‘No,’ Demyan said, and remembered how he had smiled more than he ever had when he had been with her. ‘We were rarely serious. Except when we argued, of course.’
‘Not many people argue with you.’
‘Not true,’ Demyan said, and he thought of Mikael. They had worked these streets and knew how it was, so it was safe to fight with him. He thought of Nadia but he did not argue with her, which infuriated Nadia so. Demyan did not argue with Nadia because he did not care...
He cared about Alina so.
Loved Alina so.
So much so that when his phone rang Demyan smiled as he took the call.
‘She said no to Dubai?’ Demyan was still smiling when he hung up the phone. ‘Go, Alina!’
There was a job, he’d ensured that with Hassan, but it warmed his heart to know she hadn’t taken it, that Alina was surely following her own path. He looked at his son.
‘Do you want some relationship advice from someone who has never held one down for very long?’ he asked, and Roman nodded. ‘Sort yourself first,’ Demyan said, because how he wished he’d met Alina tomorrow or next week, yet he might never have made it to this point had it not been for her. ‘Know yourself first.’
‘That is what I am doing,’ Roman admitted. ‘I know you were not keen for me to come and live here but I want to be here, I want to know my history.’ He swallowed. ‘I think I want to find out...’
‘It’s okay,’ Demyan said. ‘You have every right to know.’
Roman looked at his father and they had always been close but never closer than now. ‘What would it change for you if I found out?’
‘Nothing,’ Demyan said. ‘I have been through it and over it and have grieved and I am still standing.’
‘You’re sorted, then.’
He was, Demyan realised.
Just a little too late.
As Roman checked his messages Demyan did the same. There was one from his online ‘friend’—Alina’s father. Demyan had never responded to him but he kept trying to worm his way in.
Watch your daughter soar, you bastard...
Demyan tapped it in and then deleted it. He would save his moment but he would have it, Demyan was sure.
He wasn’t his mother, trapped in an illness, he could change. And he wasn’t Alina’s father either—he would fight to keep her in his life.
Fight to make her a part of it.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DEMYAN SAT in the restaurant and watched as Alina took out her notepad and took orders from a large, noisy table. Her hips were bigger, her bottom fantastic, her breasts, well... He blew out a breath and decided it was safer for now not to look there.
He looked at her very pale skin and the dark rings under her eyes and she was either pregnant or she had the heaviest period in the world.
He hoped it was the former.