Page 117 of Mile High Ex's Dad

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Then Maksim says, “Your son looks like hell.”

“He should.”

“That’s not paternal.”

“He has had a difficult day.”

Maksim gives me a look over the rim of his glass. “That was almost sympathy.”

“Don’t exaggerate.”

He smiles faintly. “Fine. Mild recognition of consequence.”

That, at least, is accurate.

“And Alina?” he asks.

“Tense.”

He lifts a brow. “That all?”

“She thinks this is somehow a reflection on me personally.”

“Well,” he says dryly, “someone did try to poison your breakfast.”

I look at him. “You know what I mean.”

“I do.”

He takes a sip, then leans back in the chair. “She’s worried about Ethan.”

“She’s worried about her version of Ethan.”

That gets a small nod out of him. He understands exactly what I mean. The boy she still sees and the man standing in this house are not quite the same person.

We sit with that for a moment.

Then Maksim says, “And the woman upstairs?”

There it is.

I almost smile, but I’m too tired for it. “You were waiting to ask.”

“Yes.”

I look down at the glass in my hand. “I know.”

“What’s going on with her, Viktor?”

I’m quiet for a second because I don’t have an answer that sounds simple.

And maybe that’s the answer.

“At first?” I say. “It was simple. Attraction. Bad timing. One flight. One night. I thought that was all it was.”

Maksim says nothing.

“But it isn’t,” I say.

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