Page 83 of The Pakhan’s Hidden Heir

“Then let me head up security for the house. I’ll make sure things here are locked down and⁠—”

“Take a week off,” I order. When my eyes meet his, he freezes. I’ve never had him take time off, but something is going on with him. Raina hates him. I’ve never had doubts, but suddenly there is this cloud of doubt floating over his head. I need time to sort through what I’m thinking. And I can’t do it if he’s constantly under foot.

“Boss,” he says, shaking his head.

“Go now, Akim. Enjoy a holiday or something. You deserve it. You led this family well for five years. Now is your time to rest. We’ll have plenty of enemies to fight when you come back.”

“Yes, sir,” he mutters, but I hear how resentful he sounds.

He stomps out, and I watch him go. But now I’m wondering if there might be some merit to what Raina was saying. I’d never believe for a second that Akim would harm her or my son, but I can see how easily he’d be tempted. He stood to gain the world, and Felix’s return dethroned him in a split second.

I need to watch him and I need to listen to my wife when she says something is wrong.

34

RAINA

“I win!” I cheer, and Felix pouts, placing the last of his cards on the table.

Go Fish is a good game to help ease him into the idea that he can’t always win.

At five years old he is struggling with that concept and he has to learn sometime.

“Not fair,” he pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. But I tousle his hair and smile at him.

“It is fair. That’s the game, bud. You can’t always win.” I start picking up the cards while he continues to pout, and I think about how I handle negative emotions.

Translating that to a child is difficult.

No one wants to have negative emotions, but everyone has them, and everyone has to learn to manage them.

“I want to win,” he grumbles, scowling at me. “It’s not fair. You won two times. I didn’t win yet.”

“Hmmm,” I hum, tapping the cards into alignment, “but if you always win, and I never win, why would I play with you?” Lifting my eyebrows I watch as he stares up at me. “It’s only fun if there’s a chance you could lose. That’s what makes winning fun, right?”

“Yes,” he says thoughtfully.

“So if you lose this time, you can play again with a chance you’ll win. Then when you do, you celebrate.” I see as it starts to click, the little light bulb in his brain lighting up.

“So we can play again?” he asks, dipping his head.

“Yes, and it’s fun because you know you could win…” The slow realization is dawning on him still.

“But I could lose.” His forehead scrunches, and I feel like I’m losing him, but the door swings open and Akim stomps in, looking madder than a hornet.

It’s not a normal angry expression.

He looks violent, like he’s ready to act on those threats he’s been making.

I stand abruptly, jostling the small card table set up for Felix and me to play games, and the stack of cards drops to the floor at my feet.

“What do you want?” I hiss, afraid to be too detailed in front of Felix, but this time I have a secret weapon up my sleeve that Akim has no knowledge of.

“I fucking told you, you bitch. I told you this day would come, and here it is.”

Backing closer to the closet to draw him away from Felix, I lean into my secret knowledge that Bastian is here, listening.

This time Akim won’t get away with it. He asked me last night in bed what I was afraid of and I told him.