IVA
Lev’s hands gently framed my face. “For our son,” he said. “For bringing him into the world… for raising him, loving him… for giving me the greatest gift I could have ever imagined.”
His voice thickened. “You made me a father. And there are no words that could ever express how much that means to me, how grateful I am.”
My breath hitched, tears prickling behind my eyes. “I love you,” he whispered. “So much.”
I kissed him before I even decided to, and heat flared through me, familiar and consuming the moment our lips collided.
The last two days crashed into me all at once: the fear, the violence, the helplessness, and relief, and suddenly I needed him. I needed his hands on me. I needed his certainty. I needed the one thing that always quieted the storm in my chest.
Deepening the
