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and walked to the windows overlooking the city. As the sun rose in the sky, he closed his eyes and let the heat of the rays penetrating the glass wash over and warm him. Down below, the city bustled with activity.
    Brushing his lips across his son’s head, he murmured in Russian, “Do you see that? This city? Houston? It’s our city.”
    Until that moment, he hadn’t truly understood the implications of having a son. Maksim and Luka had called the boy his heir, but Nikolai had never acknowledged those claims. It hadn’t felt right…until now.
    “Someday, this will all be yours.” Nikolai swore then and there that he would continue to build legitimate business and real power that his son—that his children—could inherit. “Everything I do is for you and your mother.” He swallowed around the ball of emotion trapped in his throat. “You are the luckiest boy in the world to have the mama you do. Someday, you’ll understand how wonderful she is, how beautiful and strong and brilliant. Someday, you’ll be just as amazed by her as I am.”
    Lev had opened his eyes and blinked slowly as Nikolai talked to him in Russian. His son couldn’t understand a word coming from his mouth, but he didn’t let that stop him.
    “I’m not a good man. I’ve made so many mistakes. But I’ll be a good father to you. I’ll be a good father and a good husband, and you will always know how much you are loved.” His eyes burned, and he blinked rapidly to clear them. He swore on his life that his son would never know the hunger and pain and trauma and abuse that had ruined his own childhood. “You and your mother are the reason I breathe.”
    Lev had worked one of his small arms free from the swaddling blanket and bumped his fist against Nikolai’s finger. A moment later, he captured it—and Nikolai’s heart nearly burst in his chest. The love he felt for his son overwhelmed him. A tear slid down his cheek, but he didn’t wipe it away. For one of those rare moments, he allowed himself to feel everything .
    Because, as he held Lev and watched the brilliant winter sunrise, he felt as if he had stepped through a doorway into a new world.
    And a new beginning.
    The End

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