I see Ann in the room in a magnificent evening dress. The makeup artists and stylists had already left, leaving my beloved looking absolutely stunning.

Anya wore a damn sexy and elegant floor-length silver dress with tiny stones. It contrasted incredibly with her pitch-black hair and tanned skin. The dress had an open back with a thin chain running from the strap at the nape of her neck down to her lower back. The neckline was deep, emphasizing the rounded, full hemispheres of my favorite twins. A high slit ran up her leg from the thigh to her high heels. A candy in a wrapper, no less.

“Anya,” I approach my panther from behind and pull her to me by the waist. “I think fuck that event. I want you.”

“Oh no!” my beloved jumped away from me like she’d been scalded. “They tortured me with makeup and hair for so long that we are absolutely going!”

“Then I won’t promise I won’t drag you into some secluded corner and wrinkle that little dress!” I warn honestly.

“Don’t promise something stupid like that,” her beloved eyes flash with playfulness, and her lips spread into a smirk. Anya comes up to me and kisses me passionately, throwing her arms around my neck.

“Mmm,” I hum happily, hugging the beauty. “I love it so damn much when you come up to me like that and kiss me yourself. Pure bliss. I love you.”

“Well, maybe I also…” the girl looks at me slyly, smiling, “…love myself!”

Anya starts laughing, and I pull her tighter to me, growling. She’s going to give me gray hair.

I hear my phone ring and pick it up. Mikhail.

“Yeah!” I answer.

“Listen, I dug a little into your kids,” Misha falls silent. “And there’s something they didn’t tell you. Their mother was deprived of parental rights a long time ago.”

Honestly, I’m slightly surprised, but not completely. Her attitude toward the children speaks for itself. Obviously, that’s exactly what Masha didn’t want to tell me.

“They ran away from an orphanage?” I find the most logical explanation for their silence and everything I just heard.

“That’s the thing. No,” Misha puzzles me. “They have an official guardian. Their aunt, Vitalina Sredenko.”