Christian narrowed his eyes. His daughter held the eye contact. An intense, silent father-daughter battle was happening before me, and it was mesmerizing. “Toast and porridge make my tummy hurt, Papa,” Kat said softly. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes, and that seemed to be when her papa waved the white flag. “Fine. Pancakes. But you’ ll finish your game after you eat.” She smiled real big, jumped off the bed, and skipped into her father’s arms. He lifted her, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, Papa.” His eyes softened. “I love you too, malen’kaya volchitsa.” As he turned to leave, Kat wrapped her arms around his shoulders and said, “I really want chocolate chips in my pancake. And Fruit Woops. It would make me so happy, Papa!” It was clear by Christian’s enamored expression, there’d be chocolate and rainbow-colored cereal in his daughter’s pancakes come hell or high water. Ronan dropped his head against the headboard and chuckled at—I could only assume—how whipped his brother was. Christian gave him a dark look, glanced at me, then looked back to his brother. Ronan’s eyes narrowed. A subtle smile touched Christian’s lips, and then he carried Kat out of the room. Their absence left this gnawing hole in my chest. I thought of my papa and how his love had never been as deep as what I’d just seen in Christian’s eyes. How I could count on one hand how many times he’d told me he loved me; how I yearned for his affection and rarely received even a hug. Guilt expanded in my chest for thinking this way. My papa was sacrificing himself for me. Wasn’t that the strongest expression of love? Still, longing tore through me for that expressive kind of love I’d never had and that, soon, it’d be lost to me forever. “Ronan,” I said uneasily. “I want to talk to my papa.” Phone in his hand, he cast a look at me. The glint in his eyes was an unwavering “no.” I swallowed. “Please . . . I might not see him ever again shortly, and I really need this.” My voice clogged with emotion. “I really need to talk to him.”