AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he reacts, look at his hands.Elia’s whisper floated past my ear.
“Call it a gut feeling.” I shrugged. “I refuse to believe otherwise.”
Uncle Misha tucked his hands into his pocket. “Let it go, Alyosha. Move on with your lovely wife.” He cast me a sidelong glance. “How is she doing? Are the two of you well-acquainted yet?”
“That’s none of your business,” I answered hotly.
My uncle lifted his hands in surrender. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to hit any sore spots.”
I didn’t apologize. “Elia is pregnant.”
There was no movement of his hands at the announcement. He dropped them to his sides while a wide smile opened on his features. “That’s great news, nephew!” He reached over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Now I understand why you would want to meet here.”
I arched a brow. “Why?”
“To tell your father.” He looked at the grave. “That the family legacy will continue through your children.”
Myfamilylegacy? It was supposed to bemylegacy. Even now, Uncle Misha was claiming everything that belonged to me as his own by the simple act of denying that it belonged to me.
“I hope that you give Elia my congratulations,” he continued, dropping his hand while that stupid fucking smile remained on his face. “Unless you wish me to congratulate her in person.”
“Why?” I blurted out, unable to help myself. “Why do you want to be so close to my wife?”
“Alyosha…” His gaze darkened. “What are you suggesting?”
I said nothing, letting my uncle pick at the silence.
“Please, Alyosha.” Uncle Misha let out a short laugh and shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “I am just looking out for this family. Everything I do has been for this family and its future. There are so many things in play right now, things that you cannot even begin to understand.”
“Then perhaps you’d like to share them with me,” I added. “After all, Iamthe pakhan, am I not?”
“Of course,” he answered, grinning. “But there are some things even the pakhan is better off not knowing. Your father never knew of some of the plans that had already been put into motion.”
“Why?”
“Compartmentalization, Alyosha.” Uncle Misha rubbed his fingers. “If he knew everything, then he risked divulging something.”
“Do you believe someone silenced him?”
The world went still all of a sudden. Uncle Misha looked at me with a new glint in his eyes. I was forced to turn my attention away from his hands, but I saw him stick them back in his pockets.
“I do,” he replied slowly. “But these are not things we ought to discuss in public. Prying eyes and listening ears are everywhere. Especially the Bogatyr.”
The Bogatyr?That was a name I had not heard of. “Who?”
“An enemy.” My uncle kept his voice even. “As I said, this is not something we ought to discuss in public. You and Elia should come for family dinner. Raissa Antonovna will want to know that she will be a grandmother soon. And she’ll want to hear it from both of you.”
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question, Uncle.” Now it was my turn to lie. “Elia has been sent home to New York.”
Even through his pockets, the clenching of his fists was unmistakable. “New York? Why? Why would you send her back there, Alyosha?”
“She will be safe there.”
“From whom, Alyosha?” Uncle Misha asked, his hands balled into fists. “You’ve sent the future of our family right into the hands of our enemy!”
“Our enemy?” I asked, feigning confusion. “Did we not make them our allies?”
“Kozle proklyatiya!” he swore as he ran his fingers through his hair so quickly that I thought he might rip it out by the roots. “Alyosha, you stupid boy. You were supposed to wed her, bed her, and put a baby in her. Nothing more. Yet somehow, you’ve gone and sent her straight back to her father! Everything your father and I worked on, undone! By a single stupid decision!”
