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My father glared at me, his eyes spitting venom. “The past is none of your business. The past should stay in the past. Lyov did the right thing thirty years ago. He ended it when he found Maria. He’s not the bad guy here.”
That I also knew.
Solonik told me everything.
How he had owned Maria first. And then Lyov apparently stole her away. He bought her, and that night, The Royalist changed. It was never the same, and a few months later, Lyov had ordered to shut it down.
Then Lyov and Maria had lived happily ever after for eight years until tragedy struck.
From the other side of the wall, we heard crashes. Alessio was snarling something, and Lyov shouted something bad. All we heard was a jumbled mess of words. And I boomed a rapturous laugh.
“We are all the bad guys here, Father. We aren’t any saints. And none of us play by the rules. I just played one tiny little game,” I sneered back, smirking.
Isaak pushed me away. “Fuck you.”
I laughed even harder, waving a hand in the air and then turning around. I ignored my father and walked away, leaving a hurricane in my path.
Last night, Alessio fucked me up in the head. He betrayed me as my brother when he asked me to choose between the girl I need and the family I worship.
And today…today was payback.
One point for Alessio Ivanshov.
Two points for Viktor Ivanshov.
Chapter 16
Viktor
I followed the melodious sound of the piano playing. It was so serene, calm…beautiful and exotic. My lips quirked up in a smile as I stopped in front of the piano room and silently opened the door. Inside, I found Ayla and Maila.
Princess was sitting beside her mother, listening to Ayla play with rapturous attention. Her eyes were big and bright. It was clear she was a happy baby. My gaze found Ayla, and she had her eyes closed, a sweet smile on her lips.
She looked happy too. Really happy. The type of happiness that came from the soul and shone on the face.
I wanted to protect this. Them. This beautiful moment.
I wanted to be the reason for their laughter.
As their protector, I wanted to make sure they would always have a reason to smile. Alessio. Maila. Ayla. This family. My family.
They were the King and Queen.
I was the soldier.
And I bowed to them.
Ayla had borne enough in life she didn’t need to go through more pain.
She deserved this—her happy ending.
It was my duty to preserve this…their happiness.
Their love.
Walking further into the room, I closed the door behind me and watched them. Princess noticed me, and she giggled, waving her hand high. She slowly stumbled off the piano bench. I couldn’t help but smile when she started to bounce her feet to the melody. She tried to go on her tip-toes like a ballet dancer, and then she clumsily twirled around.
Ayla opened her eyes and she glanced at me, smiling at my presence before turning her attention back to her daughter. She didn’t stop playing, her fingers still moving over the piano as she filled the room with a piece of heaven.
She would always play for Alessio, and now I saw why he was so mesmerized by her. An angel. She truly did look like one in this moment. A fallen angel.
She belonged in heaven but fell down to earth to grace us with her sweet soul.
Leaning against the wall, I watched her play. Watched this moment.
For a brief moment, I thought how it would be if I were in Alessio’s place and Ayla was my wife.
If I were sitting on that couch across from the piano and watched her play every night.
If Maila were my daughter.
If Ayla were my woman and every night she was in my bed and I was wrapped in her embrace.
This had been my vision of happily ever after for so long. My vision of love. I was jealous of Alessio. Angry and hurt that he had what I wanted…needed.
For the longest time, I wanted to know what it would feel like to have Ayla’s lips on mine. To have her smile at me the way she would at Alessio. I used to imagine she’d walk into my arms instead my brother’s.
She would be mine.
And I’d had everything I ever wanted.
Right now, I thought of it again. I forced myself into this moment. My heart squeezed and my lungs clenched with every break I took. It hurt.
It hurt because I could no longer imagine myself like this.
Months ago, it had been easy to put myself in Alessio’s position. It was so easy to envision Ayla loving me.
But now…it felt as if there were an invisible barrier stopping me.
My heart refused to succumb to my delusion. My soul refused to sway with my fascination.
My breathing stuttered when a gasping realization dawned to me.
