I open the door. I'm not ready to leave, and I don't trust that she won't take off and run. If she's afraid that I'll fight for custody, it gives her motive to vanish with my daughter.
While cameras are already inside the apartment, it doesn't help me track Hannah or locate her when she steps foot outside.
I can request one of our guards watch the apartment and follow Hannah when she leaves, but for how long?
"You may not believe it, but I've already fallen madly in love with Bay. You can't keep her from me."
Hannah softly shuts the door, allowing us to talk. She puts Bay down as the kid wiggles and fidgets to break free.
The little tiger slams into my legs, practically knocking me over, giggling before deciding it's a good idea to climb me like a tree.
Hannah's shoulders slump. "I don't want this to be a custody battle, Luka."
"Neither do I. I'm not fighting you for full custody. I don't even want this to be a fight," I clarify. "Come back to the house with me, let us work through whatever is going on and figure out our relationship together."
She folds her arms across her chest. "Aside from the fact you lied to me, is it even safe for us to live with you?"
She'll be a million times safer living with me under Mikhail's roof, with armed guards and a former FBI agent living on the premises, than an apartment across town that could easily be broken into.
"Our guards are trained at keeping everyone inside the premises safe. Madisyn used to be an FBI agent. Do you think she'd live with Mikhail and bring a child into the house if it wasn't safe?"
Hannah's quiet, mulling over my words as she glances in the direction of the hallway. "You honestly didn't hurt Mark?" she asks. "Because you were there, you saw what happened."
She must not have watched the footage in its entirety. I certainly didn't show her the video of us entering the premises.
"We called the paramedics," I say. It's the truth, and if she watched the footage, she'd see that we eventually called for help. It may not have been when Mark collapsed onto the ground, but we did call for an ambulance. "Come home, Hannah, let me show you the man I am."
"Other than a monster?"
"I never claimed to be something that I'm not. You came to me for help with Mark."
She glances down at the ground. " I was running to Madisyn. I didn't know you'd be there."
"Have I ever hurt you?" I ask, pinning her with my stare.
"No, I barely know you."
That isn't my fault. She can't blame me for not finding me sooner. "What do you want to know?" I ask.
"Have you ever killed a person?"
Why does she have to start with the difficult questions?
"I've been in a war, Zaya. Whether it's with the bratva or for my country, men die. I'm not proud of the atrocities I've been forced to endure, but I can't erase my past, either."
Has that satisfied her nagging curiosity?
"You're dangerous," she whispers, staring at me.
She fears what she doesn't know, not who I truly am. "Come home, let me show you who I am. Don't put words into my mouth about who you think I am because that's what you've read or seen in movies. Have I ever hurt you physically? Have I laid a finger on you?"
Hannah is silent as she realizes I'm not the beast she's made me out to be.
"Mark was more of a monster than me, not because he was skimming money from us but because of what he did to you. The bruises may go away, but Mark left behind scars that need time to heal."
Bay pushes my cheeks together like a fish, squishing my face and giggling. The kid seems oblivious to the tension between us, or maybe she's trying to make everything better.
I give her props if it's the latter.
There's a heavy silence that falls over us. Hannah has to know that I'm right, that all I've wanted was to protect her and my child.
"Don't ever lie to me again," Hannah says.