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Aleksy winced “You toldsentis, Clair I did Then I iirls after I’d made my fortune”

“Were you in love with one of them?” Her heart stilled

“No,” he scoffed, and her knees unaccountably sagged “But I was arrogant enough to enjoy the idea of the in love with me I was convinced I’d have my pick when the time came”

Clair frowned, hating that word Pick your teams Picked last Never picked

Skipping over it, she asked, “What rief?”

Empathy stole over her like a fuzzy veil, partly due to the vodka slipping into her bloodstrea for him when she considered how painful it must have been to witness his mother’s heartbreak over the loss of her husband At least he was there to see it and not locked up in jail…

Clair frowned into her cup, thinking the booze was a bad idea She was having trouble clicking together important pieces of the puzzle

Aleksy wasn’t speaking, only staring into his glass, face lined with anguish

She watched hiht He looked…lonely Inconsolable She ached to circle his waist with her arms and press her face into the warmth of his chest

“Aleksy,” she began

“Yes, seeingthat kind of life Especially since I caused her grief and destroyed the happy life she’d finally been given” The words were dragged out of hians

“Finally?” she repeated tentatively Apprehensively “Wasn’t she always happy with your father?”

“Of course,” he conceded with a shrug, “but they struggled for years Everyone in Russia did When ht the mill, it was a chance for a future, but still just a chance They worked hard for every potato we ate I should have said she finally had hope”