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We all obey immediately.
Konstantin holds the back door open for me while Anton climbs into the passenger seat and Maksim rounds the car. I slide into the middle of the backseat. The twins take up position on either side of me.
Once we’re all in the car, I glance back towards Mikhail.
My eldest brother spits on the ground before Kaden’s feet. Closing my eyes for a second, I resist the urge to groan. I watch intently as Mikhail turns his back on the three psychos and starts towards the driver’s seat. Kaden looks like he wants to attack again, but he thankfully doesn’t.
Then his cold eyes slide to me.
I snap my gaze back to the windshield ahead while my heart jerks in my chest.
Mikhail reaches the car a second later.
After slamming the door shut, he starts the car and revs the engine angrily before driving off.
“That’s it,” he announces. “You will not be staying at Blackwater.”
“What?” Dread and panic surge through me, and I sit up straight, trying to catch his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Of course I am! You—”
“Did you not just see what happened back there?” Mikhail cuts me off while keeping his eyes on the road.
“That only happened because of your war with them,” I protest. “It has nothing to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you when Kaden fucking Hunter puts a knife to your throat.”
“But he only did that because I was with you. If I stay out of his way, something like this won’t happen again.”
“Of course it will. You—”
“How do you think Dad will react if I tell him that you let Kaden put a blade to my throat?” I interrupt, letting the fear whirling inside me infuse my voice with steel.
Silence descends on the car. Anton shifts uncomfortably in the passenger seat ahead, and the twins suddenly become solely focused on staring out at the fields that flash past outside the windows.
At long last, Mikhail meets my eyes in the rearview mirror.
I never stand up to Mikhail. I never even disobey him. And I never, ever, threaten him.
But I’m desperate now.
“I will be staying at Blackwater,” I declare, keeping my voice strong. “I will stay at least this year. And you will help me convince Mom and Dad of that at this family meeting. And in exchange, we will all pretend that what happened this morning never happened.”
Mikhail holds my gaze in the mirror for another second before looking back at the road. The silence in the car is so thick that I can almost feel it pressing against my skin.
I know that Mikhail is under a lot of pressure. That he is desperate to prove himself to our father. To prove that he is worthy of being the heir to the feared Petrov family. Our great assassin family that always competes for the best hitman contracts along with legendary families like the Hunters and the Smiths.
If our father learns that my brothers had let someone from the Hunters, who he hates more than any of the other families, put a knife to my throat, he would see it as an unacceptable and humiliating failure. I know that it’s cruel to threaten Mikhail with that, but I can’t let him take away the only scrap of freedom I will ever have.
My heart slams against my ribs as Mikhail continues driving in silence for a few more seconds. His jaw clenches. Around us, Anton and our cousins are making sure to look at anything but us.
“Fine,” Mikhail grinds out at last.
Relief floods my chest.
“Thank you,” I say, softening my voice.
He jerks his chin down in a curt nod. “But if things escalate, we will have this conversation again, Alina.” His commanding eyes meet mine in the mirror. “Understood?”
I drop my gaze. “Yes.”
