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“Mom…”
“Now, Leo.”
He grimaces but complies.
Nick doesn’t move or react. For some reason, he looks like he expected this.
As soon as Leo is up the stairs, I step closer. “What the fuck, Nick?Defense? This place is part of your criminal enterprise? And you want to bring Leo there?”
Nick has the audacity to look amused. “It’s agym, Lyla. I just have to pick up some paperwork.”
“I don’t want him involved in anything you are.”
A muscle tics in Nick’s jaw. “Yeah, you’ve made thatcrystalclear. It’s taking a drive. I’m not suggesting I take him to a shooting range and teach him how to defend himself.”
“Of courseyou’re not taking him to a shooting range! He’seight, Nick.”
“My father started training me when I was seven.”
“You’re not your father.”
“No, but I am thePakhan. And Leo is my only heir.”
“He’s not an heir; he’s achild.”
“He’s also a target. Aside from me, he’s the only living male Morozov with a rightful claim.”
I feel the color drain from my face as it dawns on me all over again—how badly I’ve fucked up. “His last name is Peterson.”
“He’s my blood. That’s all anyone will care about.”
“You said we’re safe here. That’s the only reason I—”
“The estate is heavily guarded, but nowhere is impenetrable. There’s no such thing as too careful, especially when it comes to Leo.”
“I want to go home,” I whisper.
Nick’s expression softens, then hardens again as the words hang between us. “I won’t stop you.”
“I wouldn’t leave without Leo.” And without Leo, I won’t leave at all, which he knows. Just like he knows I won’t risk Leo’s safety by taking him anywhere else.
“He’s safest here,” Nick says, reading my thoughts.
I release what’s meant to be an unamused huff, but it comes out with an edge of hysteria.
“I wish I could erase every threat and you and Leo could be safe to do whatever you want. But that’s not the way the world—my world—works. And you can hate it and resent me all you want; it won’t change anything. I’m doing thebest I can.”
I exhale. “I know.”
Footfalls pound the stairs as Leo rushes downstairs. His backpack is gone, but he’s still wearing his coat. And a hopeful expression as he glances between me and Nick.
Nick opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. “I need to get going.”
I sigh. Beneath the horrifying realizations that have filled the last few days, underneath it all is a guy I loved. A guy who knows intimate details about me. Details I entrusted him with. Reconciling the version of Nick I met in college with this guy standing in front of me has been easier than I thought it would be.
He’s the moon, and I’m the tide.
I could fight the pull.
