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“Actually, I can,” I spit, getting to my feet.
Vadim watches me rise. I have no idea if all that calm is coming from confidence or if he’s simply play-acting like he has been from the beginning.
“Are you going to kill me, nephew?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
I glance at Kirill and give him a decided nod. He doesn’t stride forward the way he normally would. This time, he’s slow and uncertain, checking the pulse of the room as he approaches the man who betrayed us all.
“Ruslan, wait,” Fyodor protests, turning his somber eyes on me. “Let’s talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. He betrayed me. He betrayed the Bratva. When it comes down to it, he betrayed you, too.”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts,” I snap fiercely. “There is no coming back from this.” I make sure I look my father in the eyes when I tell him what he already knows. “There is no saving him.”
A tear slips down Fyodor’s eye. “He is my brother…”
I clench my jaw and push away the storm of feelings roaring in the middle of my chest. “And I am thepahkan. Kirill, take him in.”
Kirill grabs hold of Vadim’s arm and pulls him up to his feet. He disarms him quickly, gives him one final patdown, and then leads him out of the room. Vadim doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t struggle or fight. He simply allows Kirill to lead him away.
I sit down in front of my father so that I’m at eye level with him. He seems to have shrunk in the last few minutes. Fear rips through me. The last time I saw him look this broken was when he first got the news about Mother and Leonid. And if Vadim isn’t here to hold him together now… what will happen?
“He’s been a good brother,” he whispers in a broken, quiet voice.
“If you’re asking me to spare him—”
“I’m not asking that.” He takes a deep breath. “I… I don’t know what I’m asking.” He lifts his gaze to mine. Every new line on his face seems to spell regret. “I should have seen this coming.”
“He played his part well.”
“It can’t haveallbeen a lie.”
“In my experience, it’s all or nothing.”
His jaw trembles and tears start streaming down his cheeks. All the life I saw in him in the days after I introduced him to Emma and the kids seems to sag out of him. I rest my hand on his shoulder, trying to draw him out of the dark hole he’s slipping into.
“For now, he’ll be imprisoned. But I will make sure he’s comfortable,” I promise.
“It’s your decision,” he says reluctantly. “As you said, you are thepahkan.”
“This betrayal has hurt me, too, father.”
He shrugs my hand away. “Leave me now.”
I get to my feet, wondering if leaving him alone right now is the right thing to do. The only person who can give me advice is the one man I can’t trust anymore.
I leave my father’s house but once I’m in my car, I can’t bring myself to drive back home. If I go home, Emma will be waiting for me, expecting an explanation. How can I give her one when I don’t have the answers myself?
Fyodor and Vadim have always been close. Through the worst of times, they stuck it out together. It was a relationship I hadn’t thought twice about until after I’d lost Leonid. Then I’d watched both brothers with a distinct pang of envy.
That was the kind of love I understood. It was the kind of love I could get on board with.
But now? If it was all a lie… what did any of it mean?
When my car phone starts ringing, I nearly jerk out of my seat. I press accept and Kirill’s voice comes in. “He’s been situated in a cell across from Adrik. I made sure he was comfortable.”
