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I turn on my heels and enter the house to find Vanya and several of the guards watching out the front-facing windows. When Dmitri enters, they instantly surround him, asking questions and making demands.
“What is this, Dima?” asks Vanya. “These men are our enemies, and they’re being welcomed on our territory? In our house!”
Dmitri holds up his hands. “We are only talking to Sonya Igorovna, and they are now her men. For what it’s worth, Karamazov men are better than Gleb’s, and there are more of them than Talia’s. It doesn’t hurt to talk.”
Vanya scoffs. “Hard to talk when you’re getting your throat slit. I won’t break bread with men who have killed my brothers.”
The door opens and Andrei enters, stopping when he sees the small crowd of men standing in the hall. I stand with them to show my solidarity. I agree with every word Vanya says. I don’t care if we have the advantage. It’s not an advantage if those men can’t be trusted.
“Chto?” Andrei stares each one down and dares them to talk back. “What is happening, Dmitri?”
“We all have concerns.” Dmitri glances over at me and then back at Andrei. “You don’t expect us to instantly become brothers with your sister’s men.”
“Not today, but it will happen.” Andrei shakes his head. “It must happen. The Novikov and the Nikitin have been evicted already. The winds of fortune are shifting once more.”
But Andrei’s guarantee isn’t enough this time. His men don’t hold back and voice their opposition in shouts and questions. The fear and the hate are palpable, as if they’re about to take form and wait for disaster to strike.
And it will, I’m sure of it as I place my hands defensively over my belly.
Andrei raises his hands, and the din instantly stops. “For now, we will welcome them until I say otherwise. Now, I will talk to Dmitri and Paige in my office.”
My back straightens, and my surprise is ill-concealed while my eyes widen. I wasn’t expecting to be included immediately in their discussion. Sure, I could walk in uninvited while Andrei and Dmitri have their conversation. But it is clear that I will be a part of the discussion from the start.
Am I the peacekeeper?Does Andrei expect me to back him this time?
Dmitri nods his approval. Maybe he hopes that I can soften Andrei up? Pleasure my pakhan so he will be more willing to hear reason and do as Dmitri suggests later? I swallow hard, following Andrei to his office.
Inhaling deeply, I enter the room, but Dmitri remains in the doorway.
“Perhaps it would be better if you spoke to Paige Geraldovna alone, Andrei,” he replies to our questioning looks. “I have to deal with our men. The news is probably spreading to the rest as we speak, and not all are as amenable as Vanya.”
“Go.” Andrei nods.
“Paige Geraldovna knows exactly what I think,” he replies carefully. “We know what the outcome will be if this situation is not handled tactfully. She can assist you better with Sonya than I can.”
The sincere expression on Dmitri’s troubled face gives me the courage to talk to Andrei. But I almost stop him before he shuts the door on us. The one time I want him to stay, Dmitri leaves. He has to go. I have to have the confidence to talk to my husband. No, my pakhan.
Alone.
Slowly, I make my way over to the couch while Andrei chooses to stand behind his desk. The silence is chipping away at my confidence, and I’m compelled to say something, anything, first.
“I guess we hadn’t planned on this,” I say. “Surrender, that is.”
“No.” The word sounds harsh. And did I imagine it? Does he soundresentful?
“I don’t want them here. It’s just too dangerous. Sonya should return to her father’s estate tonight, and she can watch her men there.”
He stares at me as if I have no brain and only a mouth. Andrei’s face screws up into a scowl. “Unsupervised? That is madness, Paige. Sonya needs my protection, especially from her own men.” He stares out the window at the graying day. “Left alone, they’ll find a new leader among them and turn on her.”
“Then who will watch them?” I ask.
Andrei looks away. “I may have to go.”
I don’t like it, and I need verbal backup. The door remains solidly closed, and I pray that Dmitri will surprise us and come back into the room. He won’t—his hands are overflowing with a mutiny if he’s not careful. I look at Andrei and try again.
“Maybe Natasha with a few guards? She’ll whip them into shape.” I cringe at my own suggestion.It’s not a pep rally for the home team, Paige.
He shakes his head. “Sonya will never accept that. Especially Natasha. They’re opposite in every way and will fight. Dissent among the leaders is worse than dissent among the men. No, that is abadsuggestion.”
