When I tried on my dress, it no longer fit. Stella giggled and fed me another plate of pancakes. “That’s an easy fix,” she told me.

An hour later, the dress was gone with a promise to be back by nightfall. Not that I needed it anytime soon. I refused to get married until I had made a genuine effort to find my real father. Without much to go on, I’d hit a dead end.

While I knew of many powerful men in Las Vegas, I was not on a first name basis with any, and certainly not on a nickname basis. Lucky could have been anyone in a town known for luck. For all I knew, he could have been my mother’s masseuse since she met him at the spa.

Matt walked out of our bedroom looking quite handsome in his suit and tie. He leaned over and gave me a kiss. “I’m off to get the paperwork settled.”

“Rafe got it taken care of?” I knew he wasn’t happy to forge documents, but he agreed as his one contribution as a member of the infamous Wilde family. As a new lawyer at McAlister and Associates, this was the kind of work Rafe would be assigned along with every two-bit criminal who walked through the door, so it was easy enough for him to file the paperwork and put it on a partner's desk for signature. As long as the fee for services was paid, no one would give it a second thought.

“He’s got it all done. We have a look-alike to walk in and pretend they’re Yuri, so in case anyone asks, there’s proof he was there.”

It was amazing how much Matt and his brothers were willing to do to protect me. That was what family was supposed to be like.

“You guys went the extra mile.”

“It’s got to work for everyone, including Sergei, or we are back at the beginning.”

Sergei had done everything he was asked. He stayed away from Old Money Casino. He ceased putting pressure on Matt to continue the deal. Every time I looked over my shoulder, I saw one of his men. They weren’t there to harm me. They were there to make sure I was safe because my safety and Sergei’s went hand in hand.

“Be careful. There are bigger issues than Sergei.” Rumor had it the Colombians were flexing their muscles, and since the Wildes left the business, it created a vacuum everyone was jockeying to fill. Given the two big players were still the Russians and the Irish, I’d put my money on Sergei. Any man who stayed under the Bratva’s radar and moved up in rank to take over had skill and luck. He’d made Yuri completely disappear without question. I had questions for sure, but I was smart enough not to ask. What I didn’t know couldn’t hurt me.

“Stella made you an appointment at the spa. Happy Birthday, sweetheart. We have a celebratory dinner planned tonight.”

He was such a funny man who made a big deal out of everything, but if he wanted to celebrate, I’d be a happy reveler.

“Is it just you and I?”

He smiled. “It’s a private affair.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my ring as if I were the Pope. I think he simply liked seeing it on my finger. It was as good as a tattoo on my forehead that said I was his. “Wear that red dress I love.”

I watched him walk out the door. It didn’t take long for Stella to fill the void Matt left behind. “What’s your favorite flower?” she asked.

“That’s easy. I love roses.”

She smiled and walked out of the room, no doubt to fill the apartment with their fragrant scent.

I walked to the living room and took a seat on the sofa. Had it really only been weeks since I moved here? The anniversary of my mother’s death came and went. I’d brought her favorite roses to the cemetery and told her how much I loved her. I sat on the grass and read her diary again. I released all the guilt I felt at having been angry because she’d killed herself. I’d asked her forgiveness because I only knew what I’d been told. I knew she was with me when a light breeze caressed my skin. I swore I heard the whisper of her voice on the wind tell me how much she missed me.

My wedding day to Sergei passed without much thought. I would have completely forgotten about it had it not been for the priest calling to confirm the date and me telling him the wedding was off. He sounded almost relieved.

Today was my twenty-fifth birthday, and my life had changed in profound ways. I slept with the man I’d dreamed of all my life. I no longer had family ties to the Russian mafia. My loyalties were with the Wildes. Soon, if I had an ounce of my true father’s luck, I’d find my real family. Would he be married? Would I have sisters or brothers? Would they embrace me or treat me like the outsider I’d been in the Petrenko household? My hopes were high that I’d be something more. “You need to go to your appointment,” Stella said. “Get going before you’re late.” If the older Italian woman wasn’t force feeding me, she was bossing me around, but I loved her motherly instincts. It had been far too long to be without a mother’s love.

I picked up my bag and walked out the door. “You ready?” Sophie asked. She was my personal detail. Matt had handpicked her himself. He liked that she was female and trained by the Israelis. I liked that she was rarely seen. She managed to blend in with the woodwork. I knew she was around, but I never felt suffocated.

“I’m ready.”

It was odd that I’d been unsupervised my entire life until now. I never realized how much danger lurked in the shadows. I had always been a target, and yet Yuri never thought to protect me because I was nothing to him. And now I was everything to Matt.

We took the elevator down to the spa. The second the receptionist saw me, I was ushered into a private room where for the next three hours I was exfoliated, moisturized, waxed, painted, styled and made up. I truly felt beautiful.

When I arrived back in the apartment, my red dress was laid out for me, as were the shoes to match.

The dress had fallen over my hips just as Matt walked in.

“You take my breath away.” He walked up behind me, pushed my hair to the side and kissed my neck. Goosebumps danced across my skin. How I ever thought I’d be able to make love to this man once and get him out of my system was insane. Energy pulsed below the surface of my skin when he was near. He was as necessary to my survival as oxygen and Stella’s pancakes.

“You are my breath.”

He zipped up the back of my dress and turned me around. “Happy Birthday.” He pulled a white box from his pocket and held it out in his open palm. “I bought you something I hope you’ll love.”

“I already love it because you picked it out.”

“Open it. It’s special and has significant meaning.”

I’d gone years without anyone acknowledging my birthday. It felt almost wrong to have a gift in my hand. When I didn’t open the box, Matt did. On a bed of white satin sat a pair of emerald earrings in the shape of a four-leaf clover.

“It’s the symbol of luck.”

I put them on. “I don’t need luck. I’ve got you.”

“Yes, you do.” He lifted one of the dangling earrings and smiled. “Let’s get lucky.” He threaded his fingers through mine and led me out the door.

“Where are we going?”

He chuckled. “Lucky Luciano’s, of course.” It was the high-end Italian eatery in the casino.

“Are you trying to make me Italian by ingestion?” I’d eaten more Italian food in the last three weeks than I’d eaten in my entire life.

“No, I’ll make you Italian by insemination. I’m just going with a theme tonight.”

I laughed. “Lucky is the theme? I’m pretty sure you’re going to get lucky tonight.”

He patted my ass as we walked to the elevator. “No, baby, it’s you who’s getting lucky tonight.”

We entered the elevator alone, and he kissed me until the doors opened on the first floor. When Matt walked through the casino, it was like magic. He was the star, and nothing short of red carpet and paparazzi would do. Everyone knew him, and by association, they knew me.

When we got to Lucky Luciano’s, there was a sign on the door that said closed for a private party.

“You shut down the restaurant for me?”

He grabbed the handle of the door and waited. “Tonight is far too special to share it with anyone else.”

“It’s just a birthday.”

He brushed his lips against mine. “It’s so much more than that.”

He opened the door, and on the tables were my mother’s favorite roses—one pink, one yellow and one white. Two were named after Diana, the Princess of Wales. Even my mother believed in fairy tales.

Petals on the floor led us to a table in the back. I stopped when I saw a man sitting with his back to us. His strawberry blond hair seemed familiar, and yet not.

“Someone’s at our table,” I whispered to Matt.

“Yes. It’s a surprise.”

My breath caught in my throat. The theme was lucky because he’d found my father. My knees grew week. I gripped Matt’s arm. “You found him.”

He cupped my cheeks. “Yes.”

“How do you know for sure?”

He reached up and plucked a hair from my head. He held it in front of me. “You share his DNA.”

I sucked in a huge breath. “You knew, then.”

“I wasn’t sure, but I was motivated to find out. If all goes well, you’ll be a Wilde tomorrow.”

My mouth dropped open. “Tomorrow?”

He smiled. “You told me you couldn’t marry me until you found your father. He’s here, and he’s excited to get reacquainted with you.”

He said reacquainted which meant I’d already met him. I stared at the man, who slowly rose from his chair and turned around. He was none other than Liam O’Leary. Lucky O’Leary.

“Oh my God. I’m Irish.” I rushed forward and hugged my father for the first time.

He stood back and took me in. “I always thought you were far too pretty to be Yuri’s daughter,” he said with a heavy brogue.

I straightened my shoulders and stood tall. “Of course. I’m Katya Anya, and I look like my mother.”

He pulled me in for a hug. “Yes, you do. Your mother owned my heart.”

We sat at the table and caught up on the twenty-five years he’d missed. He said he’d loved my mother but respected her decision to stay with Mikhail. When she told him she was pregnant again with Yuri’s child, she felt it was best if they quit their affair.

“Your mother was a brave woman, but she was also a mother, and she loved Mikhail too much to leave him in the hands of Yuri.” He wiped at a tear. “I never knew you were mine. She never told me. I would have—”

I placed my hand on my father's. “She was trying to protect us both. She took the secret to her grave.”

Liam’s cheeks grew beet red. “When I find Yuri, I’m going to kill him.”

Matt and I looked at each other and smiled. “He’s no longer a problem, we’re told.”

Liam lifted his bushy brows. “Who do I need to thank?”

I giggled. With the way Sergei felt about the Irish, I didn’t expect that meeting to go well. “Sergei Volkov, I imagine.”

My father frowned and grumbled something about big Russian oafs and small brains.

He leaned over and took something from the empty seat beside him.

“It’s not much, but I think you’ll love it.” He slid the beautifully wrapped package across the table to me.

I opened the box that was tied with a red ribbon, and inside I found a photo album. I opened the first page to a picture of my mother and Liam. They stood in a rose garden, looking happier than any two people I’d ever seen.

“You are the reason she loved roses so much?” It was more of a question than a statement.

“She loved the gardens in Caesar’s Palace. We met there all the time or at the spa.”

I touched the picture as if it would somehow bring her back, and in a way, it did because this was the only picture I had of my mother. I flipped through the pages and saw the light of love shine from her eyes in each picture. There were some of her alone and some of her with Liam. There was one of her and him with his three children. It occurred to me that I indeed had siblings.

“Do they know?”

He nodded. “Yes, and they are happy to invite you into the family. It’s odd for them. It may take some time to get used to having a new sister, but they’re open to the idea. They only met your mother once. It wasn’t planned; we just happened to be at the same place having lunch. “You were there too.” He pointed to my mother’s pregnant stomach.

I looked at the picture closely. “Wow, we were actually together as a family.”

“Yes, we were, but no one knew.”

I stared at my siblings. Kirsten was a small child. I knew her mother had died at her birth. Ian and Patrick stood on each side of her as if she were theirs to protect. How much I’d missed.

“I look forward to seeing them.”

My father looked at Matt and frowned. “You’ll see them tomorrow at your wedding.”

My eyes grew wide as I snapped my head around to Matt. “You were serious. We’re getting married tomorrow?”

Matt reached for my hands and brought them to his lips. “I don’t want to wait another minute. Haven’t we wasted enough time?”

He was right. I’d pined for him my whole life and put him off until my father could be found, and now that he was here, there was no reason to wait.

Liam looked at Matt. “As your father, I’d be failing you if I didn’t tell you that you could do better than this Italian, but as my daughter and the daughter of Anya, I know you're choosing with your heart and not your head. It would be my pleasure to walk you down the aisle if you’d like.”

I leaped up and threw my hands around Liam's neck. “Yes, I want you to give me away.”

He pet my hair like I was a puppy. “I just got you back. I’ll never give you away again, but I will loan you to this man, provided he takes care of you.” He gave Matt a hard look. “Son, if you don’t, you’ll have to answer to me.”

“Yes, sir. I will spend every minute of the rest of my life keeping Katya happy.”

Liam rose. “Make sure you do.” He gave me a kiss and told me he’d see me tomorrow and then walked away.

“I don’t know if I should hit you or kiss you.”

A waiter arrived with our first course.

“Oh sweetheart, eat up because you’re going to be kissing me all night long.”