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Our eyes lock, and I’m shocked at how she cares about Ma’s feelings, a woman she’s never met.
“Right there.” I finger her collarbone, not mentioning I still think she’s too thin. “Do you know how mature that response is? How with everything against you, you show empathy based on your own painful experiences? To an enemy, no less?”
“Your mother was never my enemy.” Licking those lips, she continues, “I didn’t care about the tension between our families. I felt it had nothing to do with me. I…” She sits up, and closes her legs. “I lived one day at a time. That’s why I felt so blindsided when my father told me I was marrying someone I never met.”
“Did you want to get married at all?” In my world, the real world here in Seattle, most twenty-three-year-olds don’t think about getting married.
Her eyes lift to me, a smile tugging her lips. “My mother told me I could pick my own husband. I knew my choices were limited and I considered…”
My head cocks to the right. “You considered…”
She giggles. “Katya brought up Lachlan the day I left.”
“My brother Lachlan? The monster?”
“In Astoria, he’s a monster, but your family stays safe because of him.”
There’s so much I don’t dare think about. One of them being how my older brothers who beat the crap out of each other when they were younger and broke I don’t know how many gaming consoles, are now, power-hungry mob bosses with guns, pulling triggers and ending lives without hesitation.
As a doctor, I don’t see how I could ever take a life.
Shivering, and tucking all that into my brain, I say to Ana, “Go on. You wanted Lachlan.”
She slaps my chest, being playful. “I didn’t want him. Not that I think he’s bad looking.” Rolling her eyes, she finishes, “You’re all gorgeous.”
“Thank you for lumping me into that.”
“I said it two years ago when I saw Cormac, that you and he were the best looking as far as I was concerned.”
Only Cormac and I don’t look alike anymore.
“Finish about Lachlan…”
“Katya suggested I go to him for help. If you think about how scary Dante Caruso is… Was… Your brother was completely unapproachable. But…” She gets to the point. “I would have agreed to marry any one of your brothers. My father never would have made a deal with your father like that. No. Papa used me to make a marriage deal with a man so he could…” Ana waves her fingers in front of her eyes.
“What, baby?” I hold them, bringing them to my mouth.
“Something I hadn’t remembered until now.”
“What’s that?” I sit up, my elbow feeling stiff from leaning in on it.
Her eyes lift to mine, guilt and fear there. I can now tell so easily what she’s thinking.
“The deal with Luka Gideon was in exchange for bratoks.” She clears her throat. “Soldiers.”
“I figured.” I pull air into my lugs. “Bratoks for what?”
“Take down your family,” she says quietly.
Rage bubbles in my veins, and I realize my brothers have been keeping so many secrets from me. And Cormac. How dangerous their lives really are. My sister… My throat goes tight thinking about her all alone in East Hampton.
Shaking, I grab my phone and shoot her a quick text, hello.
Proof of life.
Warmed at the smirk emoji back from Shea-Lynne, I smile up at Ana. “That’s a future that never happened. Your father is unhinged, and I’m sure there have been skirmishes. But my brothers are alive and well, and in full control of their interests in Astoria. I trust Balor keeps a heavy surveillance operation to keep everyone safe.
Ana blinks. “The Koslov brotherhood is my legacy, Darragh.”
