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It’s the first time in almost two weeks that I’ve been in my office. Gregory must have missed my presence here, because he darted through my legs to get into the room before I could close the door. Now, he’s curled in a ball in his bed in the corner.
“It’s not a joke, sir. All of the information I have is saying that Pavel has no plans to seek revenge.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
I flip through the folder of information Isay put together on Pavel. He was kicked out of three boarding schools for extreme, unwarranted violence. It’s not unusual in our world. Pavel was the spare to his brother’s heir. That can come with a fuck load of resentment.
My father never made Nikandr feel like a backup in case anything ever happened to me, but a lot of fathers in our world aren’t afraid to funnel all of their resources into the eldest son and neglect the others.
Pavel was the useless second son and his parents never let him forget it. But apparently, when I took out their father, Akim stepped up for Pavel. He covered up his messes with school and gave him a position within the Bratva. Akim was the parent Pavel never had.
And I just killed him.
“Pavel wants revenge,” I say flatly. “There’s no way he doesn’t want to kill me for taking away his brother. I would if I was him.”
“All I can tell you is what I’m seeing and hearing. Right now, Pavel has his nose deep in the other Gustev businesses. The raid we conducted to save Luna decimated their highest-ranking lieutenants. He has a lot of rebuilding to do. It doesn’t look like revenge is high on his to-do list.”
That would be good news… if it was true.
“Keep watching him,” I order. “If you hear or see anything strange, I want to know about it.”
“Yes, sir.”
I hang up with Isay and lean back in my chair.
It doesn’t make any sense. I’d love to believe Pavel Gustev has no intention of coming after me for murdering his brother, but I know better. I’ve been around long enough to know that taking out someone like Akim always has consequences.
I’d like to have a better idea of when I’m going to face them.
I’m thinking, listening to the sound of Gregory purring next to me, when the cat suddenly jolts out of his bed. The fur on his back and shoulders is standing up.
“What is it?” I reach down to pet him, but Gregory darts away and meows at the door.
I open the door to let him out… and I hear it.
Crying.
I don’t think—I just move. I sprint down the hallway and throw the door to my bedroom open.
Luna is lying in bed and thrashing. The blankets are churning as she whimpers and cries out. I scan every last corner of the room to make sure there isn’t a threat. But the room is empty.
Lune is alone. She’s dreaming.
Gregory seems to realize there isn’t an imminent threat at the same time I do and disappears down the hall. But I jog towards the bed and grab Luna’s hand.
Her fingers are ice-cold.
I press my thumb into her palm and smooth her clenched fist. “It’s okay, Luna. It’s a dream.” I stroke my hand up her arm and down the other.. “I’m here. It’s okay.”
Slowly, her eyes flutter open. “Yakov?”
“You’re okay. It was just a dream.”
She blinks up at me like she’s amazed I’m in front of her. Then she launches out of bed and wraps her arms around my neck. “You’re here.”
I should have been there. She never should have been alone in that cell.
“I’m here. You’re safe.”
