He stepped closer.
“This marriage was never supposed to happen, Fyodor. You brought her into our lives and our family out of your own will and I have given you time to prove your loyalty to the family, but you have done nothing but go against our own name. I will not stand here and take this disrespect or watch you destroy us. It is already more than enough. I will not let you choose her over blood.”
“I’m choosing stability over your ego.”
He scoffed. “You’ve grown soft.”
“No,” I replied evenly. “I’ve grown precise, and I am making smarter decisions here. Decisions that will help us stay in the city.”
He gestured to the crates around us.
“This forces their hand and isolates them at the same time, eventually resulting in the war that we need to win and stand out.”
“And what if we lose this war? What then? Will you move back to Russia? Will you forget this mission? From the very first day, I have been asking you to stay calm and make smart decisions, but all you have been aiming for is an escalation that will indefinitely kick us out of here.”
“It won’t. Because we will win this war.”
“You are forcing me to walk away from you, Kliment.”
That silenced him, and the tension between us thickened. The men working nearby slowed their movements, pretending not to listen.
“You would walk away?” Kliment asked.
“If necessary.”
“You built this with me. You have been here since day one, and this belongs to you as much as it belongs to me. You cannot walk away.”
“I know.”
“And yet you think you can simply step aside?”
“Yes.”
His laugh was sharp. “You are a Romanov, and you will always be a Romanov.”
“I am, and I always will be, but that means nothing.”
“That means that you don’t get to resign.”
“I’m not resigning.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“I’m stepping out of your line of fire.”
“You think they won’t come for you?”
“They will.”
“And you’ll face that alone?”
“Yes.”
“For her?”
“For myself.”
Silence stretched between us.
