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“Thanks.” It is a humble reply, considering how relieved I am. “Where are you? Viktor wants to take Ava to the kids.”
“It’s good to know you’re all alive.”
“That we are. Text me the address?”
“Aye.”
A second later, a text lights up the screen of my cell. I enter the address into the GPS since it’s not one I recognize.
“He’s about an hour away. Somewhere upstate.” From my place in the passenger seat, I glance back at Viktor. A moment of gratitude passes between us. “I know.”
“Let’s go see our kids,” Viktor orders.
As we drive, I think about all the events that led to the moment when I pulled the trigger. Our father needed to die. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. But somehow, I always knew it would be me who would end his life.
For a split second, I thought I wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger. After all, Dougal was my father. But seeing him raise his gun at Ava snapped me back to reality. I was reminded of something my mother once told me when I was a child.
“Oliver, everyone in this world is capable of doing good. But some people will never choose to do good. You have to remember to protect those who can’t protect themselves. One day you will face someone who will go out of their way to do harm. You have to be better. You have a responsibility to do better.”
In the rearview mirror, I watch Viktor whisper what I imagine are words of comfort to Ava. She’s one of the strongest people I know, but even she needs to be protected from time to time. At the warehouse, Ava gave me the strength to pull the trigger. I needed to protect her from my father, a man who never chose to do good.
ChapterThirty-Six
Viktor
It’s been a few days since my father’s death. Telling my mother he was dead was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. We didn’t tell her who killed him, just that he died. It was hard on her. She nearly broke down.
Now, I’m standing in the walk-in closet, fetching a black suit for my father’s funeral. I should feel sad about his death, but I feel nothing.Am I as horrible as he was that I can’t mourn his death?
“We should get going soon. I promised Anita I’d be there to help,” Ava walks into the closet.
“Okay,” I tell her.
She hugs me from behind. “The kids and I can go ahead of you to give you a moment to yourself? I know you hated him, but he was your father.”
I grab her arm and pull her over to face me. “Dougal doesn’t deserve anything from me. He took more than enough.”
She puts a hand on my cheek. “I get it, and I don’t. But it isn’t my place to tell you how to feel. My place is to be here for you. If you need to talk, I’m here. If you want me to just stand beside you, I will. Whatever you need. All you have to do is tell me. But please don’t shut me out.”
I cover her hand with mine. “Have I told you lately how grateful I am for you? How amazing of a mother and wife you are?”
“Nearly not enough,” she answers, smiling.
I take her hand and kiss her. “Mrs. Manarch, I’d be lost without you. I think about everything we’ve been through, and I don’t know how you’re still standing here.”
“I’m here because of you. You never gave up on me, Viktor. You fought for us despite the odds stacked against us.”
“Marry me.”
She shakes her head to hide her smile. “Last time I checked, we are married. You did just call me Mrs. Manarch. Did I miss something?”
“I mean properly. This war is over. We deserve to celebrate us.”
“I won’t argue with that. But maybe you need to put everything in order before we expose ourselves.”
We aren’t hiding, but we’re not exactly out in the open.
“Have you been talking with Oliver? Because everything is a done deal.” When she takes a step back, I take one forward. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bark at you.”
