Chapter 1: Konstantin

Volume 1: Just Business

Wednesday. Home, Arlington, Virginia.

KONSTANTIN TITOV MADE IT a rule to not drink before five o'clock.

It was a rule he was breaking today.

He tossed back the finger of scotch and grimaced as the liquid burned his throat.

Today his little girl turned ten.

It seemed like yesterday he was wrapping her up and putting her in his backpack as a makeshift bed for her to sleep in safely while they made the harrowing journey to the states. She'd been such a tiny thing back then.

He counted it a miracle he'd lived this long. When he'd packed up in the middle of the night and fled his father's home with a baby, he had no idea how to care for, he hadn't honestly expected them to survive. Konstantin had always thought his father would catch up to him someday. He'd always been at a loss for what would happen to Zasha after that. Would his father decide she carried his sins? Or would he let her go?

Every birthday Konstantin felt the burden of caring for Zasha grow. She was ten now. Beautiful. Bright. Bubbly. Nothing like him, for which he was grateful. And she was always in danger.

Thankfully, she had no idea. Yet. But there was coming a day when she'd realize that the world wasn't full of pink sparkles and rainbows.

A woman's laughing, melodic voice drifted through the door that adjoined the two condos. "Come on, silly bear."

He swallowed and though he knew he shouldn't, he turned his head.

Haley Griffin, his daughter's personal security, stood there in her usual attire of jeans and a T-shirt. Her hair was up in a ponytail and if he had to guess, those were butterfly clips his daughter would have put in Haley's hair.

She was beautiful without trying.

His heart twinged just looking at her.

A blur of pink ran into Haley.

Zasha hadn't yet outgrown the frilly stage yet. She was clinging to it with everything she had, and Konstantin would be lying if he didn't want her to stay a little girl a while longer.

But today she was ten and not so little anymore.

Haley twirled Zasha, both of them laughing, unaware he was watching.

These were the moments he treasured most. Where he could pretend it was just them.

Konstantin was living a sad cliché. He was in love with a woman he could never have. Most of the time he went out of his way to avoid her. But some days he just wanted to bask in her presence.

Haley had come to him by recommendation four, or was it five years ago now?

Zasha hadn't turned five yet. That detail he did recall.

He turned away from the door as he realized just how long they'd been doing this.

Shit.

Five going on six years?

God damn.

He swallowed, still tasting the alcohol.

It was all too easy to remember the events leading up to Haley's arrival. They'd still been in his old condo and things had been tense. They'd just weathered an attempt to kidnap Zasha that had only been foiled because Konstantin had been forced to leave one of his usual detail at home. If that hadn't happened, she might not be here today. Less than seven days later, Haley had arrived and changed his world.

He'd known the moment their eyes locked they had chemistry. It had sizzled all through that first interview. And he'd seen that awareness in her eyes. They both felt it.

But nothing had happened beyond some subtle flirting in those early days.

Zasha was his daughter. Just like him, she'd fallen for Haley from the start. In less than a month, Zasha had connected with Haley in a way only he got. Even her nanny, Ivana, didn't have the same relationship.

Zasha had never gotten the chance to know her mother. He wasn't going to run off the person she relied on the most just because he happened to be attracted to her.

Things had gotten easier over the years. Moving into the divided condos had helped a lot. They were no longer in close proximity. He had his space, and she hers.

He crossed to the window and looked out on the city in an effort to get away from his thoughts.

It was nice to have a day in the home office. He spent twelve hours a day at one desk or another. Having a quiet day like this was a rare treat for himself and Zasha. He shouldn't squander it by doing nothing. If he did that, he could no longer justify working from home.

Right then a buzzer timed.

Saved by the bell.

He leaned over and turned the alarm off, then shrugged out of his jacket.

For the next hour he got to just be a dad with his daughter.

"Dad! Daddy."

He turned just in time for Zasha to launch herself at him. He caught her and swung her around.

"There's the birthday girl." He grinned back at her, his heart aching at how slim and refined her face was these days. No more chubby cheeks.

"Zasha, careful," Haley called out.

Konstantin winked at Zasha, who laughed at him.

"Are you ready for lunch?" she asked and took his hand, leading him out of the office and into his living room.

He eyed the tray Haley was unloading at his dining table. "Starving. What did the chef make for us today?"

"I asked for macaroni and cheese," Zasha announced.

"Just macaroni and cheese?" He looked at Haley now.

They were not just feeding her carbs.

"There's shredded turkey and turkey bacon in the mac and cheese," Haley said to his unspoken question.

Zasha slid into her usual seat. "And there are bread crumbs. I got to put those on."

Konstantin wasn't convinced turkey, noodles and cheese was a healthy lunch, but it was Zasha's birthday. Maybe he was overreacting. Nanny Ivana was in charge of overseeing the chef's meal plans. Ivana had raised him just like his mother and now Zasha. She knew a few things about kids.

"Dad?" Zasha hadn't touched her fork yet?

"Need anything else?" Haley whisked the tray up and stepped back.

"Hm?" He focused on Zasha first.

"I have a birthday request," she said with complete seriousness.

Her expression was so much like his own that for a second he was taken aback.

He glanced at Haley for a clue. Her lifted brows and quizzical expression told him she wasn't in on the scheme.

"What is it?" he asked.

Zasha sat up straight and looked down her nose at him. Funny, when she did that she made him think of his own mother. "I want to do movie night tonight, and I want Haley to come."

Movie night.

With Haley.

Konstantin let her request sink in.

They always did a movie night on the weekends. It often shifted between which night due to social functions pertaining to work. But it was a sacred father-daughter activity. They'd done these since she'd first come home to him. She'd been a tiny little baby and he'd put on some cartoon movie, as if she cared, and sat there holding her. These days she still fell asleep during most movies, but he didn't mind. It was their thing.

It was a small request and yet admitting anyone into that space felt like he was losing that. Until Haley factored in. She changed everything. And part of him wanted her there, too. The only time he got to indulge in Haley was on account of Zasha.

He processed all of this in the time it took to blink once or twice.

"Movie night? Tonight?" He seemed to consider it for a moment. "I suppose we could. Does that mean you don't want to go out?"

Another tradition. He'd always had her dressed up for her birthday and he took her to whatever fancy restaurant she wanted. They drank sparkling grape juice and got a special kid's menu featuring petite versions of the specials instead of chicken tenders or spaghetti.

His heart ached at the abrupt end of that tradition.

Zasha shook her head. "I want pizza, you, Haley and movie night."

He looked at Haley for a sign. If this was what Zasha wanted, how could he say no?

Haley's blank face gave away nothing except surprise.

"Haley?" He paused for a moment, but she said nothing. "I don't have a problem with it if you don't."

"Oh. Okay. Well, let's do that tonight." Haley's smile widened, but he didn't think it was genuine. "Let me know when you two are done and I'll be back. I'm going to go get some work done."

She finally glanced at him with that last statement, but he couldn't read her gaze.

Heand made a note to find ten minutes to talk to her this afternoon. Last week he'd noticed a few photographs missing from his office. Old pictures from when he was a kid. He'd asked Haley, thinking maybe Zasha needed them for a project or simply wanted to look at them. But the pictures were just gone, along with a small amount of the cash kept in the kitchen for incidentals. Since Haley managed all security inside the condo, he'd given it over to her to figure out, but so far nothing.

"Yay," Zasha said before digging into her lunch with glee.

"Dad's just not enough for you anymore?" He smiled at her.

Zasha shrugged. "Haley is family."

She was. Over the last few years they'd become a hodgepodge family, and a lot of that was due to Haley. Sometimes it seemed like the best parts of their life now all tied back to her.