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Fuck me, but Osip is a good Pakhan. A good man. He is going to get this Bratva running in the best ways possible. Now, all we have to do is keep goddamn Rostam on a short enough leash. Which I’m not one-hundred-percent confident that is ever going to happen. Especially since we’re all just sitting around hiding the fact that Vadim killed his fucking wife.
ISABEL
The door opensand I expect it to be Ruslan who walks through, and it is, but what I don’t anticipate is Ion. His head is tipped slightly, his eyes lift and he gives me a sheepish smile. It’s awkward. I’ve been crying, so I’m sure that I look a mess. He winces, but Ruslan continues to make his way toward me.
“You’re upset,” he announces.
Nodding my head, I close my eyes, then shake my head once. “I don’t know what I am,” I say on a whisper.
He hums, dipping his chin and touching his mouth to mine. “Do you want me to have him leave, maybe come back another day?”
“No,” I breathe.
Ruslan nips my bottom lip, then takes a step backward. “Isabel, your brother Ion would like to talk to you.”
“If that’s okay with you,” Ion adds.
My lips curve up into a smile and I nod, then turn toward the living room. Together, the three of us make our way into the space and sink down on the sofa.
Ion starts to talk, but before he can really say anything, Ruslan announces that he needs a shower, it’s then that I realize his skin has an odd tint of darkness to it, like blood that’s been wiped away, but hasn’t been washed off.
Ruslan stands and slips out of the room, leaving me alone with Ion, once again… it’s awkward. He clears his throat, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his thighs.
“I should have asked more questions. I knew that you weren’t dead. But they made it sound like you were. I knew in my gut that it wasn’t right.”
“Who would have answered the questions?” I ask.
He shrugs a shoulder, shaking his head a couple of times. “I should have dug into it more when I moved out of their house.”
“Stop,” I say, though my tone comes out a bit harsher than I intend it to. “Ion, you were twelve. You were a little boy. Then you moved out and had to worry about working and taking care of your own place. Don’t blame yourself for what Mom and Dad did. This is solely on them. Not you and Irina. Never.”
He nods his head a couple of times, but I can tell that he feels completely and totally distraught. “Do you remember when we were kids, and you would sneak into my room in the middle of the night?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“God,” he snorts. “Yeah, and you’d read your romance books to me.”
“I made them PG for you, too,” I say with a small smile.
“Yeah, I know.”
“You do?” I ask.
He chuckles and gets this faraway look in his eyes. “I kept them, read them any time I missed you. Hell, I read one just a month ago. You skipped all the good shit,” he says.
My eyes fill with tears.
My brother. My baby brother is back. My heart is full.
Ion reaches for me and we embrace. I didn’t know that I was missing my little brother this much, but I was. Am. Whatever you want to call it. Now we just need Irina. I start to ask him where she is when I hear Ruslan’s voice coming from the stairs.
“You can stay here as long as you need to, Ion. Your sister’s home is yours as well. Just don’t sneak into our room in the middle of the night, you might not like what you see.”
Ion and I burst into laughter, and the rest of the evening I spend with my brother and Ruslan. I get to know the man that Ion is now, and I find that I like him. He’s still a little goofy, but he’s much more grown up than he was as a boy. But I think what I like most about this whole situation is that Ion will be in the guest room, which means Ruslan will be with me. He’s coming back to me.
