She punches me in the arm lightly. “I’m serious. He could have a normal, everyday job? If he wanted a normal, boring life, is that something you could get on board with?”
“If that’s what he wanted… yes,” I say. “I am not my father.”
“What about the whole ‘heir’ business? You’d still need one of those.”
I shrug. “I guess we’ll just have to make more babies then.”
She stiffens, a nervous kind of excitement making her sit up taller.
“And what if we have a girl?” she asks. Her eyes are bright as if she can already see this hypothetical future.
“What do you mean?”
“Could she potentially be your heir?”
I bob my head back and forth. “It’s not done often, I’ll admit.”
“Because even the Bratva is sexist. Not such a different world after all.”
“Fuck yes, it’s sexist. But I’m not. If I had a daughter and she wanted in, then she would get a fair seat at the table.”
“Hm. Okay. Do you know what you would like to have?” she asks. “A boy or a girl?”
I consider that for a moment. “I know how to handle boys. I understand them better, for obvious reasons. I can relate. For that reason alone, when I think about this baby, I picture a boy. But I would be equally as happy to have a daughter.”
“Margaret told me that daughters and fathers have a special kind of connection.”
“Well, if we have a girl, I guess we’ll find out.”
We turn down a broad road lined with greenery on either side. There’s an oncoming car that, as it gets closer, looks familiar.
Then I notice the license plate.
“Hey, it’s Yulian,” Jessa says.
Yulian pulls up alongside us and rolls his window down. “Fancy running into you two. Where are you headed?”
“My apartment,” Jessa tells him.
Yulian frowns and turns to me. “We have a meeting in like forty minutes. Are you going to be there for that?”
“She just wants to grab a few things and then we’ll be heading back. I might be a little late, but you and Lev can hold down the fort until I get there.”
“Great. Another day making excuses for you,” he says with an amused eye roll.
“I’ve been making excuses for you for decades. It’s about time you returned the favor.”
Yulian’s smile comes easier this time around. I can tell we’re slowly moving back into normalcy. “See you back at the mansion then,” he says before offering Jessa a special wave. “Looking good, girl.”
She laughs and says goodbye to him before I speed away.
“‘Looking good, girl,’” I mutter under my breath. “Give me a fucking break.”
“He’s being sweet.”
“He’s flirting. And walking a dangerous line.”
She rolls her eyes. “Glad to see things are a little less tense between the two of you. It’s about time you kissed and made up.”