Page 18 of Crimson Fate

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks, irritation under the surface of her voice.

“While our empire is under threat, she’s dreaming of nurseries and names,” I answer with a huff.

“Are you serious right now?”

“What?”

“Look, I understand she’ll always be your sister, but she’s also an Ivanov now. It’s only natural for her to want to build something of her own,” Eva answers.

I pause before asking, “And what about me? I can’t just forget everything our father worked to give the two of us. I understand she’s one of them now, but she isn’t even thinking about what the rest of us are going through. It’s all about them and starting their new family.”

“Of course it is! They’re newlyweds. Haven’t you ever thought about it?” Her question catches me off guard. “About having a family, I mean.”

“Thought about it?” I scoff. The idea seems absurd. “I have enough trouble without adding diapers and sleepless nights into the mix.”

“You don’t see yourself ever getting married? Having kids?” Her eyes search mine, looking for something I’m not sure I possess.

“Family...” I shake my head. “Complications I can’t afford.”

Eva sighs, leaning back against the cushions, her gaze drifting toward the skyline outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows. I can tell she doesn’t understand, but then again, how could she? She hasn’t been hardened by the same battles, the same losses.

“Amelia has started a new chapter,” she says softly, almost to herself. “Who are you fighting for if it’s just you now?”

“Me?” I echo hollowly in the expanse of my penthouse. “I’m fighting for survival. This life—it’s about power and maintaining order. Something you would never understand.”

Her lips press into a thin line, and I see the flicker of annoyance flash across her features. “Just because I wasn’t born into this life doesn’t mean I’m blind to it and what it does to those living it. I’ve watched Amelia... I’ve seen more than enough to understand its cost.”

“If you really understood, then you would get that what Amelia chose to do by marrying Alexei wasn’t an option we had. The King empire isn’t a picket fence dream. It’s a legacy, one that demands everything from you.”

“Even your happiness?” Her question lingers in the air between us, and for a fraction of a second, I falter.

“Empires aren’t built on happiness,” I retort, clenching my fists at my sides. “They’re forged in steel and blood.”

“Do you realize what an asshole you sound like? Everything you just said sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. It makes no sense why you wouldn’t want the people you love to be happy, no matter what brings them that.”

Her question cuts deep, and despite the anger boiling inside me, I remind myself that as much as Eva thinks she understands this life, I know she can’t.

“That statement just shows your ignorance about the whole thing,” I state coolly before taking another swig from my glass. “But our conversation has been helpful. It’s made me see I must face the danger threatening me head-on. I’m going to call a meeting with the cap who seems to be stirring up shit around here. I’m going to confront Anthony Casaletto and all these rumors head-on.”

“I don’t know how in the hell that’s what you got from our conversation,” Eva snaps. “I’m trying to tell you that you deserve to be happy too. Calling out one of your captains couldn’t be further from what I’m talking about.”

“It’s exactly what you’re talking about. When you ask me if I deserve to have a family, that’s exactly what this is. The empire my father built for us is my family.”

“Sounds like you have a death wish to me.”

“Do you actually think I want this throne soaked in my own blood?” My heart is a drumbeat echoing the fury that boils inside me. But she doesn’t back down, doesn’t cower. It’s one of the things that both infuriates and draws me to her.

“Sometimes I wonder,” she admits, her gaze unwavering. “You’re so focused on proving yourself, on keeping this... I don’t know—legacy intact that you’re blinded to the fact that it could destroy you.”

“Then let it destroy me!” The words escape before I can rein them in, barbed and bitter. “I don’t know how many other ways I can say this. I won’t let my father’s work crumble because some asshole who swore allegiance to this family thinks he can challenge me.” I can see the hurt flash in her eyes, but this is not the time for softness.

Eva sighs, the fight leaving her as she rubs her temples wearily. “I’m tired, Vincent. I should head home for the night.”

The sudden shift throws me, the heat of my anger cooling into concern. “Wait,” I say, my voice losing its hard edge. “Did I upset you? I thought you wanted me to be honest.”

She shakes her head. “Of course I do. I have to work a shift at the assisted living center tomorrow, and I should probably get some rest.”

Sometimes I forget Eva isn’t like us. She comes from a blue-collar family, all of whom work regular jobs, including her. Her dad owns his own company, and despite my father helping him land some contracts over the years, they do not live extravagantly by any means.

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