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“Why?”
“They didn’t say. They just grabbed me.”
“I can tell you’re lying to me. Do you think hiding the truth will make this easier for you?” My voice is full of contempt as I place my gun on the table.
He hesitates before speaking, unable or unwilling to meet my furious stare. “May I speak, Andrei Vasilyevich?”
“Look me in the eye if you want to speak.”
He lifts his gaze to meet mine, his expression hard like stone. “I want to be initiated so that I can right my wrong. So, I can reclaim the Bratva’s honor. And mine.”
I take a deep breath, suppressing my fury at the Novikovs’ insult. Viktor might’ve been their prey, but my authority was their true target. But why? Since when has the Novikovs grown a pair of balls to do something as audacious as this?
“You have no honor to redeem,” I tell him. “You are not a soldier.”
Viktor nods. “I want to show I deserve to be one, Andrei Vasilyevich.”
Dmitri taps the boy’s chest with his gun, and his voice is menacing. “You can do that by telling us the truth. Why did the Novikovs grab you?”
Viktor stands up straight, his lips pursed. He has accepted whatever fate now awaits him.
Natasha’s phone chimes, and the light from her device reflects in her eyes. She holds up her phone to indicate that she needs to take the call, and I nod, excusing her.
I turn my attention back on Viktor. A bead of sweat slowly rolls down the side of his face, and I cannot decide what to do with him. Should I march him out into the woods, making him dig his own grave with his bare hands? I stare hard at him, remembering when I was the same age and Vasily would use me for target practice. The bullets grazed my skin, and I bear the faint burn scars from each bullet to this day. But I never flinched. I will still never show weakness.
Paige suddenly bursts into the garage, her eyes wide with fear. “What’s going on?”
Her face is pale but beautiful. Her chest lifts with each breath as she stares at Dmitri’s gun pointed at Viktor, and she steps bravely in front of Viktor as his shield.
Dmitri’s expression shifts from rage to confusion. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”
Dmitri has continually argued to keep Paige in the dark, but I feel compelled to make a point. He decided on his own to include Sonya in the inner workings of the Bratva, and now, I will include my wife.
“My wife has the right to know what’s going on,” I reply coolly. “Do you remember the Novikovs? We met at their wedding. Viktor has dishonored me by being publicly shamed by them. And he refuses to tell me why they did that. For that, he must be punished. By death.”
The only indication that Paige is distraught are her trembling hands.
“Andrei, don’t do it,” Paige pleads. “Emma was missing. I thought she had gone back to our old home, and I was worried. I asked Viktor to go look for her, and then I swore him to secrecy.”
Maybe I wouldn’t have shot Viktor, but I would’ve sent him away. But Paige’s plea makes it easier to change my mind and spare the boy without losing a good recruit.
This meeting has proven that Viktor is made of sterner stuff than the recruits that usually come to us. If nothing else, it proves that he can keep both secrets and oaths. I can still use him.
“Thank my wife for sparing your life,” I say gruffly.
“Thank you, Paige Geraldovna,” Viktor mumbles.
She places a hand on his shoulder, guiding him toward the door. “Look after Emma—if you do that, you will be forgiven for anything else you’ve done wrong.”
Everything else? What is she talking about?
I dismiss him with a wave of my hand. “You can go.”
But Viktor returns to the metal table, refusing to go.
I give him a long, appraising look before finally saying, “What?”
“If I were initiated, I could protect Emma.”
