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“To do what I should have done from the beginning.”
56
IVAN
I fling the door to my father’s study open hard enough that it bounces off the wall.
All of the men inside jolt. A few of his more loyal lieutenants rise to their feet, hands on their weapons, ready for a violent intruder.
“We are in the middle of a meeting, Ivan,” my father snarls when they see it’s me. “Wait for me outside.”
I stand my ground. “Whatever bullshit you’re working on can wait.”
“‘Bullshit’?” His eyes narrow to slivers. “Don’t condescend to me. While you’re taking your girlfriend on dates, I’m keeping this Bratva running.”
“While you’re hiding away in this room with your advisors, I’m fending off direct assaults on our family,” I snarl. “There wouldn’t be a Bratva to run without me.”
“If there was an attack on the Bratva, I’m sure I would have heard about—”
“Therewasan attack,” I assure him. “Which is why Cora’s safety is now our top priority.”
Otets waves his lieutenants back, telling them to sit down. “Don’t waste my time with this, Ivan. You brought this girl into the fold and I made it clear she was your responsibility. You clearly can’t handle that. She has officially become a liability and a distraction. I want her gone as soon as—”
“Coraismy responsibility.” I slam the door closed behind me and spin back to my father. “But she is the sole target of our enemies. The fact you refuse to take this threat seriously is a fucking joke. Which makesyoua fucking joke, too.”
He leans forward. “You don’t come in here and tell me how to—”
“What does it say that the Pushkin Bratva can’t protect one singular woman? Thepakhan’swoman, at that?”
“She's not your woman." His eyes flare. "And you are notpakhan. Not yet.”
“And I never will be if I die trying to save her. Which I will,” I vow. “Because if Cora dies, the credibility of the Bratva dies with her. No one will take us seriously if we can’t keep her safe. It will tell our enemies that we are ripe for the taking. It puts all of us in danger and it makes our defenses look weak.”
Dmitry and Vadim shift nervously in their chairs. I know for a fact they feel the same way Yasha does about their responsibilities. They’ve sworn to protect the Bratva with their lives. They take it seriously.
And right now, my father is making liars of them.
“The only thing that makes us look weak is that your head could be turned by this peasant woman,” my father spits back. “Our credibility was never questioned before she arrived. Now, she’s making you soft.”
I clench my jaw hard. “You can’t see it. You really can’t fucking see it. Amazing.”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t see!” he roars. “I see more than you realize.”
“Then you must see that someone out there wants into our family so badly that they are willing to kill any woman I choose. They are going to tear down the empire we’ve built, brick by brick, until they can waltz right through the front doors.”
“Bullshit!” His face is red and sweaty, his eyes almost bulging out of his head. “This is all bullshit. A story you’re concocting to get out of your bargain with me. This is all because you don’t want to get married.”
That was true at one point: I didn’t want to get married. The decision was little more than a bargaining chip for Anya’s freedom.
Now, the problem is…
I want to get married to the wrong girl.
But I can’t and I won’t. Not if it puts her life in danger. So the least I can do is make sure she’s safe. No matter the cost.
“I’m going to uphold my end of our bargain,” I tell him solemnly. “I’ve always intended to do exactly as I promised you. But I’m going to do it my way. I’m not going to allow some outsider to threaten me into making a choice. And I certainly will not let the Bratva I am going to inherit be discredited by allowing the woman on my arm to be hurt or disrespected.”
I turn to Dmitry and Vadim. I take in their stoic faces—faces scarred from years of protecting this bratva, from decades of fighting for my family.
