48

“All right! I’ll warn Elena, and you go change quickly,” the man starts scolding me impatiently and very sternly, and I can see how the boys’ expressions change.

Looking at Kirill and then at me, the boys’ eyes widened, and their lips began to tremble. Well, here we go…

“Mom!!!” the children practically wailed at the same time, crawling fearfully under my wing and looking anxiously at their daddy.

“See!” I stared at the brunette calmly but reproachfully. “You scared them! They’re like sponges—they absorb and easily read a person’s emotions!”

“But I didn’t even yell!” the man genuinely didn’t understand, while Valentina and I tried to calm the children down.

“Uh-huh. And did you see your own face at that moment?” I raised an eyebrow. “Even a maniac would look friendlier!”

Only after we went up to the nursery were Valentina and I able to distract the children with games, pulling them away from their hysteria. I quickly changed clothes and hastily combed the porridge out of my hair, since there was barely any time.

Coming back downstairs, I saw Kirill in the living room, deep in thought.

“I’m ready, if you can call it that,” I made my presence known, and the brunette got up, glancing at me, lingering a bit too long in the décolleté area of my dress.

“Finally!” he mumbled. “We already might be late for the appointment, but they’re still waiting for us. Say thank you that we’re too important clients for the realtor to miss the chance to meet.”

I just rolled my eyes, and we left the house. I saw the now-familiar BMW and wasn’t even surprised that it was his. Being in their home, I had already seen several different cars, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were even more. Despite his rough and commanding tone, Kirill first opened the car door for me and then took the driver’s seat himself.

“To be honest, I’m surprised you’re taking me to see the house,” I admitted honestly to the man. “I thought my opinion doesn’t matter in YOUR family.”

“Well, we’re going to live there together, so all opinions need to be considered,” Kirill replied calmly, steering onto the highway. “And you’re free to do whatever your heart desires, but you know the conditions.”

“That’s a false sense of choice, which doesn’t really exist,” I snorted. “I’m not leaving the children behind.”

“Perfect. And I’ve submitted a request, so in a few days, the agency will provide a nanny from the capital to replace Valentina,” the man announced as if it were nothing.

“I’m fine with Valentina in every way!” I boiled over. “I trust her, and the children love her.”

“You’re going to live in Kyiv. She probably won’t want to move here. And we’ll need a nanny on a permanent basis anyway.”

As much as I didn’t want to argue with this idiot, he was right. Valentina had already stayed with me for a long time, torn from her own life. Sometimes she just sat with the little ones, and her constant presence wasn’t required. We all managed together, and my parents helped a lot.

Damn, parents…

“What are you thinking about?” After a brief pause, Kirill decided to keep the conversation going.

“Does it even matter?” I snapped, not looking at my fiancé.

“If I’m asking, it matters.”

“I haven’t figured out what to tell my parents about all this,” I admitted honestly to the man. “I told them I was allowed to stay one more week at the boss’s resort.”

“Oh,” Kirill replied shortly, thoughtful. “That’s good. On the weekend, we’ll go meet your parents.”

I was stunned by this turn of events, since the weekend was the day after tomorrow!

“Kirill…” I tried to delay the inevitable.

“Don’t worry,” the man smiled. “I’ll take care of ‘our’ story, and you just nod along. Anyway, our meeting is inevitable, since the wedding is in two weeks,” my fiancé stated as a shocking fact, grinning smugly and leaving me completely stunned.