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I paused. When did I want Sloane into my life for longer than a few years? We couldn’t break with tradition. The heir would have to kill her to secure his birthright. She would be the last vestiges of childhood. He would remove that connection and enter manhood.
“But—but…but you’re my boss,” Roman protested weakly.
I glanced up from my phone at him again. He looked pale and shaken. I sat my phone down and gave him my full attention.
“Do you want me to only be your boss? Because I feel as if we’ve grown out of that relationship.”
“Do you want to be more than my boss?”
I wasn't good with feelings, but for Roman, I would try. “I care about you. I want to see you do well in life. The thought of you going back into the streets for any reason fills me with rage. My name is the only protection I can give to you until you branch out on your own. I won’t ask you to call me dad or father, but maybe you can start with Alexie and see how you like that.”
A sheen of tears misted Roman’s eyes before he threw himself in my arms. I had to grab onto the counter and pray that the chair didn’t buckle underneath our combined weight.
For the first time I remembered how old Roman actually was. He was still just a kid, and life hadn’t treated him too kindly. This may have been the first time an adult in his life put him first, and for that, I felt like shit. I wanted to apologize for all the terrible people he’d met along the way, and if I could, I would kill them all for him. Gut them all like fish for not seeing what a great kid he truly was.
Men who cry are weak and I won’t stand for it!
I cleared my throat, shaking my father’s voice out of my head. He had no place in my mind after the way he betrayed me. I wouldn’t treat Roman and my child like that.
Roman took a step back, almost knocking into the stool next to me. His face showed horror as if he’d just realized he’d hugged me. I didn’t blame him, though. I was reeling from how much had changed in such a little time.
“I’ve got a great idea, b-,” He stopped himself and cleared his throat. “Alexie,” he corrected.
“What do you have in mind?”
ALEXIE
Alexie
It was a three-hour journey, and Roman wouldn’t tell me where we were going until we got onto the highway. It was then he informed me we were going ring shopping.
Irritated, I huffed, “I don’t even know her ring size?”
Roman laughed. “Luckily, I do.”
Shocked, I took my eyes off the road to gape at him. “How the hell do you know that?”
He shrugged. “I can just look and know the size and weight of things. I used to make quick money on the street hustling with this trick. Set up bathroom scale. Guess weight wrong. Up the ante. Guess it correctly.”
A rush of pride hit me, and I looked back at the highway. “You’d make a good, Pahkan.” I meant that.
“I’d never be accepted as one.” He didn’t say it with bitterness, just like it was an unforeseeable fact.
“Why the hell not?”
Silence stretched between us before he said. “Well, for one, I’m not Russian. I’m certain that would make the men betray me.”
I waved a hand in front of my face. “Bullshit. They turned on me, and I’m full-blooded Russian, so that point doesn’t matter.”
“I’m of Italian descent.”
“We have an alliance with the Italians. You would only need to show them you are worth putting their trust in. Once you’ve done that, you’ll not have to worry about it at all.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he grumbled.
“And why is that?”
He didn’t answer me.
