Page 128 of Mafia King’s Dangerous Vow

“Yes.”

The admission costs me nothing. Lying here would be an insult.

Igor nods once. “Don’t.”

Mikhail’s brows lift. “Marriage has made him sentimental.”

Igor glances at me, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “Marriage didn’t do that.”

The room goes silent for half a breath. “Ah,” Mikhail says, smiling. “So things have...evolved.”

“Careful,” I growl at him.

“Congratulations,” Mikhail says, utterly without sincerity. “The entire family was beginning to worry about your moral fortitude.”

Nikolai looks between us. “I am delighted I received this necessary update.”

“Are we finished?” I snap.

“No.” The humor leaves Igor’s voice. “You’re moving as her husband now. Good.” He pauses. “But remember why we’re being patient.”

I hold his stare. Then I nod.

“We move like we are disarming something, not attacking it,” I say. “Kalinin gets silence. Doors changing hands. Men considering better offers. Paperwork moving one inch away from his reach. Nothing loud enough to make him panic.”

Yakov gives a single nod. “Now you are thinking.”

No one speaks.

The city moves beyond the glass, indifferent and lit, while the sentence remains in the room.

I think of Tamara at the pond, face wet and furious, saying she wanted her father to hurt. I think of how badly I want to give her that. Not because she demanded it. Because there’s a part of me that’s been waiting for permission to love her violently.

That is the danger. Not that I will fail to act. That I will act too soon and call it devotion.

Nikolai closes the folder. “Does she understand what happens when men like Kalinin fall?”

“She asked me to take his leverage.”

“That is not the same as asking for blood.”

“It’s worse.”

Mikhail looks at me. “Worse?”

“Blood ends quickly. Leverage has to be pulled apart while he’s still breathing.”

Yuri turns another page on the tablet. “And Berman?”

The adoption attorney’s name changes the temperature of the room.

“Not yet,” I say.

Yuri looks up.

“We already know where the boy is,” I continue. “The adoption file matters later. If we touch the wrong clerk tonight, Kalinin will hear footsteps.”

Igor nods. “Preserve. Don’t pursue.”