Chapter Four

Brooke

"I lya is back in town." I spat the words out as soon as Lara rushed in after work. I turned to her with wide, crazed eyes before I resumed pacing around my kitchen. "And worse? He's hired Montrose Accounting to handle his businesses." This couldn't be happening. I just couldn't let myself believe that the universe would be so cruel as to bring him back into my town. My life.

"Ilya?" she asked, her eyes as wide as saucers. " Your Ilya is back in town?"

I rolled my eyes. "He's not my Ilya and he never was."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved a dismissive hand at me, "you know what I mean. Is he still hot?"

Warmth suffused my body at her question, and I tried hard to shut that response down. "It doesn't matter how hot he is, Lara!"

She laughed. "Wow, he must be really gorgeous."

"It should be illegal how gorgeous he is," I admitted reluctantly as I thought of him—crisp suit, perfectly styled blond hair, clean shaven jaw, and overall demeanor of power. "I don't care how good he looks, Lara. I care that he's now my client. My sole client, I might add, which means I'll have to see him at least monthly. If not more." Just saying it out loud was enough to make me want to pass out. "This can't be happening."

When Karina was first born, I thought about what I would say to Ilya if that occasion ever arose, but the first year went by and then the second and I knew that I would never see him again and I stopped worrying about it. Of all the anxiety brought on by single motherhood, running into my one-time lover didn't even make the list anymore.

And now it was right at the very top.

"Okay, Brooke, have a seat because you're making me dizzy and I'm not quick enough to catch you when you eventually pass out from panicking."

I stopped pacing. "Fine." I sat down at the kitchen table and faced my oldest and dearest friend in the world with a heavy sigh. Immediately, my leg began to bounce under the table.

Lara's lips twitched. "Brooke, I love you like a sister. Hell, you are a sister to me, so when I say this, know that it comes from a place of love." She gave me a chance to consider her words and I nodded for her to continue. "Maybe you should just tell him about Karina."

"No. Absolutely not. I can't tell him about her. He's rich now, or maybe he's even richer since he was rich back then too, so he's in a prime position to take her if he wants to." My heart rate increased as I thought about that. "I don't have money for a lengthy custody battle, Lara."

"I doubt that will happen. You have a home and a job, he might have more but it's clear you can support yourself and your daughter."

"He could still take her, shared custody," I said, imagining Karina going off on fancy vacations and finally telling me that she wanted to live with her father. How could I compete?

"No matter how much money he has, he's the one who had unprotected sex and never followed up. How were you supposed to tell him about the consequences of your night together?" Lara added.

"You think that will matter to him? I don't. He's got this whole master of the universe thing going on and I can admit it's damned intimidating."

"I'm just saying that if he finds out he has a kid in another way, he's definitely going to be pissed and he probably will take it out on you somehow." The sympathy on her face was too much.

It made me angry, actually. "I don't give a damn if he's pissed off or not. If he cared at all, he would have called or texted or even emailed me. He might have been a million miles away in Russia, but it's not like he was on a remote desert island. He didn't do any of that, which tells me everything I need to know." I was inexperienced that night, but I should have spoken up. I didn't think about it at all until I missed my period, twice.

"I'm not saying that you have to care, but you do have to be prepared for what he might do when he finds out about Karina, because believe me, he will find out."

"I'm hoping that his life is in the city, and not Winter Valley."

"Yeah, well, we also hoped for your period to come. We hoped he would call. Neither of those things worked out too well."

"Dammit." She was right and we both knew it.

"Your best play here is to keep being the Ice Queen you're known for being. You don't get personal with anyone, not even Ruben or that sweet receptionist Marnie, so keeping your distance should be easy."

I shook my head. "He said, see you soon , before he left my office. It was like he completely forgot that he ghosted me, which was bad enough. But then finding out I was pregnant just made it even more cruel somehow."

"Was it a sexy see you soon or like hey, let's grab coffee ?" She used two different tones and I glared at her. "Right. It's Ilya and those smoky blue eyes. I'm sorry to say, sister, but you are in big trouble."

I shook my head because I refused to believe that Ilya returning to New York meant anything other than a small challenge. Dealing with him would be difficult, without a doubt, but that was it. "He's a client just like all the others," I said, more to myself than to Lara. "He can try to get close, but the Ice Queen won't let him. I'm freaking out for no reason. It'll be fine," I said, and shook out my arms to let the tension go. "I'll keep it professional when I have to engage with him. Nothing else has to change."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Brooke. I hope that lie makes you feel better."

I hoped so too.