Page 171 of Ivory Ashes

I don’t know what he means…

Until Dante appears behind him.

His head is down, chin to chest, golden brown hair covering his eyes. His shoulders are shaking. My heart drops into my stomach as I plummet to my knees. “Dante?”

He glances up at me quickly and then looks away. I watch a tear roll down his nose.

“What did you do to him?” I growl.

If Iakov thought I wanted to kill him a second ago, he has no idea what I’m thinking now. If he so much as hurt a hair on Dante’s head, I’ll skin him alive. I’ll shred the meat from his bones and feed it back to him.

My hands shake with rage.

“What did I do to him?” Iakov repeats like the idea is absurd. Like he didn’t just abduct Dante from his bed and shoot his favorite uncle in front of him. “I didn’t do anything to him. I would never hurt my grandson.”

I snort in disgust. “Too late for that. He’s traumatized.”

Iakov looks down at him, assessing. “So it appears. But unfortunately, that is what it takes. If he wants to make it in this world, he has to be prepared to see things he doesn’t like. To do things he doesn’t like. Mikhail never would have trained him up properly.”

“He’ll kill you,” I warn. “As soon as he realizes Dante is gone, he’ll kill you.”

There’s no need to specify who I’m talking about. Iakov already knows. Mikhail may hate me, but he loves our son. That’s the only thing I know anymore.

“He’d have to find us first.” Iakov smirks. “Besides, I’m sure he’s busy planning the funeral for his bastard brother.”

Iakov starts to leave and I panic. Right now, I can see Dante. He’s safe and alive in front of me. That’s better than the unknown.

“Please!” I rasp. “Let Dante stay with me. I’ll take care of him.”

“I’m not sure you’re in the best position for that right now,” Iakov demurs. He pulls Dante close, forcing my son to hug his side. “I’ll take the boy under my wing. Don’t you worry.”

That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.

I ignore Iakov and focus on Dante. I give him a smile—my best approximation of one, anyway. “I’m okay, bud,” I tell him. “I’m okay and I’ll see you soon, alright?”

Dante nods, but he still won’t look at me. It’s probably hard for him to see me chained up like this.

I fold my hands behind my back to hide the shackles and blow him a kiss. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too, Mama,” he mumbles through another sob.

My heart splits wide open, spilling out on the floor in front of me.

Then Iakov shuts the door and he’s gone.

The room feels even smaller than it did before. The silence is painful. I may never get out of this room—I’ve made my peace with that. But the only thing I can cling to as I curl into a ball in the corner of the cell is that Mikhail won’t abandon our son.

No matter what has happened between us, I have to believe he’ll do what’s best for Dante.

It’s the only hope I have left.

64

MIKHAIL

The entire time I’m flying across town, I’m sure I’ll find Anatoly’s abandoned car idling along some curb, the driver’s door thrown open, with Pyotr nowhere in sight.

He has to know I’m coming for him. He has to know that, by crossing me, he’s signed his death warrant.

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