My lip peels back in a snarl. “Exactly. There’s nothin’ stoppin’ him from bein’politewhile he answers.” My eyes narrow on the bastard. “Asshole thinks just because up until about ten minutes ago he was the head of the Russian Mafia, manners don’t matter. I’ll tell you what, Dec doesn’t let his position turn him into a mannerless brute, that’s for damn sure.”
“Manners areveryimportant.” Hayden nods once, and Sam rolls his eyes.
“Really?”
“What?” he asks defensively. “They are.”
I grin, walking over to pat his head. “Good boy.”
He smirks. “Woof.”
Alexei, Luka, and Illya all give looks of utter confusion, while Sam huffs a breath, and Kole grins. West sighs, running a hand over his face. “Do you know how hard it is to keep all of your diagnoses to myself?”
“Oh, you can read mine off to me while I go down on Fireball,” Hayden winks, “that sounds like some kinky shit.”
Mikhail makes another enraged sound, and I turn away from Hayden, tilting my head at Mikhail. “Oh, I’m sorry. Is there somethin’ you want to share thatwon’tmake me want to go for your other big toe next?” His face pales dramatically, and I arch a brow at him. “That’s what I thought.”
I cross my arms, twirling my knife again. “My turn. My biological daddy was Cian Gallagher. His last wife, Fiona—I mean, Dahlia—was murdered thirteen years ago in a home invasion in Highwater Creek, Georgia. Do you happen to know anythin’ about that?”
He shakes his head fervently before I can even reach for the gag. He seems scared enough of me that I don’t doubt he’s telling the truth. It was a bit of a long shot anyway.
I turn to face the rest of them. “So? I think that was the only question Sugar Bear had. Y’all got any questions before we kill him?”
“The document…” Illya trails off, glancing at Luka. “The one that gives everything to Alexei, it is really only if we are the ones to kill you?”
Alexei removes the gag.
“Fuck you, and fuck you!” He looks between the brothers, his face enraged. Now that I’m not the one questioning him, he seems to have found his edge again. “I knew you’d be the ones to kill me! I never should have trusted either of you, you no-good, dick-brained—”
The gag gets stuffed back in.
“I suppose we will have to see the document for ourselves.” Luka sighs, running a hand through his slicked-back hair. “Which is very inconvenient, considering we probably need to keep him alive to verify.”
“No,” Alexei says sternly, “he will not live another day.Iwill kill him.”
“And what if you are a liar, and the document really does leave everything to you?” Illya crosses his arms. “So you loved Nikolai’s mother—it does not mean we can trust you.”
“I will take a blood oath.”
The room stops breathing.
Even West, Hayden, and Sam, who have no idea what it means, can feel the weight of the words.
“What’s a blood oath?” West asks, shifting uncomfortably. “I mean, I get the implications, but…”
“It’s an agreement bound by blood, and is the most sacred form of loyalty among the Families.” Kole states, eyeing Alexei warily. “If he breaks the blood oath, he is branded a traitor and marked for death by each of the Families. It surpasses even death, even if the one he is sworn to leaves the life.”
“You would make a blood oath to us?” Luka asks incredulously.
“Not to you.” Alexei shakes his head. “To Nikolai. I owe him at least that much.”
Kole blanches, taking a step back. “No, I—”
“Do it.” Luka surprises me.
“Why?” Kole looks between the three of them. “Why would you want him to make a blood oath to me?”
“Because it will give us what we want while allowing him the security to turn on us if he feels we are slipping into Mikhail’s ways.” Illya shrugs. “Not that we will, but I do not blame him. Not after he has sacrificed so much to change things.”
