“So, what do you say?” I ask Dmitri as we both sit in the huge leather chairs in the sitting room of his house. He nurses a glass of vodka while I sip a Scotch.
“Never look a gift horse in the mouth, Dante.”
“You’ll have my full support.”
“I appreciate that, friend,” he says, taking a sip of his vodka. “I’m pretty sure I might not need it once people learn the truth about our glorious leader though.
“I think you’re right.”
“I’ll wait and see how this unfolds then, and thank you for coming to me with this. You could have handled matters yourself. You’d have every right. I appreciate it.”
“Well, having someone sane and trustworthy as the head of the Bratva is good for my business too,” I remind him. Then I down my Scotch and excuse myself. Eager to get back to my wife, even if I’m not so keen on telling her what I’ve done.
It’s almost midnight by the time I get back home. My guards patrol the gardens, but the house is quiet. I’m about to head upstairs to bed when the approach of footsteps interrupts me. Turning around, I see Sophia.
“Mrs. Moretti is in the den, sir,” she says quietly. “She insisted on waiting up for you.”
“Thank you, Sophia,” I say as I move to find Kat. My heart is heavy with the weight of what I’ve done these past twenty-four hours. Not that I regret any of it, but I anticipate the pain it will cause her. Maybe I should tell her tomorrow? Or the day after? Or after the baby is born? Or after he or she goes to college? Because then, she will still look at me like she once did.
Pushing open the door, I see her sleeping form on the sofa. She’s curled up into a ball with an open book on the floor beside her. Walking over, I pick it up and place it on the table. By the half-naked man on the cover, I guess it’s one of those romance books she’s so into… the kind where the good guy always gets the girl.
I crouch and run my fingertips over her cheek. She’s too damn beautiful and kind for my dark world, but she’s too much a part of my life now for me to ever let her go. So, instead, I will protect her and our child with every last breath in my body.
“Kat?”
She stirs. Her eyelids flicker open, and when she sees my face, she smiles. And now the air is full of untold truths, and it makes my chest tighten to even think about keeping what I just did from her. If she’s going to insist on looking at me like that, then I owe her the truth. And if it costs me never seeing that smile again, it’s a price I’ll have to pay.
“What are you doing down here, amore mio?”
“I wanted to wait up for you,” she says as she sits up on the sofa.
I cup her chin in my hand. “You missed me, huh?”
“Yes,” she breathes as the skin on her neck flushes pink.
“You have any nightmares while I was gone?” She hasn’t been having as many since we dealt with the monsters that haunt her, but she’s more likely to have them when I’m not here.
“Nope,” she grins at me. “But I did miss waking up next to you.”
Standing, I pull her up and into my arms. Running my nose over her hair, I breathe in her sweet scent. Cleansing and soothing me. If only it could cleanse my soul.
“Did you do what you needed to?” she asks.
Fuck, if only she knew the meaning behind that question and how what I’ve done these past two days weighs heavy on me. “Yes.”
“Good.” She wraps her arms around my waist and rests her cheek on my chest. “Can we go to bed now, then?” she purrs like my feral little kitten.
Bed? I should take her to bed and fuck her until we both fall asleep. “I need to tell you something, Kat,” I say instead.
“What?” Huge blue eyes find mine, full of love and trust that I am about to shatter into a million pieces. So, why am I doing it? Why not let her live in blissful ignorance? Because I love her too much to let her go on wondering what happened to her brother and where he is.
“We found him. We found Leo.”
She blinks at me, and so many emotions flitter across her face I can’t tell what she’s thinking or feeling. “Where?”
“LA.”
She swallows. “So, you went to see him? That’s where you’ve been?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you looking at me like that, Dante?” She takes a step back, and I let my arms fall from around her waist. “What did you do?”
I narrow my eyes as I search her face for clues as to what’s going on in her head. “Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to, Kat.”
Her hand flies to her mouth, and her face twists in disgust as she glares at me. “He’s my brother.”
“He was your brother,” I correct her.
Anger flares in her eyes. “You killed my brother! My own brother? And for what?” She opens her arms wide and gestures around the room. “Because he owed you money? Like you don’t have more money than you could spend in twenty lifetimes?”
“No, Kat, I don’t give a fuck about the money. I would have let that go. Even though it would have made me look weak, I would have done that for you.”
She glares at me, her body vibrating with anger.
“I killed him because of what he did to you. You and our baby would never be safe because you’d always be his trump card, Kat.”
“Don’t use me to justify what you did,” she hisses. “You do not get to put this on me.”
She pushes me in the chest as tears roll down her cheeks, and I catch her wrists in my hands and pull her closer. “This is not on you. But I gave him a chance, Kat. I gave him a chance to fight for you, and once again, he sacrificed you to save his own skin.”
“No.” She shakes her head.
“Yes. I wanted him to stand up for you, Kat. I wanted him to fight for you, but he didn’t. He doesn’t deserve a single tear from you.”
She pulls away from me again, and I let her go. Once her hands are free, she wipes the tears from her cheeks. “You looked at him and saw what he’d become, but only I know what he was,” she whispers. “Before our mom died, he wasn’t like that. He used to make me chocolate chip pancakes and take me to the movies. He was my brother and you took him from me.”
“No. His addictions took him from you, Kat. That boy you’re remembering now is long gone. The only person who remained was the piece of shit who let two men kidnap and rape and torture you to pay off his debts.”
She flinches at my words.
“And when I told him that I had taken you as payment, all he was interested in was his debt being wiped. He didn’t even ask me if you were okay.”
She shakes her head, living in denial that someone she cares so much for could treat her like she was nothing.
“You can refuse to believe me if that makes you feel better about what he did. And you can hate me for as long as you need to, but I am not going to apologize or have a moment’s regret for what I did. I would do it again one thousand times over.”
“What people say about you is true,” she spits. “You’re a cruel, cold-hearted —”
I step closer, and her breath hitches, cutting off what she was about to say. “Yes, I am. I am everything they say I am and more. I warned you about this, but you refused to believe me about that too.”
“Well, looks like I was wrong then. Congratulations.” She gives me a slow hand clap and I have to stop myself from throwing her down onto the sofa and fucking the attitude out of her. “You’ve finally succeeded in convincing me that you’re not a good man. Not even close.”
Okay… That stings more than I thought it would.
“You should go to bed and get some sleep before one of us does something we regret.”
“Fuck you!” she snaps and then she storms out of the room, all five feet six of her shaking with rage.
“You sleep anywhere but our bed, Kat, and I’ll come drag you out of it,” I shout after her. No matter how pissed she is at me, she’s still my wife.
